Construction manager march 2017

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Agenda

Mar 17

News and views 04

Interview: CITB’s Sarah Beale

New chief executive on how the training body will move forward.

06 ‘Ex-Services can help us modernise’

Mark Farmer’s call to employ more military leavers.

08 CIOB launches diversity drive

Institute aims to connect with under-represented groups.

10 Feedback

Letters, comments and readers’ views on the Housing White Paper.

12 Procurement key to improvement

Constructing Excellence’s Don Ward says the government needs to drive change.

14 The skills crisis in numbers

James Bryce from Arcadis offers some statistics that make for sober reading.

Features 16

20

26

28

30

42

58

Interview: Graham Cash BAM Construct’s CEO talks Brexit, digital and collaborative working.

The big carve up ISG carried out intricate works from within a central London building to bring it into the 21st century.

Offsite’s inside edge A new scheme is training prisoners in construction skills and helping deliver much-needed housing.

Factory outlet Accord is offering its offsite expertise to other housing associations.

A model for housing regeneration Andy von Bradsky outlines the government’s strategy for estate redevelopment.

CPD: Modern slavery How to detect construction’s biggest hidden problem — and what to do about it if you do.

Project of the month Thames Tower, Reading.

30 Construction professional 36

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Rising problem of drone use

Filming people, even innocently, without their permission could land you in trouble.

Seven tips for working abroad What you need to know before heading for the airport.

Bird-proofing your site Construction during the nesting season is a no-no... so here’s what you need to do.

Construction visits the classroom A new initiative aims to make a career in construction more appealing to young people.

Long on detail, short on action Assad Maqbool dissects the Housing White Paper.

58

+ Contact

46-55 All the latest news and reports from CIOB members and branches

Take the test on this issue’s CPD subject of modern slavery and additional topics at

www.constructionmanagermagazine.com/cpd

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News

CITB chief executive: ‘I absolutely believe there is a future for us’ Sarah Beale takes over with training body’s future on the line, as she announces plans to cut levy.

The CITB is yet to decide whether its cut in the levy will be a permanent or temporary measure and has been driven to make the cut to reduce its £90m cash reserves, acting chief executive Sarah Beale has revealed.

Cutting the levy by a third is one of a number of sweetener initiatives the body is rolling out over the coming year.

Beale took up her new post at the end of last year, taking over from Adrian Belton, who had led the training body since 2014.

After 12 years at the CITB in roles such as chief financial officer and corporate performance director, the former accountant

has taken the top position at a critical time.

The organisation is fighting to survive a government review of levy-funded training bodies being carried out by Paul Morrell, the former chief construction adviser.

It also faces a crunch vote later this year on industry consensus over its levy-raising powers amidst growing negative sentiment.

Larger firms will also have to pay the new apprenticeship levy and there is much criticism that CITB doesn’t do enough to help SMEs. The vote will take place in August and September, with a government decision expected by February 2018. The CITB needs

“We’ve been listening to industry feedback and what industry has told us is that we’re a little bit difficult to understand and can be too complex.”

Sarah Beale, CITB

to win more than 50% of the construction vote in terms of numbers of levy payers and value of the levy paid.

Talking of her plans to cut the levy Beale says that the CITB needs reserves it can call on to service the industry’s peaks and flows, but “ultimately it is the industry’s money that is sitting there so it needs to be put to better use”.

Dovetailing with the levy cut, the CITB also plans to overhaul the way it pays grants to construction firms from April 2018.

The new proposal would see the introduction of automated grant payments with firms no longer having to apply to the CITB for the cash. The new automated system is aimed at alleviating the HR burden on firms, particularly SMEs, with employers no longer having to engage in a lengthy grant application process.

Says Beale: “We’ve been listening to industry feedback and what industry has told us is that we’re a little bit difficult to understand and can be too complex, so what we want to do is hone down and just do a few things really clearly and really well.”

There are also plans to launch a national competence register for construction workers, which would provide employers with a training CV for every employee, outlining the training that person has undertaken throughout their career.

Beale says this overall drive towards more transparency is about collecting a clear evidence base that can be used in the future for the way it delivers its services and training support.

“We acknowledge that changes have to be made and we want to be able to do the right things well and deliver products and services directly and deliver as much of the levy back into value-added services, either through direct funding or through services construction firms are asking for us to support,” she says.

She maintains that the future lies in increasing the evidence base available to the construction industry to ensure it stays ahead of the curve when it comes to skills shortages. One of the ways this may be done is through a skills map of the UK where the

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News

Material matters Printed sandstone will be one of the futuristic materials showcased at an exhibition highlighting innovative scientific building materials that could transform the construction industry.

On display at Supermaterial will be Digital Grotesque, a complex architectural form printed in sandstone

by Swiss architect Michael Hansmeyer that pushes the imaginative boundaries of the technology.

The exhibition brings together new-age materials from international laboratories, academic institutions, start-up tech companies and designers and shows how the influence of science, technology and sustainability is impacting the built environment.

Among the materials that will be displayed are glass bricks, transparent wood, BioConcrete and 3D printed steel and a carbon-negative facade system.

Supermaterial is running at the Building Centre London until 27 April.

construction sector uses tangible data to better plan for future skills needs.

The database would not only look at what skills are needed in certain geographies or sectors, but whether there are the right training resources in those areas to ensure the needs can be met.

This, in turn, can be used by employers to plan their training and influence government policy, as well as delivering the overall CITB services more effectively.

Questioned about Mark Farmer’s report Modernise or Die, which called for an overhaul of the CITB, and the growing spectre of Paul Morrell’s review, Beale says she is confident there is a future for the CITB. “I absolutely do think there is a future for us and we’re working alongside Mark Farmer and Paul Morrell. In particular Paul and the review team. I honestly see that by working with both of those there’s some real opportunities. We ourselves recognise the need to reform — hence our plans.”

She adds: “Paul is very keen on working with us and industry to draw up ways to measure the effect of what we do and the impact it has on the sector. That way we can then align our services, so in the future the industry will be more clear on the value and difference the CITB has made.”

Ireland in drive to tempt workers to return home The Irish construction industry is launching a major drive to persuade its workers to return home.

The Construction Industry Federation (CIF), the representative body for construction companies and contractors across Ireland, has begun the push to try to entice back both professionals and skilled tradesmen such as scaffolders, engineers, site managers and general labourers.

After Ireland’s financial crisis and property crash, thousands of construction trades fled the country to the UK and further afield to seek work.

However, the fortunes of the Emerald Isle have begun to recover.

The CIF has forecast that Ireland’s construction industry will grow from £12bn to £17bn up to 2020, with an additional 112,000 employees needed to meet demand.

It estimates construction projects worth £16bn will begin or be completed in the next 12 months.

CIF has said up to 31,000 carpenters and joiners, 28,000 general labourers, 12,000 plumbers and 14,000 plasterers are needed over the course of the next three years.

The first initiative as part of this campaign is the launch of a new jobs website that will target the diaspora with further measures expected over the coming months.

Tom Parlon, director-general of the CIF, said: “The website is aimed at workers from the UK, New York and Dubai, but geographically we expect most interest from the UK. We already have a number of workers and people who commute weekly into places like London so this could be an attractive move.

“The industry has been in recovery since 2013, but with a number of government programmes announced in infrastructure, housing and other areas all indicators are positive and pointing to sustainable long-term growth.”

Speaking to CM Mike McDonagh, director for recruitment firm Hays Ireland, said UK-based Irish construction workers were in high demand due to the skills they had acquired while working abroad and can now bring back to the country.

“There’s a huge gap in skills in Ireland. Five or six years ago, for example, someone looking for a quantity surveyor job would have been disappointed as there weren’t any, now they would be comfortably offered three to five different options.

“Those working generally in the UK, they’ve been working on interesting projects and exposed to different ways of working, particularly in the area of BIM, which is being adapted in Ireland but at a slower pace than the UK.” CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | MARCH 2017 | 5

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CIOB News

Power station wins Art of Building prize A picture of an Art Deco power station in Budapest has scooped this year’s CIOB Art of Building photography competition and the £3,500 cash prize.

