The ground engineering specialist is expecting its UK turnover, which makes up 4 per cent of its global revenue, to be “adversely impacted” in Q4 due to a “Brexit-related slowdown”. Keller chief executive Alain Michaelis told Construction News the company had experienced delays on some projects – particularly in London
Pick Everard, the leading property, construction and infrastructure consultancy, has secured a four-year appointment to deliver a range of services to the healthcare and wider public sector through the NHS SBS Consult 18 framework. The NHS Shared Business Services framework provides business support services to the NHS and public sector
Abtec Building Technologies (Abtec BT) has recently completed a project to install a connected lighting system at a newly constructed brick factory in the East Midlands. Ibstock Brick, an Ibstock PLC company, has built a new factory capable of producing 100 million bricks a year, helping to address the UK’s housing shortage.
Boon Brown is celebrating being granted planning permission and conservation area consent for a challenging development in Battersea which will create five residential apartments whilst reinstating a local Victorian public house. The former Queens Arms public house was closed and then converted to a small shop with vacant premises above
One of the UK’s hallowed university sites benefited from Sika’s waterproof liquid-applied seal that helps preserve the roofing detail. The roof refurbishment at Central Building – part of Cambridge University’s Fitzwilliam College campus – was one of the first projects to apply a pioneering approach. The approach included combining Sikalastic®-621,
FENSA, the largest and longest established Competent Person Scheme (CPS) within the replacement window and door industry, is pleased to announce that it has appointed CMDi –built environment brand specialists, to explore the ‘grey’ market. The scale and form of the ‘grey’ market is one the construction industry’s great unknowns
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology has been adopted enthusiastically in many different sectors for its ability to track people and items. For the building industry, too, it has a range of applications which help businesses to better manage their assets, materials, workforce and projects whilst also improving safety and security. What
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
The ground engineering specialist is expecting its UK turnover, which makes up 4 per cent of its global revenue, to be “adversely impacted” in Q4 due to a “Brexit-related slowdown”. Keller chief executive Alain Michaelis told Construction News the company had experienced delays on some projects – particularly in London – as investors assessed the impact of the EU referendum vote. “It seems foreign investors are trying to see exactly where their investments lie in the post-Brexit environment until they make any decisions [on whether to move forward],” Mr Michaelis said. However, the CEO was confident the schemes would not be cancelled and said tendering activity in recent weeks had been “ok”. The comments came as Keller posted global operating profit of £30.9m for the six months to 30 June 2016, down 6 per cent on the £35m posted for the same period of 2015. Despite the fall in profit, revenue hit a record £849.7m for the half-year, up 12 per cent on H1 2015’s £755.8m. The fall in profit was largely down to poor performance in the company’s Asia Pacific business, where project delays and “tough market conditions” saw it post losses of £9.6m. Keller’s Europe, Middle East and Africa business performed well, nearly doubling its operating profit to £13.6m in H1 2016 from £7m in H1 2015. Turnover for the division increased to £261.7m for the period, up 24 per cent from £210.3m. The UK market was one of its strongest European markets, with Mr Michaelis saying the firm felt “particularly good” about UK performance in the past 12 months. Keller had a steady order book over the coming months and is targeting work on High Speed 2 and Hinkley, Mr Michaelis said. He said the company was getting ready for the opportunities a new runway in the South-east could provide, adding that it should be “top of the list” when it comes UK infrastructure projects. It was now up to the government to make swift decisions on major infrastructure projects to give the sector greater certainty, he said. “The confidence of the nation is shaky given Brexit, and the industry is not clear on the outcomes of some of these negotiations, so the government should do anything it can to instil confidence through projects within its control.” The chief executive said that while the weakening of the sterling would likely add nearly £40m to Keller’s net debt compared with the end of 2015, it could also have a beneficial effect on Keller’s profit when translated into sterling over the coming years. Mr Michaelis said: “The interesting positive affect of Brexit on us will be in currency: we make the majority of our profit in dollars, so that is a good news item for Keller.” Source link
