Chris Kirby-Turner is a partner in the construction & engineering team at Thomson Snell & Passmore LLP It’s common knowledge that construction is facing a sustained period of exceptional price volatility. As a result, it is not uncommon for a party to reach a level of contractual risk that they…
Author Archives: Contributor
Building safety: manufacturers step up
Steve Marr is compliance director at distributor SIG and interim CEO of Construction Product Information Ltd “It’s hard to build safe buildings without safe products,” said Geoffrey Brown of the Office for Product Safety and Standards at last month’s Building a Safer Future Conference. It’s hard to argue with that.…
What is the latest an interim-payment application can be issued?
Amy Pairman is an associate at Brodies LLP The recent case of Elements (Europe) Ltd v FK Building Ltd will have practical, day-to-day implications regarding the timings around interim-payment applications. “The court said that the law does not deal in fractions of a day” The case relates to an interim…
Data can supercharge life-science construction programmes
Nigel Barnes is head of life science, EMEA, at construction consultancy Linesight “Can you give me a rough cost?” is a question I was often asked in a previous role as head of engineering at pharma multinational GSK. Refuse to speculate and you’re being – at best – unhelpful. But…
The biggest challenge for construction is the talent drought
Graham Harle is chief executive of Gleeds Worldwide With soaring inflation and the escalating cost of materials dominating the headlines of late, another issue has been quietly chipping away at the foundation of the UK’s construction sector: an increasing shortage of labour. Even the Home Office is reportedly looking at…
New childcare support measures will drive better diversity in construction
Elizabeth Hardwick-Smith is group people and culture director at Pick Everard This year’s Budget centred around getting those who want to work, back to work. With extended childcare support for one-to-two-year-olds being the headline announcement, there is now a great opportunity to tackle one of construction’s biggest challenges – improving…
The ‘golden thread’ links building safety and decarbonisation
David Medcraft is a partner at property consultancy TFT Our industry is subject to tightening legislation on both energy efficiency and safety: from the beginning of April 2023, commercial buildings beneath an EPC rating of ‘E’ cannot legally be let. Also this month, the new Building Safety Regulator will be…
Social immobility: Is adding social value to bids a waste of time?
Everyone’s talking about social value. But with vague rules and measurements, is a lack of client knowledge the elephant in the room? Kristina Smith reports The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 came into force just over a decade ago in January 2013. The act requires public authorities to consider…
Standing firm: the secret of scaffolding firms’ financial success
Keith Cooper asks how scaffolding specialists have managed to protect their profits, despite the headwinds of recent years From the outside, scaffolding firms seem as susceptible as any other construction specialist to the many challenges of recent years. The pandemic, huge hikes in the cost of materials and the chronic…
Are overseas-worker changes a positive step or just too much hassle?
Yash Dubal is director of A Y & J Solicitors Jeremy Hunt’s Budget announcement of a relaxation of immigration rules was designed to help construction firms struggling to employ workers in a range of trades and to “ensure that the UK labour market has access to skills and talent from…