Urban photographer Roman Robroek from the Netherlands, who took the photograph of Kelenfold Power Station, titled “Control”, said: ”It’s quite challenging to get a foot in the door in a world filled with creative photographers but winning this competition is a great honour and confirmation that I’m on the right track.”

Thousands of amateur and professional photographers entered the free competition in October 2016.

For the first time the competition also introduced a £1,000 prize to support a Young Photographer of the Year (those aged 18 or under) which was awarded to Jonathan Walland.

‘Ex-Services can help us modernise’ Report author calls for industry to make more use of military leavers at launch of careers initiative.

Mark Farmer, author of the Modernise or Die report, has called on the industry to harness the skills of ex-Services personnel to help bring about the transformation of the sector he called for in his report.

Farmer made his comments at an event to mark the official launch of BuildForce, an industry-led initiative to encourage military service leavers and veterans into careers in the UK construction and built environment sector, at the Tower of London last month.

BuildForce, supported by the CIOB and partially funded by the CITB, aims to help reduce construction skills gaps while supporting ex-military personnel — through information, mentoring, work placements and training — into worthwhile careers. It was set up with support from Carillion, Crossrail, EY, Lendlease, Morgan Sindall and Wilson James.

Speaking at the London event Farmer said: “You all know my current crusade to try to modernise things and push the industry into the 21st century, particularly using modern methods of construction.

“Military people have this experience which we’ll need in the future, pre-planning, logistics and supply chain management. I’ve laid down the challenge to the industry, to modernise or die and I think BuildForce is helping take that on.”

The project’s advisory group now

“Military people have this experience which we’ll need in the future.”

Mark Farmer

includes more than 20 construction organisations, ranging from industry SMEs to international contractors and consultants.

The businesses act as mentors and help service leavers and veterans to gain work experience and identify career opportunities.

From Royal Hussar to training centre manager John Stevens was the Regimental Administration Warrant Officer for the King’s Royal Hussars, managing a team of 17 HR administrators and managers providing fiscal services to the regiment.

He felt he had a lot to offer: “My military experience gave me the ability to adapt and overcome: constant change happens within the Army without warning. I gained leadership and management skills and the confidence to motivate my team and develop them.

“Army life gives you the ability to perform under extreme physical and mental pressures, along with excellent decision making, problem-solving and strategic level creative thinking skills.

“I left the Army as an efficient organiser and multi-tasker capable of operating in a very fast-paced environment, with great communication skills.”

He says networking proved key to finding his first civilian role: “My son’s friend’s mother told me that BuildForce was about to start a partnership with Carillion, to help ex-military personnel move to careers within the construction industry, and I passed her my CV. “A Career Transitional Workshop was my first step in the right direction. Working with my mentor Chris James at Carillion Training Services helped me with interview techniques and preparing my CV. It also helped me realise skills I had, but was unaware of.”

Stevens is now manager of Carillion’s construction training centre in Bristol.

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CIOB News

Chris Blythe Leasehold scandal could become the next PPI

CIOB kicks off diversity drive Event engaged with construction’s under-represented groups.

Almost 200 people attended a CIOB reception in London to help promote diversity in the sector.

The reception, held at the end of January, was aimed at engaging with members of under-represented groups in construction — women, people from minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender individuals.

Diversity is one of the key issues the CIOB is aiming to address in 2017 and the

event at the Building Centre in London had a threefold purpose. First was to encourage entries for the Construction Manager of the Year Awards (CMYA) from a representative cross-section of the industry.

The second was to canvas volunteers and members for a new Ethics and Diversity Special Interest Group being set up by the CIOB. Lastly it was also held to publicise the “Preparations for Boards” course being run by the CIOB Academy. The course is particular aimed at under represented minorities and looks to help people move their career into more senior positions.

Jacqueline Balian, commercial director at the CIOB, said: “Overall we think the event was a great success and we had 180 people turning up. There was quite a lot of interest and a number of volunteers immediately put themselves forward for the new Diversity Interest Group.

“I think one of the key messages of the evening was really about the CMYA and how transformative it can be for your career and how it’s really worth going for, whatever your background.”

CIOB team takes on Minecraft lesson challenge The CIOB is celebrating International Construction Management Day on 13 March by filming a team attempting the CIOB Minecraft lessons.

The lessons, titled “Craft your Future”, were developed by the Institute as a construction game aimed at 12-14-year-olds that takes place in Minecraft.

Through it young learners explore the methods and skills to become a construction manager, introducing them to a career in construction.

In a series of four Minecraft education lessons, which can be downloaded by teachers anywhere and accessed via the Minecraft education platform, students encounter a variety of problems that reflect construction challenges in cities today.

The lessons take place in Newtown, a specially created virtual city in Minecraft, to design, plan, collaborate and build solutions that develop a sustainable future for all its citizens. Exercises also include real-life scenarios such as the restoration of Battersea Power Station.

Working with The Gameworkshop from Denmark and the Danish Architecture Centre each CIOB lesson is between three and six hours where groups of students, collaborate across the lessons. The lessons cover four

areas of construction: maintenance, restoration, new build and refurbishment.

The lessons have been picked up by teachers across the world, including recently in the US, with a class of 12-13-year-olds in New York filming their endeavours (https://vimeo.com/199935755).

The CIOB team taking part in the challenge comprises CIOB president, Paul Nash, past Minecraft competition winner Guy MacDonell ICIOB and Gina Al-Talal FCIOB, scholarships and research manager, construction innovation and development at the CIOB. See more at http://ciobmc.org/

Winners of innovation awards unveiled The CIOB has announced the winners of its 2016 International Innovation & Research Awards.

The awards recognise the best innovators and researchers in the built environment that are making a significant contribution to industry practice and the academic knowledge base through their work.

Winners included academics from the University of Westminster for their Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in Digital Construction.

See Contact, p46-55 for more details.

It was with some disappointment to see the underwhelming 240 words set aside in the Housing White Paper on the matter of leasehold and the exploitation going on at the moment.

Sure, it says: “We will therefore consult on a range of measures to tackle all unfair and unreasonable abuses of leasehold.” But really this just prolongs the abuses and will accelerate before any changes are made.

I would have preferred to see consumers’ interest put first and if necessary any changes to legislation could be backdated to negate any dash to beat the changes by developers and freeholders.

At the heart of the issue is the relatively recent practice of shorter leaseholds with increases in ground rent included in the contract not properly explained or hidden. Some may say is the conveyancer’s job to explain it to their clients, but in a market where there are more buyers than sellers, these sellers can and do abuse their position. Along with management and service companies, again often connected to the developer, the leaseholder gets a bad deal.

It gets worse, though, as freeholds get sold and passed on to speculators who either impose big ground rent increases or charge a fortune for the freehold to be bought out.

There is no real reason for this practice other than house builders taking advantage of buyers desperate to get on the home ownership ladder.

It is clear that the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 has failed to put the consumer in the driving seat because it’s the developer/ housebuilder/freeholder that decides on the arrangement at the start of a development.

Maybe it’s time to make commonhold the default arrangements for residential developments that would normally be done leasehold and ensure transparency from the start. As a further measure, current leasehold developments that were established with less than 100-year leases should be converted to commonhold at the freeholder’s expense.

As a parent watching my son battling to get on the housing ladder it’s been a real eye opener looking through some of the leasehold agreements around — legalised extortion in some cases.

When he asks me why house buyers are being exploited in this way I find it difficult to come up with any rational answer other than greed.

Maybe this exploitation of leaseholders will become the next PPI.

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Views

Industry must also step up to housing challenge

Feedback

THE LONG-AWAITED AND much-anticipated

Industry's multitude of sins

Housing White Paper doesn’t have the fireworks we’d been led to expect — partly because numerous new measures and policy had already been announced beforehand. But it still has some muchneeded and sensible proposals aimed at stoking supply.

Short of radical measures such as CPO-ing National Trust property or the Army building homes on seized council land, the diabolically dysfunctional housing market can’t be fixed overnight.

The problem is threefold: not enough local authorities planning for the homes they need; house building that is simply too slow; and a construction industry that is dominated by a few big players.