Pick Everard, the leading property, construction and infrastructure consultancy, has secured a four-year appointment to deliver a range of services to the healthcare and wider public sector through the NHS SBS Consult 18 framework. The NHS Shared Business Services framework provides business support services to the NHS and public sector across the country and it will see Pick Everard building on its expertise in the management consultancy market, providing advisory and consultancy services. “The NHS is a treasured British institution celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and we’re extremely proud and excited to have been appointed to its new Shared Business Services framework. Under the NHS banner, clients in the healthcare and public sectors can be assured of a robust procurement solution from trusted suppliers,” said Dr Nicola Thompson, national director at Pick Everard. Valued at between £20 million and £50 million, the Consult 18 framework has been divided into 10 lots that cover a range of consultancy services to support healthcare and public sector organisations, from GP practices to major public authorities. Pick Everard will be delivering a number of services for three different lots, with services such as strategy development, management support, capital asset delivery, complex projects and change management. “The rapid, sustainable growth Pick Everard has experienced over the past five years – along with our focus on quality, high levels of service and technical excellence – has been delivered on the back of major appointments such as this one,” said Rod Burton, partner at Pick Everard. “Being a multi-disciplinary consultancy allows us to deliver a wide variety of services across a range of different sectors and I’m looking forward to seeing our management consultancy services offering growing over the next four years and beyond. The Pick Everard team has worked hard to develop tailor-made delivery approaches for each contract, which has put us in the best position possible to meet the complex needs of different organisations,” he continued. Pick Everard employs more than 450 staff across its 11 UK offices, providing a range of project, cost and design consultancy services.
Abtec Building Technologies (Abtec BT) has recently completed a project to install a connected lighting system at a newly constructed brick factory in the East Midlands. Ibstock Brick, an Ibstock PLC company, has built a new factory capable of producing 100 million bricks a year, helping to address the UK’s housing shortage. With lighting such a fundamental part of any manufacturing facility, the company wanted to install the latest technologies to help save on costs, energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Ibstock Brick is the UK’s market leader in brick manufacture with 20 factories across the country and a total annual capacity in excess of 750 million bricks. In addition, the firm employs almost 1400 people, with a substantial number in the local Ibstock and Ellistown areas in Leicestershire. Despite the impressive output figures, the UK as a whole is suffering from a housing shortage that is not helped by a lack of bricks. To address the shortfall, it is estimated that a further 400 million bricks will be required annually; a demand that is currently met by imports from continental Europe. In response, Ibstock Brick is increasing its output by constructing one of the most modern brick factories in the world. In fact, the company estimates that the new £54 million facility will increase its production capacity by a further 100 million bricks per annum. Total connectivity All modern factories call for connectivity, and this includes services such as lighting, for which the company was keen to ensure the latest technologies were utilised. “We were introduced to the project by Siemens as we are a solutions partner for their building technologies division,” explains Dave Watkins, director of Abtec BT, a specialist in bringing cost-saving intelligence to buildings. “After an initial chat with Ibstock, at which we had the opportunity to put forward our ideas, we were asked to tender formally for the project, which we duly won.” The solution proposed by Abtec BT was based on a number of class-leading technologies, including LED sources, open platform functionality, sustainability and, of course, connectivity. This proposal contrasted notably to the original brief, which was based on fluorescent lighting. “We had to justify the technology and why Ibstock should go for it,” states Mr Watkins. “However, the advantages of the proposal were pretty apparent and the company soon placed the order.” Demonstrating the payback Abtec BT’s alternative to traditional lighting and controls facilitated the potential to build an energy-efficient building management system. Significant payback on the proposed solution was demonstrated, along with CO2 savings to match. In terms of the actual choice of lighting, the nature of the environment within the factory made this task especially challenging. Specialist conditions meant that the system not only had to be energy efficient, but had to be installed to a very specific standard, a factor that called for careful thought in the design of the concept, as well as consideration for future maintenance requirements. “We proposed DALi light fittings, which were rated to a high IP (ingress protection) with no metal exposed,” explains Mr Watkins. “This is important as a combination of brick dust and moisture in the atmosphere can cause incorrectly specified light fittings to corrode. In addition to their suitability for the operating environment, the use of DALi lighting would also provide the control and feedback needed at the management graphics end of the system.” 