ACA News130
Summer 2017
Free membership boosts the ACA Message from the president I may be a bit of a retread but I’m pleased to serve as president for a second time, especially since the ACA seems to be going through something of a revival in energy and ambition. It is perhaps symptomatic that we have been able to take a prominent role with the Construction Industry Council working party responding to the Grenfell Tower disaster – see page 3 – the cause of something approaching a nervous breakdown for the construction industry. I’m delighted that immediate past president Richard Harrison is taking the lead for us here. As my interview on Talk Radio indicates, it is my belief that the ACA’s contribution should focus on the loss in the continuity of design intention from conception through to completion which has taken place over recent years. Our
Soapbox (page 5), hosted by Rab and Denise Bennetts, which preceded the Grenfell disaster, was on target, debating ‘Delivery is an essential part of design’. On page 8 Andy Rogers gives us a full and up-to-date planning report – another movable feast and a challenging prospect for architects and their clients. ACAPAG remains proactive and is consulted by government. We have successfully argued that local planning authorities cannot charge any fee they want while remaining monopoly service providers. Government has now picked up the ACA’s 2006 planning manifesto policy of introducing competition in the processing of planning applications to undertake this service (by other local authorities or approved professionals, as with building control) and a pilot to try this out should be underway now. If you come
across this please let us know. We are receiving very interesting results from our member survey on your experience with pre-application advice from planning authorities. Details of the survey are on page 11; please click the link and add your experiences. We will report full results later in the year and to government, since policy is to amend the National Planning Policy Framework so as to give even greater importance to preapplication advice. Our view is likely to be that the government needs to review the operation of the process before they do this. The AJ reported the results of our members’ survey on your experience with the new RIBA Plan of Work which we report on page 13, another mixed reaction. Led by Stephen Yakeley we are planning to publish an ACA ‘overlay’ which both reconciles the old alphabetical stages with the new numerical stages >>>
INSIDE 03 Grenfell Tower 05 Soapbox 09 ACAPAG Planning Update 12 Pre-Apps survey 13 Meeting Lord Stunell 14 Feedback on the new Plan of Work 15 PII: Exclusive Scheme for ACA
Practices 15 The Contractual Approach to BIM 17 Reassessing Adjudication 19 Is there much call for models anymore? 21 Showcase, projects by: Jonathan Louth Architects,
IBLA, Assael, Sutters Partnership, BWCP 24 In memoriam: Rob Walker 25 Health & Safety Update 26 AGM 2016 27 Publications 28 Benefits of membership
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