Just 10 companies build out 60% of the market. This is resulting in the construction of 100,000 fewer homes than we need every year and the unsustainable situation where it takes a first-time buyer couple 24 years to save up enough money for a deposit without family assistance and the ludicrous scenario whereby the average London home now earns £10 an hour more than the average London worker living in it.

The government has clearly listened and watered down some of its dafter policies, such as the demand on sites for 20% starter homes, allowing instead a wider form of low-cost housing. It provides a reality check on home ownership and makes some positive noises about planning support for the private rented sector. There’s some assistance to try to tempt smaller players back into the market — let’s hope it’s enough. And there's also support for offsite, which is welcome, but too vague

to know whether it will nurture the kind of initiatives covered in this issue (p26, 28).

Industry must play its part too in fixing the housing problem, by coming up with new approaches and innovative funding models to help councils deliver on new homes and to build faster and with better quality.

But what also comes through in the paper is mounting frustration with the housing sector. And who, for once, can blame the politicians? Big house builders have been bailed out by government in the bad times but have had no compunction about "parking" land with planning permission or relying too much on overseas labour.

There’s no detail in the White Paper, but the government says it wants to examine how schemes set up by big infrastructure projects like Crossrail can be replicated in housing to force the industry to get the industry training more people. That is welcome.

As recent reports have highlighted, some house builders have taken advantage of a seller's market. Poor workmanship and reluctance to put it right were highlighted in a report in the summer from an All-Party Parliamentary Group of MPs and in news reports since — all perpetuating an image of construction we’re trying to get away from. Add to that the growing issues with leaseholds (see Chris Blythe, p8) and it looks like the industry is ripping off its customers.

The government nods to these issues in the document, but that is all. These shoddy practices must be tackled. We need to up supply but not at any cost.

Denise Chevin, editor

BIM survey We will once again be surveying readers to find out more about the uptake of BIM and the measured benefits it is producing to both companies and projects. We have now launched the Annual CM BIM survey and would be delighted if you could take part.

To do so please visit https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BIM17.

Rod Sweet, via website On housing, it may already be too late for the domestic industry to meet the huge demand. Big money is already piling into this gap, bringing a different business model – prefabrication of affordable build-to-rent units (Chris Blythe: Avoid the snakes to continue industry's ascent, Feb 17).

Last year Legal & General teamed up with Dutch pension fund manager PGGM to premanufacture 3,000 apartments across the UK under a £600m build-torent campaign.

That’s nothing, however, compared with plans by state-owned China National Building Material Company to bring its industrial might to bear in a £2.75bn joint venture with housing association Your Housing Group (YHG), to premanufacture affordable rented housing. Six factories are planned, using British light gauge steel framing to produce panellised components.

Figures released by the British Property Federation (BPF) in February this year showed that there were more than 30,000 build-to-rent units with planning permission in the UK, a 47% increase since October 2015.

The dominant mode of UK home construction may be unrecognisable in a few years.

M A Underwood, via website Research and development is slow in construction because of the minuscule margins available throughout the industry.

Kale, via website It would be useful if the government changed its approach to training. Courses that lead to an award not being tax deductable?

How, if in the industry serious skills development is needed across all sectors, but particularly professionals, does that help matters?

We can't do it all via lunchtime CPD, particularly for complex subjects where in-depth learning is required, and study is

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Vox pop Does the Housing White Paper provide the recipe for fixing a broken market?

Julia Park

Andrew Jones

Architect and head of housing research, Levitt Bernstein If you’ve been expecting a creamy fish pie supper and arrive home to a fishfinger, you’re bound to feel a bit let down.

It’s not that the Housing White Paper is bad; it’s more that it fails to live up to its promises.

There are good bits – the acceptance that renting is here to stay; the new Lifetime ISA (with a 25% bonus if you save £4,000); a shorter window between planning approval and starting construction (down from three years to two); support for SMEs and MMC, and the recognition that good design matters.

There are bits that are not as bad as they were — the reduced quota for starter homes (halved to 10%) and the resurrection of affordable rent.

What more should they do? Take some tips from the London Mayor (waive the need for viability appraisals in return for 35% affordable housing and establish a "Local Living Rent" equivalent to a third of average gross pay); lift the borrowing cap to allow local authorities to build; rationalise the Greenbelt; put an end to Right to Buy, and don’t sell off public land (because it’s ours) — use it to build genuinely affordable housing that we can feel proud of.

Practice Leader — Design, Planning & Economics, Aecom Measures outlined in the White Paper should go some way towards delivering housing growth, but it is evident that some of the more transformative measures that were mooted have been dropped.

Initiatives designed to speed up delivery of house building are particularly welcome, including government support for offsite construction. Successful mainstream delivery will depend on building a robust supply chain, creative placemaking and the ability to deliver at volume in complex urban settings.

Reducing the timescales for developers to implement a permission for housing development from three to two years is encouraging but will not stimulate the shift-change needed. Building a stable supply of homes also requires long-term strategic planning and supply.

a tremendous cost in not just money, but time as well. Many professionals cannot afford it, and employers in my experience refuse to pay for it, or pay more for the employee once they have the extra skills.

More downs than ups Mr H Thomson, via website BIM Protocol: it’s a sad reflection of the times when we need to focus minds on the legal implications of using BIM (Prepare for a year of legal ups and downs, Jan 17). BIM projects were in existence for almost 10 years before they decided to legislate. These projects did not carry the same level of risk as they were designed using the latest 3D technologies and work methods without legislative redress.

Perhaps the fact that we have legislated instead of promoting natural progression is fundamental to the rise of

"Building a stable supply of homes also requires greater emphasis on long-term strategic planning and supply."

Andrew Jones, Aecom

Phil Wade Operations director, First Base While we welcome the government's attempts to support housing delivery, this week’s White Paper is long on targets and short on substance.

It is clear that the government is aiming to make the public sector more

legal concerns. This will undoubtedly lead to tighter controls which will prove to be counterproductive. Had we instead followed the example of a typical ISO9001 implementation then these issues would not arise.

Skills Shortage: it would seem to me that a blinkered approach to employment is also a contributing factor. With the demise of the oil and gas industry there is an abundance of highly skilled engineers and designers currently unemployed that can’t get work in the building industry because we don’t have the mindset to recognise key transferable skills.

A new way of working... or not?

Andrew Gibb FCIOB, via website So where is this different to design and build procurement? (Reintegrating structures and processes is within our

accountable for housing delivery. Local authorities need to be empowered, but their focus needs to be on long-term sustainable communities, not just shortterm target chasing. The only hope that the government has of achieving these targets is to nurture genuine publicprivate partnership, focused as much on housing quality as housing numbers.

Suzanne Benson Partner, Trowers & Hamlins A single Housing White Paper was never going to be broad enough to tackle all of the issues in the UK housing market.

What it does do, however, is set out a framework which is targeted at addressing many of the bigger issues identified as needing improvement: speeding up planning; introducing measures to secure delivery; resetting the conversation so it is wider than housing for sale; and providing some clarity — and a reduction — on the overall Starter Homes requirements.

grasp, Feb 17) The terms of reference seem to be very similar. Surely the CTM needs access to spatial designers at some point to envisage some sort of "concept"?

This model seems to require an "all my eggs in one basket" approach to risk management.

Contact us Do you have an opinion on any of this month’s articles? Email: constructionmanager@atom publishing.co.uk

Steve Townsend, via website Lots of work has been done by UOR via Prof Colin Gray whom I worked closely with on the technology cluster approach encompassing strategy, concept and detailed design, procurement and delivery.

Client decisions tend to be quick if funds are there (usually not the case if private sector). Design etc are procedural and can be static at times, leading to programme gaps and lost management.

Project scale is a major factor, of course, as is client type. Still a good initiative.

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Comment Don ward

Procurement is key to a better industry A trio of strategies establish a solid road map, but the government can drive one of the key elements in improving industry outcomes, namely procurement, says Don Ward.

IT WAS PERHAPS overshadowed by Brexit

and Trump developments that week, but Theresa May found time in late January to launch the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy. It had 10 main points, which included: Investing in science, research and innovation; Developing skills; Upgrading infrastructure; and Improving procurement. All are important for our sector, and provide a good focus for policy and funding.