300 light fittings In total, Abtec BT calculated the need for 300 light fittings above the 295 x 86m factory floor in order to maintain the necessary lux levels. Contamination from the brickmaking process will of course affect lux levels over time, but the nature of the connected lighting solution proposed by Abtec BT means it is possible to account for this eventuality. “At installation, new lights can be dimmed to counter the fact that they will probably emit lux levels that are too high,” says Mr Watkins. “However, as time passes and the lights get contaminated from factory production processes, so we can dim up accordingly. Having a high understanding of issues such as these helped us to secure the Ibstock contract.” The installation undertaken by Abtec of the electrical elements such as the busbar also had to be carefully selected and installed. Due to the challenging height of the building (over 17m), the sensors used and the location required close scrutiny. Effective energy management Abtec BT’s system has all the elements necessary to provide effective energy management, including presence detection from sensors mounted throughout the factory, automated function and duration testing of emergency lighting, constant daylight control and some scene setting. “Constant light control means that we monitor natural light levels across the whole factory and adjust the DALi lighting accordingly,” says Mr Watkins. “For instance, if the sun comes out and natural light levels improve we can slowly dim the lights [not noticeable by the naked eye], thus generating savings.” In total, energy savings of around 50% are anticipated in comparison with a traditional lighting install, along with an annual CO2 reduction of 170,041 kg. When coupled with the automated emergency testing, further savings are expected, leading to an estimated project payback of less than two years. Open platform “The system installed is open in its approach to technology; KNX has been used for the field based sensors, BACnet for integration to heating and ventilation, and MODBUS to bring in the metering data,” explains Mr Watkins. Importantly, the entire system links to Abtec’s integrated building energy management system, HYDRA, which allows users to easily navigate and visualise logged events. Built on the latest vector graphics platform (HTML5), HYDRA helps users zoom in to the information they need, whether on a PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. The HYDRA system, with its supervisor control and data acquisition functions, is a window into the heart of a building, as well as a proactive tool giving information to managers so they can make informed business decisions. HYDRA supports OPC, ModBus and BACnet, and allows integration with third-party systems. Data aggregation
Boon Brown is celebrating being granted planning permission and conservation area consent for a challenging development in Battersea which will create five residential apartments whilst reinstating a local Victorian public house. The former Queens Arms public house was closed and then converted to a small shop with vacant premises above until Boon Brown’s successful design converted the building back into a 3590 sq ft pub/restaurant plus one studio and four two-bedroom residential units. In Boon Brown’s plan for client James Laurence Group, a public house with restaurant and back-of-house facilities will occupy the ground floor and basement, with an extension to the existing first and second floors helping provide space for four apartments. A new third floor will house one, two-bedroom flat. Explains Craig Jones of Boon Brown: “To bring back a regarded local asset as well as providing much needed housing has made the Queens Arms project a joy to work on. The Queens Arms had been a public house since it was built in 1865 but closed two years ago. Despite attempts by Wandsworth Council via Article 4 Directions, the pub was converted to a shop and now has planning permission to be converted back to pub use with integrated restaurant. An agreement with a successful local operator to take on the pub and restaurant post refurbishment should secure the future for the Queens Arms.” As the Queens Arms is in the Park Town Conservation Area and is included in Wandsworth Borough Council’s ‘local list’ of unlisted buildings of architectural or historic significance, Boon Brown’s design had to be sympathetic to the local heritage context. Boon Brown’s proposal retains the original built form, with its distinct two-tone ‘public house’ commercial façade, articulated pillasters and arched windows, and the local vernacular and irregular form of the set-back upper floors. An existing ground floor extension will be brought in line with the style of the pub façade, with larger arched openings to serve the apartments’ joint entrance. The simple, bespoke aluminium doors will follow the architectural language of the existing fabric with a contemporary touch. Above this, a new one storey extension retains the building‘s mellow character, matching the existing elevation as well as the existing brickwork type and colour to create a natural continuity. The original plaster and painted cornice and string courses are continued across the new structure and the windows match the proportions, colours and types of the existing sashes. At the second floor, a minimal full glass extension provides interesting perspectives for the studio apartment, while it is incorporated neatly within the dominant character of the building. The third-floor roof extension steps back from the existing parapet and is clad in zinc, with a simple plan form to avoid over-fussy lines. The external walling adopts a mansard arrangement to soften the visual edge. This success comes just four months after Boon Brown gained planning permission for a contemporary detached house in the yard of the Queens Arms. Work is expected to start on site in late October 2018.
