More Focus 鈥� Page 559
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Access all areas
New legislation requires service providers and owners of public buildings to make their premises easily accessible for disabled people. Great news for disabled people – and builders.
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Welcome to year zero
The Woolf reforms have ushered in a new era in construction law. What they have done, in effect, is legislate for virtue – and, as a couple of recent cases show, after a few fingers have been burned it might just work.
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Adjudication vs the law
For the first time, an adjudicator's decision has been challenged on legal grounds, and the court's verdict went some way to sorting out how adjudication relates to the law.
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Parental responsibility
Do parent company guarantees mean that you never need to worry about your partner going bust? Well, as you might have guessed, there's no such thing as 100% security.
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Let there be light
The provision of efficient and cost-effective lighting, both natural and artificial, is a major factor in avoiding sick building syndrome.
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It’s all in the timing
Robert Smith of recruitment consultant Hays Montrose explains how to maximise your productivity
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Appointments
ContractorsGarry Hague has been appointed group communications manager at Willmott Dixon.Bob Headley has been appointed managing director of Doncaster-based MSI-Mech Construction. Mick Males has been made manufacturing manager and Sean Rhodes has become financial manager. Southern Electric Contracting has appointed Keith Lambert commercial manager.Gary Laxton has joined new interior contractor ...
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Materials life costs
The life-span of profiled metal claddings, and their susceptibility to corrosion, is tackled in the fourth in this series on the whole-life costs of materials, which is compiled by 精东影视 Performance Group to assist specifiers and clients.
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Winning the West
Bristol’s loss of the 拢58m harbourside scheme seems to have done little to hurt the local economy, thanks to a few major projects, but firms still need a good plan to make it in a savagely competitive market.
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Timber’s back in the frame
A damning TV documentary on timber-frame homes sent the English and Welsh market into a downward spiral. Now it’s making a comeback – but with a new twist.
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Kate Priestley
A woman in a male domain, the head of NHS Estates has had to work hard to earn respect. Now the most powerful woman in construction, it is her job to ensure that the health building budget of 拢1.8bn a year is spent efficiently.
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The living daylights
It may look like a Bond villain's lair, but the gleaming glasshouse nestling in the Welsh hills is Foster and Partners' centrepiece to the 拢43.3m botanic garden.
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Totally absorbing
Ove Arup's Chris Twinn has pioneered a radical humidity control system for a Jersey document store. Will it revolutionise building services?
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Measuring up
The performance measurement software system that has won accolades from the Movement for Innovation.
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Who needs experts?
Lord Woolf believes that limiting the number of expert witnesses in construction disputes will reduce the cost of litigation, but will it? And is it a workable solution anyway?
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Language lessons
Contracting or subcontracting with a company from another part of Europe can be fraught with linguistic and legal problems – as a recent case shows. It’s best to make sure the details are worked out first.
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Border skirmishes
A recent decision by a Scottish sheriff suggests that the court’s powers in Scotland are different to those in England and Wales.
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Woolf’s teeth
An important element of the Woolf reform is the idea of a pre-action protocol, which governs how parties should behave before litigation starts. Fail to follow it and the court can now take a big chunk out of you.
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Cost study: Sustainable low-energy housing
Sixteen sustainable low-energy houses and flats were constructed in Glasgow for 拢60,900 each. This low capital price was achieved despite building in sophisticated environmental features that will significantly cut whole-life costs.