With the Construction Leadership Council, which was set up to lead our sector focus on industrial strategy (Construction 2025), recently confirming its three areas for transformational change as Digital, Manufacturing, and Whole-life performance; and Mark Farmer’s review of the UK construction labour model Modernise or Die (#FarmerReview), which identified industrialisation and delivery through “premanufactured” offsite methods, we have a new trinity of connected strategy reports to address the sector’s ailments.

Plus ça change Of course, if this all seems familiar, it is.

In the 1990s the reports of Sir Michael Latham and Sir John Egan identified the same challenges. In the past 20 years UK construction has progressed — it is 70% safer, clients are 30% more satisfied, and the sector is responding to pressures on

carbon. You would not always think so to listen to some of the government rhetoric, but the sector is improving.

It’s collaboration that is delivering change, enabling BIM-led integration of the supply chain. And continuity of policy is good, our sector needs certainty and confidence in its change agenda as much as in its pipeline of work.

But government itself still holds one of the keys to unlock improvement — modern procurement. As the new strategy says: “…we must use strategic government procurement to drive innovation and enable the development of UK supply chains.”

In the Government Construction Strategy 2016-2020 three new models of construction procurement were highlighted: two-stage open book; costled procurement; and integrated project insurance (see box). These all feature early involvement and aligned commercial arrangements to incentivise collaboration.

Constructing Excellence and other industry bodies have since worked together on a programme of trial projects.

The first two approaches are quite well known and well proven. In our programme they have delivered on public sector projects in terms of value, cost savings of 10%-20% or more, time, quality, sustainability and social value. Proven good practice to be adopted far and wide,

Integrated project insurance IPI has exciting potential to be a game-changer.

Its first project is Dudley College’s Advance II building (pictured left), which is progressing nicely as a look at its project webcam (easily found via a search engine) shows. It features an integrated project team, appointed under OJEU rules, with an alliance contract, true collaborative working (as the insurance removes any business case for confrontation), a full BIM model, a project bank account, lean delivery, and uniquely gain/pain share with cost overrun insured for the client.

with a need to ensure Tier 2 of the supply chain and below is also fully engaged on a collaborative basis.

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) of the Cabinet Office now recommends these approaches for widespread use in the public sector – and detailed guidance and case studies are available on the IPA website as well as our own. The government’s Crown Commercial Service has included capability in the new models as a core competence expected of tenderers for its latest frameworks, and they are included in IPA’s Project Initiation Toolkit. So “all” that remains is for clients and their advisers to default to their use, unless there is a good case for traditional methods — or further innovation.

The government has progressed, it has good policies in place and while there undoubtedly remains a gap between policy and implementation, that gap is closing. The supply side now has a responsibility to respond — and to mirror the improvements by procuring for collaboration, early involvement and value in their own arrangements with their supply chains.

Supply chains? Hastily arranged one-off subcontract arrangements bought on lowest tender price are not supply chains.

Neither will they be, until procurers recognise this and are incentivised on the amount of repeat business they do with their suppliers.

The best way for clients to facilitate this is... to procure supply chains! Not a Tier 1 contractor, or a design consultant in isolation and then leave it to them to deal with the rest. As the new strategy puts it, modern procurement must “drive innovation and enable the development of UK supply chains”.

Time to walk the talk HMG. Don Ward is chief executive of Constructing Excellence

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Comment James Bryce

Skills crisis: Facing up to the numbers The figures relating to the construction skills gap are worrying enough, but if migrant workers are lost in a ‘hard’ Brexit, the situation is serious indeed, says James Bryce.

UK CONSTRUCTION must recruit more than

400,000 people each and every year between now and 2021 if it is to create the homes and infrastructure the nation needs, according to the latest report from Arcadis. Failure to address the skills gap could even result in the earnings of some tradespeople sky-rocketing inside a generation, leading to the rise of the “Minted” workforce — the Most in Need Trades Earning Double.

To measure the true extent of the skills crisis across the infrastructure and house building workforce, Arcadis has developed a “Talent Scale”.

In house building alone, the scale shows that if the UK is to increase output to 270,000 new homes over the next five years, it will need to employ in excess of 370,000 new people. Meanwhile, when it comes to meeting forecast national infrastructure requirements, an additional 36,500 people will need to be employed every year.

In terms of individual skills, the greatest need is for carpenters and joiners, where demand accounts for nearly a sixth of all national resource requirements. Plumbers, electricians, and bricklayers are also in high demand, particularly in the labour-

intensive house building sector.

Meanwhile, the report identifies a need for more than 7,400 civil engineers and 7,300 quantity surveyors.

London and the south east will need to employ more people than any other part of the UK, accounting for nearly 30% of total demand (110,000 people). With major national infrastructure programmes such as HS2 and Crossrail 2 already in the pipeline, it is expected that companies will need to draw heavily on the common talent pool of transferable skills if delivery targets are to be achieved.

Skills requirements Outside of London and the south east, the highest skills requirement is in the East of England and the south west, where more than 43,000 and 41,000 additional workers respectively are needed to meet projected regional housing and infrastructure requirements. At the bottom of the table is Northern Ireland, where employment demand accounts for just 3% of the national total.

These figures are independent of the impact of any eventual Brexit deal, which is likely to further increase the strain. In the event of a “hard” Brexit scenario —

Net loss of EU workers to house building and infrastructure to 2020

*Based on assumed 2016 house building and infrastructure workforce of 1.5m

for instance, extending the points-based system currently in place for non-EU migrants — the number of EU construction workers entering the UK could fall at the rate of attrition. If this were to play out, 215,000 fewer people from the EU would enter the infrastructure and house building sectors between now and 2020, further exacerbating the existing labour shortage.

What we have is not a skills gap — it is a skills gulf. Systemic underinvestment in the nation’s workforce has contributed to a reduction in UK productivity.

Construction employment is already down 15% on 2008 and, quite simply, if we don’t have the right people to build the homes and infrastructure we need, the UK is going to struggle to maintain its competitive position in the global economy.

However, overcoming a skills shortfall as vast as the one we now face can’t be achieved through education and technology alone. Of course, we need to bring more new talent into the industry but, in the short term, construction will also need to look at those currently working in other industries and dramatically improve its efficiency.

On top of this, as part of any Brexit deal, the government can help by looking to secure the rights of EU workers currently operating in UK construction, simplifying the visa system and minimising the tax burden on workers and business. If this fails to happen, many of the projects that the government has earmarked for economic stimulus could prove more difficult and costly to resource. In the worst case scenario these projects could fail to be delivered at all, reducing our ability to grow the economy and limiting investment in the industry.

James Bryce is director of strategic workforce planning at Arcadis

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Feature Interview

Designer, builder collaborator BAM Construct CEO Graham Cash talks Brexit, digital and why he will only work with collaborative clients.

Denise Chevin reports.

APART FROM THE architectural model on the white sideboard in his office, there’s very little to hint that Graham Cash started life as a designer. Neatly cut grey hair and moustache combined with dark pinstripe and a down-to-earth demeanour suggest a more traditional career path for the CEO of BAM Construct — a QS or accountant, perhaps.

But pretty quickly into our meeting at BAM’s base in Hemel Hempstead Cash proudly mentions his background. “I’m an architect by profession, which is unusual in this job,” he says, adding dryly: “And the other unusual thing is that I’ve still got this job!”

The recession certainly left a trail of devastation in its wake, taking the scalps of many contracting bosses. And while Cash is hardly linking his training with the fact he’s one of the few pre-Global Financial Crisis CEOs left standing, he does credit being an architect for always wanting to add value to projects and searching out like-minded clients who want to work collaboratively, and eschewing those only interested in the lowest price.

“We’ve not made a loss through the recession, though we have had issues and difficult contracts. However, we’ve

been quite balanced in what we’ve done through the recession,” he says.

The 2015 results showed a profit of £13m on a turnover of £898m. Financials for 2016 were due as CM went to press.

“Our margins were 1.5% and we’re targeting 2% this year, and we’re trying to increase that to 3%. These are not huge margins, yet we offer a lot of value in what we do. [The sector] sells its services cheaply,” he says.