One of the UK’s hallowed university sites benefited from Sika’s waterproof liquid-applied seal that helps preserve the roofing detail. The roof refurbishment at Central Building – part of Cambridge University’s Fitzwilliam College campus – was one of the first projects to apply a pioneering approach. The approach included combining Sikalastic®-621, a highly-durable and elastic liquid polyurethane system, designed for areas with complex detailing, with Sika Sarnafil’s single-ply waterproof membrane. Working closely with architect Cullinan Studio, contractors Gunite (Eastern) and Roofing Contractors Cambridge (RCC), and the college, Sika’s challenge was to create an appropriate waterproofing solution for the roof’s intricate design. Constructed in 1963 by renowned architect Denys Lasdun, the original Central Building features protruding ‘scalloped’ detailing, hence the contractor’s potentially challenging requirement: waterproof the flat roof – which itself had plenty of challenging details – and the scalloped areas, whilst maintaining the look and integrity of the roof and the building as a whole. Concrete repairs were carried out to the underside of the protruding scallops. Initially, this involved applying Sika® MonoTop®-610, a high performance, polymer-modified primer, in lieu of high-build concrete repair mortar: Sika® MonoTop®-615. The steel reinforcement was protected with Sika® FerroGard®-903+. This penetrates the concrete and forms a protective monomolecular layer on the surface of the reinforcing steel, to prevent its corrosion. The concrete was finished with Sikagard®-550W, a high-performance anti-carbonation coating, with crack-bridging capabilities, that protects the concrete, whilst meeting the aesthetic requirements of the structure. “Due to the unusual shape of the scallops, it wasn’t aesthetically practical to install sheet membrane on them, so many, many discussions took place to decide how best to tackle this. The Sikalastic® product ensured these unique details would be protected without altering their shape. It’s not unusual for a project to incorporate small amounts of Sikalastic, but this is one of the first projects where the Sarnafil membrane and Sikalastic®-621TC have been used over large areas together,” said Save Stewart, RCC Managing Director. It was thanks to the collaborative relationship between Sika Sarnafil’s technical experts, RCC’s highly experienced fitters and concrete repair contractor Gunite (Eastern), that the finished roof met the strict requirements of the architect and client.
