More Focus – Page 562
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Cost model: Call centres
Call centres, the new information factories, are evolving as employers recognise that the working environment can affect business efficiency and staff turnover. Cost consultants Davis Langdon Everest and Mott Green Wall examine the specification and costs of call centres
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What difference does a year make?
Did the Egan report really announce a cultural revolution in construction? As a conference prepares to mull over the changes one year on, ¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓ analyses the response of both industry and clients.
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John Hobson
The man charged with implementing Egan has a job-and-half on his hands. But with bosses John Prescott and Nick Raynsford respectively providing power and commitment, he believes he has the backing to do it
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Measuring for real
The key performance indicators could change the way clients select firms, but are they up to the job? ¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓ asked Gardiner & Theobald to test them on real-life projects.
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The benchmark [Asda superstore, Swansea]
The fourth in ¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓ s series highlighting best practice looks at how Kajima used prefabrication and performance monitoring to achieve major time and cost savings on Asda s new Swansea store. A panel of experts looks at how it was done.
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On the right track
How Bovis is using bar coding technology from the retail sector to manage the supply chain on an Egan demonstration project.
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How to do 32 jobs at once
The first standard form of contract for facilities management is here, and it covers everything from insurance to cleaning in terms that construction firms will find strangely familiar.
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Relationship difficulties
There is a consensus that partnering is the way forward. But the concept is vague, and it may have unexpected effects on relationships within the project team it may even provide contractors with brand-new excuses.
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Who do you think you are?
A JCT provision allows firms to sue employers that ultimately pay them but with which they have no contract. Is this really a good idea?
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Clash points
Should natural justice apply to adjudication? If it does, you can kiss goodbye to the main purpose of the Construction Act. Fortunately, it doesn t. So that s OK then?
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Clash points
Half right. In fact, natural justice does apply, albeit within the constraints of adjudication s statutory framework after all, a process that is obviously unfair will not attract many supporters.
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Fighting terms
Performance specifications allow the industry to work together to produce optimal solutions - as long as the contract fosters teamwork. Unfortunately, JCT98 does not.
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Materials life costs
The third in ¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓ s series of whole-life costs for materials focuses on double-glazed units. It is compiled by ¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓ Performance Group to help specifiers.
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Best foot forward
Nancy Cavill meets Dr Jaz Saggu, the man in charge of Bovis' new best-practice training programme.
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Appointments
Contractors Ian Smith , formerly with Bovis Construction, has joined building and civil engineering contractor Charles Le Quesne as managing director. John Mowlem has appointed Louisa Blair to its market management contracting and major projects division. Mansell has promoted Philip Cleaver to the newly ...
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Have you got what it takes?
Are your projects models of best practice others could learn from? Egan called for firms to nominate their innovative schemes as demonstration projects. Here are four that made the grade.
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Wessex Water, Bath
A client committed to reducing environmental impact, an architect known for low-energy design and a construction manager anxious to test green construction techniques form the team behind one of the most ambitious of the projects. The £22m operations centre for 550 Wessex Water staff, under way on a rare ...
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Office development, Watford
True perfection or as near to it as imperfect construction professionals can get is the ambitious goal at the Radius project, a 5000 m 2 speculative office development in Watford. Developer Guardian Properties, architect Hurley Robertson Associates, consulting engineer WSP and contractor Wates have set ...
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Science building, Bristol University
Bristol University s new, £12m Synthetic Chemistry ¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓ embodies much of the construction industry s post-Latham, post-Egan gospel. Two-stage tendering, a non-adversarial contract, off-site fabrication and value engineering may not be ground-breaking in themselves. But, taken together, they represent a large part of the construction industry s New Testament. ...
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Edinburgh’s Dynamic Earth museum opens
Queen cuts ribbon at £34m, Hopkins-designed interactive visitor centre today.