“We didn’t follow the market to the bottom, and we’ve not been chasing turnover. The contractors who did that at the time are now the ones with the big, loss-making projects,” he says.

The latest big company where the scale of damage has been laid bare is Laing O’Rourke, which recently announced a £246m loss to March 2016. Was he surprised? “I’m surprised in one way because Ray O’Rourke is a canny guy, and he’s got a lot of good people working for him. He invested early in offsite, but he’s caught a cold in a number of areas, and one area is chasing that turnover. And when you’re desperate to win, you make decisions that you wouldn’t otherwise do.”

Cash says that so many clients who made all the right noises about

collaboration and relationship building during the boom quickly reverted to type once the work began to dry up.

He reels off the good guys — Argent, Great Portland Estates, Allied London.

BAM’s relationship with Argent goes back 30 years, spanning Birmingham’s Brindley Place, to King’s Cross. The important thing is being brought in early.

“Argent is looking at its new Brent Cross development, and even though we’re not going to be involved for a number of years, we’re already assisting them on the profile

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Feature Interview

of the commercial, retail and residential developments that they’ll do there.”

One project it won’t now be building at King’s Cross is the new Google HQ. It won the bid first time around until the AHMM design was judged too staid and Google brought in Thomas Heatherwick to look at it afresh. Lendlease is now strongly tipped as the front runner to build it. Cash says BAM didn’t bid again — “the risk profile of the job didn’t suit us”.

A design director in the days when BAM was Kyle Stewart — the original

cheerleader for design & build — Cash’s natural instinct is for more integrated working, hence the firm’s spearheading of a digital revolution in a bid to raise margins.

BAM got on board with BIM long before its peers and is now rolling virtual reality out across all of its projects. Cash is sold on harnessing BIM as a building management tool too, BAM has just used it this way for the first time on a £25m commercial project in Soho for Great Portland Estates.

But is he seeing a payback yet on digitisation? “You’ve got to think long >

“We didn’t follow the market to the bottom, and we’ve not been chasing turnover. The contractors who did that at the time are now the ones with the big, loss-making projects.”

Graham Cash, BAM Construct

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“From my iPad, I can look at any tender in the BAM group in the whole of Europe, and learn from that procurement.”

Graham Cash, BAM Construct > term,” he says. “As far as I’m concerned, it makes so much sense to construct a building in your computer before you build it on site. And what you learn from that is easily transferred to your subcontractors.

“Previously, you could have that sort of modelling information in big computers.

But now, through BIM 360 field, you can have it on your iPad. So the guys on site don’t have to go back into the office to see a drawing, it’s all in there. I went onsite the other day and spoke to one of the site engineers, and he said he was 70% more efficient since he got the iPad with the data in it.”

Cash says the benefit of equipping site managers with iPads is also huge in terms of motivating and retaining a younger generation. “They are much more digitally enabled, more free thinking, more prepared to move around companies. I mean I’ve been here 30 years, and I’m a new boy. I don’t think the new generation think like that. But if you treat them well and have the right culture, they stay.”

Moving forwards he says he’d like to employ digital construction systems to reduce administrative tasks and make life easier for those at the front line too. “In the old days, you’d have to fill in a form for safety, a form for fire, a form for this and a form for that. But now, if we can digitise our systems, you should only have to fill something in once at the pre-construction stage, and then it would be replicated throughout the project.

“And that’s a key task for us now. We’ve led the digital revolution, we now have to make sure our systems and procedures match that, and support the staff in doing things better, and in a new way.”

Cash on the Farmer Review...

“The Farmer report says the same sort of things as many before it. We do need to improve things, there’s no doubt about it. But the industry doesn’t seem to change. In the UK at the moment, it’s very competitive and aggressive, and there’s always someone willing to go that little

bit further down in price. And that takes you down to high-risk, low margin, and not having the money to invest in R&D, which is what we should be doing.

“But the only way we can do it is to have a healthy business. And how do we have a healthy business? By doing it better and doing better things.

“And that’s the philosophy of what we’re doing, together with the fact that we’re not seeking turnover, we’re seeking a reasonable return.”

... On getting into housing “We’re the biggest residential builder in the Netherlands. But in the UK, we only do residential where it’s part of a mixed development. That said, we are very conscious of the private rented sector being a growth market in the future. And we’re looking at how we can add value into that arena before we enter it. If we were to enter the PRS market, then we’d want to do it in a new way. But we’re also conscious that there’s a lot of risk around it.”

... On being part of a larger group “I sit on the management board of Royal BAM in the Netherlands. It’s useful because I sit with Dutch, Germans, Irish, Belgians.

We benefit from sharing knowledge. It’s about an attitude and an approach, rather than specific technologies.

“Being part of a larger group doesn’t restrict us. I think it adds rigour to your consideration of what is sensible and correct to do. But that dovetails with our strategy anyway.

“It helps that we have digital systems.

From my iPad, I can look at any tender in the whole of Europe, and learn from that procurement.”

... On Brexit “The market is slightly fragile. But actually, I feel quite confident about Brexit. I think it’s more of an opportunity than a threat.

The group has not been impacted yet, apart from the fall in the value of sterling.” ... What about down time?

“Home is Harpenden. But I’m a country man. I’m happy in my Barbour and wellies, walking and fishing on the Derbyshire Wye. Everyone has their retreat, and when I cast that first fly, nothing else exists. I do enjoy watching a good football game and was proud to have built a new training ground for my team, Manchester City.” CM

Chance meeting sets path to the top Mancunian Cash, who bears a familial resemblance to younger brother actor and writer Craig Cash, of The Royle Family fame, got into contracting by chance. After graduating with a first in architecture from Newcastle University in 1980 he completed his professional qualification as an architect in 1981 before working with firms such as Arup Associates on leisure and international projects. It was while working at the St Albansbased John S Bonnington that his path crossed with BAM. “I accompanied a colleague of mine from Venezuela to an open day, because he wanted to work for a contractor. I was sitting in reception and this guy next to me asked me what I did. I told him I was an architect and that I’d just come back from working on the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh. “‘Oh that’s interesting,’ he said, ‘we’ve got the Japanese embassy to design’. So, that’s where it started, I joined the then Kyle Stewart in 1986 to look after the design of the Japanese embassy in Piccadilly with Kajima.”

Cash took a leading role on a number of prestigious Crown Court projects for the then Lord Chancellor’s Department — an unbuilt one is that model in his office.

He was appointed BAM’s design director in 1991, became director of BAM’s operations in the south-east region in 1997 before joining the board of BAM Construct UK in 2007. He landed the top role of chief executive on 1 April 2010.

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07/12/2016 10:43

Feature Onsite

A ripping yarn “Tearing the guts out” of 20 Old Bailey was undertaken with minimal structural work and limited impact to the outside, reports Stephen Cousins.

Work started in September 2015 and will be completed in June 2017.

A forensic investigation of the existing building enabled the project team, led by main contractor ISG, architect BGY and structural and M&E engineer Arup, to push the structure to its limits, adding two new floors on the roof and increasing net lettable space by 25%, without the need for any major strengthening works.

However, some anomalies remained concealed until demolition was underway resulting in hasty redesign work, which was a particular concern given the large amount of offsite prefabrication involved.

Organising the project required a grasp of logic even Sherlock Holmes would be proud of, comments Levy: “We have 20 staff on site, including three M&E specialists and two design managers, there has been a lot of hard work sat around the table examining the programme and the 3D model. You can’t beat getting a lot of brains together in a room, it gets things solved.”

Right: The exterior of 20 Old Bailey belies the complex remodelling behind the facade

SOREN KRISTENSEN

Far right: Looking up the atrium from the ground floor with Simon Featherstone, ISG’s project manager IN A GORY DIALOGUE worthy of a murder case, David Levy, project director at ISG, describes a “cut and carve” job that involves “tearing the guts out” of an office he is reconstructing in east London.

It is fitting, then, that the 20 Old Bailey project stands directly opposite the most famous law court in Britain, and that its complex onsite delivery has all the excitement and intricacy of a criminal case.