FENSA, the largest and longest established Competent Person Scheme (CPS) within the replacement window and door industry, is pleased to announce that it has appointed CMDi –built environment brand specialists, to explore the ‘grey’ market. The scale and form of the ‘grey’ market is one the construction industry’s great unknowns but it is a recurring issue for many installers who are doing everything by the book only to find there are “competitors” who are winning business but are not operating legally or ethically. FENSA’s role is to enable member companies to self-certify compliance under the Building Regulations, without the need for a separate assessment from Building Control. In the past few years FENSA has been made aware of companies not registering window or door installations and in some cases installing windows that are not complying with Building Regulations. FENSA’s Managing Director, Anda Gregory, commented: “As the market leader, FENSA has a responsibility to ensure that our brand is well positioned to clearly communicate the role FENSA plays, not only to build value for our members, but to provide protection for homeowners. We have appointed CMDi to work with us as long-term partners to carry out a robust programme of research to establish the size and nature of the grey market.” Managing Director of CMDi, Dianne Lucas, said “We are looking forward to working with FENSA as it has a vital role to play in the industry. CMDi has a unique blend of sector focused business strategies including research, brand positioning and communications delivery.” CMDI’s initial task will be to establish the issues affecting the industry through extensive industry and consumer research. From there, the consultants will work on brand and communications strategies to further strengthen FENSA’s market leading position to ensure it meets the current and long term challenges facing by the industry.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology has been adopted enthusiastically in many different sectors for its ability to track people and items. For the building industry, too, it has a range of applications which help businesses to better manage their assets, materials, workforce and projects whilst also improving safety and security. What is RFID technology? RFID is a technology that enables a microchip to interact with a reader using radio waves. The small RFID chips can be embedded into tags or sticky labels and attached to items. When a chip comes within range of a reader, the information stored on it is read and sent to a central IT system, enabling the item to be located and tracked. Crucially, RFID tags and labels, such as those available from Universal Smart Cards, don’t need their own power source as they are activated by the reader, this makes them ideal for low-cost tracking. Chips can also be embedded into smart cards and wristbands enabling members of the workforce to be tracked as they move around construction sites. Here, we’ll look at four ways RFID technology is changing the building industry. Automated timekeeping and payroll One significant benefit of RFID is that it can automatically log the entry and exit of every member of the workforce on the site. Using fixed readers at the entrance totally eradicates the need for any manual recording of arrival and departure such as signing or clocking in. And there is no potential for workers to forget to sign in or out. This process drastically reduces the administrative burden on construction companies as the time each worker spends on site is automatically recorded. The data collected by the system can also be used to automate payroll reducing costs even more. By placing readers at other points around the site, employers can get further insights into working patterns, tracking the movement of workers and the time they spend in various places on the job site. This can be used to help find more efficient ways of working and to increase productivity. Asset management Building companies have a vast array of expensive equipment that they need to manage. From vehicles to hand tools, it is important to know where these items are on a construction site and who has been using them. By scanning items in and out of storage areas, it is possible to track when they were used, how long for and when they were returned. If RFID access control is used to authorise entry into the storage area, the system also logs the identity of the person who takes the equipment. Using fixed readers on the entrance to the storage area means the worker and the item are logged on the IT system as leaving at the same time. With fixed readers in situ around the site or by using handheld readers, it is also possible to locate any items which go missing. However, if workers know that they have been logged using the item, they are more likely to look after it responsibly and take it back when finished. Materials management A problem for many building companies is having to pay workers to do nothing because it has run out of materials. Not only does this reduce the profitability of each job, it also delays schedules which could be a major issue if another contractor coming on board has to wait for the work to be finished. This can result in contractual problems, fines and reputational damage. RFID can provide a workable solution for these types of problems as it enables companies to keep track of the materials that are in stock. Simply attaching an RFID sticker to items enables them to be scanned, letting site managers know how much of each item is on the site. As supplies begin to get low, orders can be placed with suppliers before materials run out and workers are left at a standstill. Making sites safer Ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations is paramount on any building site. RFID technology can enhance safety for workers, especially in areas where there are potential hazards, as tags embedded in their ID smart cards can be used to trigger safety alarms when they get near. Depending on the nature of the site, this can be sound alarms, flashing lights or both. At the same time, access control systems can be programmed to restrict access to authorised users only. This can be done on an individual basis. This means entry to potentially hazardous areas of the site can be restricted to specific people. If someone without authorisation enters, an alert can be sent immediately to the site manager. Wrapping up RFID tags and sensors provide building companies with more effective ways to manage their assets and materials, improve health and safety, track worker activity and reduce administrative burdens. In doing so, they improve the efficiency of the company, helping it to reduce costs and losses whilst providing insights that can make it even more productive.