The £59m conversion of the existing 1980s-built office into a contemporary high-spec commercial workplace had

to be delivered in just 21 months, from demolition to practical completion. This resulted in the controversial decision to carry out all demolition at the same time as construction.

The logistically complex intersection of material deliveries and demolition waste removal is taking place alongside numerous trades that would never normally come into contact — as you read this two stair cores are being knocked down while, 20ft away, new plasterboard ceilings and lights are being installed.

Limited performance 20 Old Bailey will provide approximately 240,000 sq ft of office accommodation.

The existing eight-storey office block, built in 1989, was structurally sound but very limited in terms of functional performance.

The post-modern stone facade looked confused and dated compared to the classical-inspired Old Bailey opposite (built in 1902) with its grand columned facade and rooftop dome capped with a bronze statue of Lady Justice.

Thermal performance was poor, the internal layout was inefficient, with two entrances, four perimeter stair cores, two lift cores and poor access to natural daylight.

Studies were carried out by Arup to determine whether to retain and adapt the existing concrete structure, or simply >

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“We stripped it back to create a bold new organisational diagram with the atrium acting as an internal street.”

Eva-Katharina Barile, BGY > demolish and start again. The huge 60m-long by 50m-wide floorplates, three-storey basement, and robust columns and foundation piles offered great potential for repurposing.

Cost and sustainability concerns were key drivers behind the decision to work with the old structure, says Levy: “Knocking down and rebuilding would have required an awful lot of waste, lorry movements and related fumes. If you can retain as much of the building as possible you save time on construction, which ultimately cuts costs for the client as they get their rents in sooner.”

The remodelling involves infilling the existing square atrium, at the centre of the building, and knocking through a new longer rectangular atrium, aligned west-east towards the front facade, that will extend down to ground floor level to maximise natural light.

Eva-Katharina Barile, senior architect at BGY, told CM: “We stripped it back to create a bold new organisational diagram with the atrium acting as an internal street connecting entrances in the east and west facades. When people enter the building they will immediately see the heart of the building.”

Spacious and open floorplates were made possible by infilling two existing Left: CGI showing what the newly remodelled building will look like along one elevation

cores, a staircase and service risers and pulling together seven new banks of lifts, a stairway, toilets and services, into a single large main core.

The facade was removed and replaced with a plainer, unadorned limestone elevation with squared off double-glazed windows. The Moleanos limestone, quarried in Portugal, was treated to achieve a close match to regular Portland stone.

Additional lettable space was created on the sixth, seventh and eighth floors by extending the stepped back floor plates in line with the new facade.

A new two-storey steel frame extension on the roof, also stepped back from the main facade to create balconies, was

built on top of the existing strengthened columns and comes close to the maximum permissible by planners to maintain the viewing corridor to St Paul’s Cathedral The new layout adds 25% net lettable space, compared to the existing building, but required almost no additional strengthening to the original structure.

That is remarkable for a refurbishment of this type, says Liam Duff, lead structural engineer at Arup: “We did a lot of ferro scanning to show lines of reinforcement and other site investigations to see how we could really push the structure and how much load we could add, targeting areas where there was spare capacity.”

No new foundations have been added,

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Levy comments: “Conventionally, you would want to run tower cranes through lift shafts, but we needed them to extract our demolition waste. People don't normally put tower cranes on roofs but we decided that was the answer so we had to find the right solution.”

Temporary works supplier, Lucking & Clark, worked closely with Arup to devise an effective structure for the cranes to stand on that involves a gridded temporary works system rising off the permanent steelwork stood on the existing concrete columns.

The plan to run demolition works alongside construction is estimated to have saved six months’ time on site, compared to demolition and doing a new build. The project is due to hand over at the end of June.

Slice an imaginary section through the building and a bustling “antfarm” of trades is revealed working side by side on every level, from demolition workers to electricians, dry liners and steel workers.

there was no column strengthening and very little beam strengthening. Loading on the frame was kept to a minimum by focusing on modern construction techniques and lightweight structures and finishes: the rooftop extension is a lightweight steel frame; the majority of plant was installed in the basement; all infilled areas have lightweight metal decking; and there is no new internal blockwork above ground floor level, just studwork and plasterboard.

The structure was even able to withstand loads from tower cranes mounted onto the steel roof — a spacesaving alternative to running conventional tower cranes through the old lift shafts.

Above: The project viewed along the ground floor ‘street’ from the main entrance looking towards the Fleet place entrance. The scaffolding is at the bottom of the atrium

Waste management The two cranes on the roof work in tandem, one lifts and distributes materials, the other helps with construction. Lorry deliveries come in via a narrow side road and demolition waste is channelled down through lift and service riser holes to the basement level where it is driven out on skid steer loaders and lorries.

Total demolition rubble, to date, is 5,860 tonnes of concrete, 100% of which is being recycled, and 1,025 tonnes of mixed rubbish, 98% recycled. The high levels of recycling contribute to the building’s BREEAM “Excellent” certification.

Unbelieveable as it sounds, the northeast corner of the building, from ground floor to basement level, is occupied by a fully functioning pub, the Magpie and Stump, which has remained open throughout construction. All the pub’s deliveries come in through the existing office, its kitchen extract vents had to be removed and replaced with new prefab ducts, rerouted to roof level for the duration of the works.

“It was quite surreal at Christmas seeing fairy lights through the pub windows through the dust of a construction site,” says Levy.

Demolition to create the new main core was carried out in a stepped >

Existing Structure

Existing Structure showing extent of demolition

Proposed Structure

Client The Blackstone Group Contractor ISG Project manager Gardiner &Theobald Client monitoring MTT Architect Buckley Gray Yeoman Quantity surveyor Alinea Consulting Structural engineer, MEP engineer, Fire, Facades, BREEAM Arup Demolition cut and carve Mohan Building Services Concrete works Henrys Construction Precast contract works EJ Lazenby Steelwork SCWS

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“We used the permanent steel works as temporary works.

It meant lot of toing and froing, crash decks out of normal sequence, but it got the job built quicker and cheaper.”

David Levy, ISG The electrical service riser snakes around existing columns and, to ensure a tight fit, was installed in a series of straight and bent sections. The last two connections were site measured to take up any discrepancies/tolerances.

“The secret of jobs like this is to think about the final finishes when you are starting demolition so you can identify any potential problems well in advance,” says Levy.

Above: Looking down the demolished south west staircase

> sequence, to avoid having to install a mountain of temporary works and risking a potential collapse.

Every other floor was demolished, new steelwork was installed to tie the structure back together again and support the new floors, then the intermediate floors were demolished.

“We used the permanent steel works as temporary works, it meant lot of toing and froing, crash decks out of normal sequence, but it got the job built quicker and cheaper,” says Levy.

The decision to prefabricate all the building services, including generators, pump sets, boilers and electrical risers, was critical to slashing the

programme time but required a focus on upfront design, and a strong grasp of the existing building’s structural eccentricities. It also reduced the ability to make many changes once construction was underway.

A 3D model of the entire project was created by Arup, embedded with a 3D model containing data from all 12 services suppliers, coordinated by lead M&E contractor Imperial Ductwork Services.

The M&E is being handed over in 14 separate packages - a result of ISG’s decision to unbundle the M&E into separate subcontract and/or supply only packages — with priority given to areas on the critical path.

Unexpected problems Not everything went to plan. Unexpected issues, uncovered during ongoing surveys of the existing structure, resulted in late stage design changes and construction rescheduling.

Steel decks that infill the existing lift shafts and atrium rely on hefty steel bracket connections to the existing concrete columns. Scans of the columns revealed that much of the reinforcement was in unexpected locations, so the brackets had to be redesigned as bespoke to fit. As a result, work had to be reprogrammed to allow for the delay caused by the discovery of the rebar deficiencies. It meant the whole of the main core works, including lifts, toilets, a staircase and associated risers, was built a lot later than originally programmed.

The engineers were shocked when they learnt that columns had only 35mm of fire resistance cover, inadequate for current Building Regs. But boxing out the columns would have significantly extended the programme and radically reduced net lettable space. Fortunately, ISG was able to identify a very thin fireboard that could be plastered over to minimise the impact on space and time.

Levy comments: “On this project there have been lots of smart solutions that required a little bit more time on site, which was a small inconvenience compared to the huge overall programme savings achieved by moving key areas off the critical path.” CM

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ILLUSTRATION: FRAZER HUDSON

Feature Offsite

Offsite’s inside edge An innovative scheme is upskilling prisoners and using offsite manufacturing to deliver much-needed housing. As James Kenny reports, it’s a win-win all round.

AS WELL AS PROVIDING a way to help tackle

the housing crisis, offsite construction can also have a deeper social impact, delivering training and employment in factories and benefiting the wider community. This theory has been taken a step further in a pioneering new scheme.

Six months ago, Manchester-based procurement consortium Procure Plus launched Osco Homes, a wholly owned subsidiary aiming to deliver affordable houses constructed offsite at a factory based in HM Prison Hindley, Greater Manchester. The target for Osco Homes is

to build two homes a week, and within three years reach output of 1,000 homes a year.

Prisoners have been trained as construction workers while working on a project to deliver eight factory-built bungalows for a site in Pontefract,

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“All the guys who have been released are now working on site and improving their skills as well as earning a regular wage.”

Mike Brogan, Procure Plus West Yorkshire, owned by Together Housing Group. The project is due for completion in April.

As part of the scheme 10 prisoners were initially recruited. All are in the final year of their sentence at Hindley and are trained to build external walls, and floor and ceiling cassettes of panellised homes.

They have been given construction training in plastering, joinery, kitchen bathroom fitting, provided by Novus, formerly the Manchester College.

Each prisoner is paid a salary for their work by Osco — over and above what they would usually receive from the prison — which is held in trust until after their release.

Once released they are employed fulltime by Osco and are paid £19,000 a year.

Mike Brogan, chief executive of Procure Plus, explains: “The operation at Hindley has been a really big success and we’re now looking at doubling the space of the factory and also setting up factories at other prisons which we’ve had confirmed by the Ministry of Justice.

“The MoJ has given us a shortlist of their prisons to choose from, they will most likely be in the north west or maybe the north east. We’re not looking to rapidly expand, but in the next six months we’d like to have another prison operating the scheme and its own factory and then probably another to follow that, ideally three prisons in total.

“It’s not just about building homes, but providing training and opportunities to guys who may have taken a wrong turn in life but are keen to change. With the factory we’re providing this two-fold service.”

Of the 10 prisoners originally recruited, four of them have been released and are now working on site in Pontefract, helping to finish the work they started in the factory.

“All the guys who have been released are now working on site and improving their skills as well as earning a regular wage. You can see the pride they take in

the work and the chances of re-offending for any of them is minimal,” says Brogan.

“It’s been estimated that the cost of each person not going back to prison saves the government around £17,000 a year, but actually I’d put that figure much higher, which is another reason why this scheme is so important,” Brogan adds.

Kevin Ruth, deputy chief executive at Together Housing Group, said this personal impact and ability to make real change was the reason they become involved with the project.

“We asked ourselves, can we find a process to deliver properties quicker, but also has a positive social impact?

“We’ve had a long-term relationship with Procure Plus and we have total confidence in the end product.

Another consideration was the need to reduce development costs in the wake of rent reductions imposed by government.

“So that’s why we looked towards offsite,” says Brogan.

While the higher costs of factory-made housing has been a barrier to its use, increases in the cost of traditional skills in the boom has tipped the balance in favour of Togther Housing’s model, he adds.

“Working with the prison has also been beneficial and it has really engaged our

Above: The bungalows in Pontefract, constructed using components made offsite by prisoners at Hindley

own development team, re-energising them and they are so keen to make it a success. I’ve also been to the factory, I’ve met the lads and see how enthusiastic they are and what a difference it all makes, it’s a no brainer really.”

Ruth says they have been so happy with the outcome so far that they are doing appraisals on two other sites where they plan to use Osco Homes and the prison offsite factory.

“The main thing from our end is to identify the right sites and make sure we have a continuous production line and help increase supply. For the next site we're looking at around 50 homes possibly.” CM

Mark’s story: ‘I have a full-time job, hopefully I’ll have a job for life’ Mark is one of the first graduates from the prison scheme and is adamant that the experience has been positive for everyone involved and has set him up with a better future.

“I got a two-and-a-half-year sentence and served about a year,” he says. “I had a little construction experience before having worked in roofing. We were chosen by interview when we were inside and while a lot of the lads had some experience, maybe some joinery work or working as labourers, some had none at all and were taken on and trained up from the beginning.”

Mark spent six months working in the offsite factory and learned new skills that would help him secure work once released.

“We learned an awful lot in the factory. We learned how to put the frames together for the houses, rendering the walls, putting the door and window frames in. It was quite intense but probably what we needed.”

Mark, who is 36, says the programme was a huge benefit, not just to him but to younger prisoners and would help them not re-offend.

“There were two lads from the juvenile side

taken on the scheme and it’s good for them as they’re still pretty young and can learn a trade and skills.”

Mark was released on tag on 11 November and was sent by Osco Homes to a training centre to complete courses on working at height, health and safety and other areas he would need to be qualified in for his new role working on site.

He started work on 21 November.

“I had about a week on the training courses then had some time at home with my family and then started work, it’s a good turnaround time as it stops you from getting distracted,” he says.

His new role is a full-time job and he is enthusiastic about his future prospects and how he can progress and improve his life.

“I’m on a salary, have a full-time job and hopefully it’ll be a job for life really. I want to be promoted through the company, go from say a site operative to a site manager and I think there’s plenty of opportunity, it’s just all up to me.”

“I’m learning every day on site and improving.

I’m even paying into a pension scheme so hopefully I’ll be here till I collect my pension.”

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Feature Offsite

Accord’s factory outlet

Accord is offering its offsite expertise to other housing associations, reports James Kenny.

NEWS IN DECEMBER that housing association

Your Housing Group was teaming up with the China National Building Material Company to build six offsite factories around the UK in a £2.5bn deal, coupled with encouragement in the Housing White Paper, are further signs that 2017 could finally be the year that offsite housing enters the mainstream.

One group already well versed in the process is West Midlands housing association Accord, which has been producing timber-framed factory-built homes through its LoCaL Homes arm since 2011 and is now looking for partners to roll out the concept. The Walsall-based factory produces around 200 homes a year and employs 22 people, many of whom were previously unemployed.

Accord first became interested in offsite housing in 2005 and originally imported a highly insulated panellised system from a Norwegian company. However, when the cost of importing the timber frames across the North Sea became uneconomical Accord decided to go it alone.

John Bedford, director of project development at Accord, explains: “Our system is based loosely on a Norwegian panellisation method. It enables a greater degree of flexibility and transportation in the UK as we carry around eight to 12 panels for each house. These are manufactured in a day and if required can allow the shell of a new home to be completed in a day. The panels are numbered and fixed together on site.

Due to the unique way they are constructed they have a thermal performance of 28% more than the current Building Regulations standard.”

The company’s two flagship timberframed wall products are the ECO 200 and ECO 100. They can be produced with a range of external cladding options, which offer architectural flexibility and enable customers to select their own preferred exterior finish.

Bedford says the key challenges in setting up the offsite facilities included undertaking the appropriate amount of research and development, getting the right people and having the right premises.

“When we began our offsite process, we were keen to get our product out as quickly as we could. It is imperative that you put as much planning into it as possible.”

Recruit the right people Probably more important, he maintains, is getting the right people. The company recruited Jason Powell, who spent 10 years at Jaguar/Land Rover, to run its factory.

“We believe you don’t need to be an architect, or a designer or a housing expert to make offsite houses, you need to be a manufacturing expert,” says Bedford.

On the issue of insurance and working with timber frame, Bedford says using a closed panel system meant risks of fire and problems on site were reduced.

“We are fire certified and tested to BSEN 1365/1 resistance to fire. This was achieved under load equivalent

Above: Homes in West Bromwich delivered

by LoCal Homes using its offsite factory

“We are offering a ready business in a box to be scaled up and replicated with speed nationally.”

John Bedford, Accord

to a three-storey building and passed.

These tests are normally done with load applied, therefore this demonstrated the high-performing structural integrity and resistance of our system.”

Finally he says identifying the right premises is also very important.

Regarding its own site, Accord was lucky in that Walsall council had a redundant factory on its hands. Accord supported the initiative by committing to a five-year business plan providing over £250,000 in financial commitment.

But Bedford advises others not to get hung up on the premises: “Use that money and time to invest in your product and quality processes, that’s what makes a success, not a shiny new factory.”

As the company goes from strength to strength it has begun working with other housing associations, local authorities and developers. This has led to it drawing up a warranty-backed licensing agreement, which it is calling its “factory in a box model”. It has already had six enquiries from other authorities for a consultation and two are taking the process further.

“We liken our LoCaL Homes model to a Tesco Express or Sainsbury’s Local concept in that it is completely replicable and of a suitable scale to be dotted around the country,” says Bedford. “We are offering our five years of research and development as a ready business in a box to be scaled up and replicated with speed nationally to support the expected increase in build rate.

Everyone can have a factory like ours.” CM

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PHOTOGRAPHY OF PORTOBELLO SQUARE: PRP ARCHITECTS

Feature Estate regeneration

A model for housing regeneration Andy von Bradsky, design and delivery adviser at DCLG and chairman of The Housing Forum, outlines the government’s strategy for estate redevelopment.

Introduction Amid the political changes that characterised 2016, there was continuity in aspects of housing policy. Landowners, communities, developers and professionals on the front line of the regeneration of rundown housing estates will be encouraged that the government maintained its commitment to deliver a national strategy with clear policy objectives and new resources.

After an intensive year of activity, the strategy was launched late in December

2016. It sets out the principles for regeneration, including the role of local authorities, rights and protection for residents and new ideas on financing.

A good practice guide sets out a model process with a check list for design, finance and delivery from inception to completion and management.

It is expected that the web-based toolkit will continue to be developed — a list of case studies that highlight good practice will be added to and there is new thinking that could lead to future

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Feature Estate regeneration

innovations in the sector. The outcome should be more and better homes for existing communities and the creation of enduring and attractive places that are better linked to their surroundings.

In addition to the previously announced £140m loan fund for project implementation, a new £32m grant fund for this financial year was launched to support the industry in delivering feasibility studies, option appraisals, resident consultation and other costs associated with getting regeneration started.

Background

Above and left: Portobello Square in London had a long lead in to develop a “brief for change” through effective community engagement

This policy initiative began in early 2016 when it was announced that 100 “sink” estates would be regenerated across England. The aim was to address the needs of forgotten communities that are often living in insecure, unsafe environments and poor-quality homes that are in chronic need of improvement. Many neglected estates are isolated neighbourhoods, cut off from employment and with poor social infrastructure and amenities.

Lord Heseltine was appointed co-chair with the housing minister of a group of industry experts from across the development, financial and consultancy sectors, as well as local government, to advise on the programme. A DCLG team was dedicated to support the panel, including representatives from the private sector (myself, Andy von Bradsky, architect and regeneration consultant, and Paul Clark, property and funding consultant) who provided practical advice on design, consultation, delivery and financing from our experience of delivering projects on the ground.

Key themes The panel set out three key principles that underpin successful estate regeneration: to put residents at the heart of the process; to ensure local authorities are actively supportive; and to produce a financial formulae to deliver regeneration.

Residents at the heart: The strategy clarifies best practice for resident engagement. It recognises that existing residents living on an estate must be involved throughout the process in a transparent and consistent way that builds trust and an open relationship with the landowner.

The industry has many years’ experience of good consultation on high-profile projects in cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and London, as set out in the case studies. However, there is a danger that unless this is consistently applied, regeneration in areas that do not have the experience will stall.

The process must be inclusive, demonstrable and reach all sections of the community, with hands-on engagement rather than tokenistic consultation and dissemination of information. It requires a full appreciation of the options for regeneration, including the physical, environmental and economic implications, through a rigorous appraisal process.

A model “residents’ charter” sets out a commitment between the landowner and its residents in terms of their involvement in the process, the commitment to rehousing and the programme. It includes the principles for fair compensation for owner-occupiers, including a right to return, fair financial settlement and alternative tenures.

A process for residents to select their preferred option to regeneration is proposed. This is necessarily flexible and depends on the project circumstances, however, it is recommended that the greater the intervention the more important that a formal process such as a ballot is used to determine residents’ preference.

The policy encourages resident-led initiatives as alternative approaches to landlord-led schemes, with residents in the driving seat in all areas of regeneration, including ongoing management.

Local authority role: As landowners and place shapers, councils must be innovative in their approach. Wholehearted and ongoing support of local authorities is essential at the start and over the lifetime of the project, with strong leadership and the deployment of the necessary skills and resources. All departments and agencies, including health, education, leisure, community and social services, may need to be involved and cross-party support is necessary for projects to maintain momentum, regardless of political, economic and technological change.

A recurring theme in the policy is how the project fits with councils’ wider responsibilities for housing and

Case study 11: Portobello Square, north Kensington The 1970s built Wornington Green Estate in Kensington suffered from poor design, high crime rates and overcrowding. Great design, strong engagement and increased density have resulted in a well-supported and successful regeneration project.

A strong partnership between Catalyst Housing and the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, along with a GLA grant and effective community engagement led to a strong shared vision for the future estate.

Support for the redevelopment of 540 homes for social and shared ownership and 500 additional houses and apartments can be attributed to early and ongoing engagement with the residents and wider stakeholders.

“The policy encourages resident-led initiatives as alternative approaches to landlord-led schemes, with residents in the driving seat in all areas of regeneration.” regeneration as strategic place shapers.

Budgets for transport and physical and social infrastructure investment in the wider context must be aligned with project objectives.

The many planning tools that are appropriate for regeneration are set out.

There are advantages to bedding projects in local plans through development planning documents, area action plans and neighbourhood plans. Estate regeneration aligns comfortably with principles of neighbourhood planning and emerging policies, such as permission in principle, may offer benefits to some projects.

Planning authorities have an obligation to ensure the development meets quality criteria set out in local plans and building regulations. The policy endorses the use of design review processes offer independent urban design and to offer independent > CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | MARCH 2017 | 31

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Feature Estate regeneration

> urban design and architecture advice to support the planning process. Community engagement, done well, will smooth the path for the planning process.

Financing regeneration: The final key theme for the policy is understanding the financial equation and most favourable delivery mechanism that will attract inward investment to an area. The strategy recognises that in the absence of significant public sector “gap” funding, a best practice approach in the early stages will help de-risk projects and establish a business case for regeneration, while avoiding the pitfalls of “gentrification” or “hyper-dense” development that can appear a threat to existing communities.

Government funding is targeted at comprehensive resident engagement to ensure full stakeholder support, in-depth assessment of the most favourable option and identifying associated costs of buyouts and land purchase.

The strategy stresses the benefits of early engagement with the private sector.

It is possible to avoid long-winded procurement processes, for example procuring a partner and not a project is recommended as an alternative to traditional complex procurement processes that distance residents from the masterplanning process at a critical time. Joint venture vehicles where councils retain a commercial interest in the development are also encouraged.

Local authorities are increasingly

engaged directly in mixed-tenure development, retaining a long-term interest in land for income to fund their programmes.

Including additional council land supports the business case, provides an opportunity for a first phase and integrates development with wider objectives.

Many projects will be able to attract long-term investment with a return on investment, but areas with challenged values and costly enabling work may require additional public sector funding.

Above: New homes for private sale were developed as part of the estate redevelopment in Gorton

Principles of regeneration Each estate is different and a thorough option appraisal process will lead to the most financially deliverable solution.

This must be measured against a “do nothing” option to demonstrate the true benefits of the preferred approach over the long term. This may lead to a variety of approaches, including re-use of existing buildings and remodelling, infill and densification, or full redevelopment or a hybrid.

The strategy is supported by a good practice guide and activity map sets out the model process from inception of a project through the many stages before it is realised, and demonstrates how the partners and community should work together to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. It includes key considerations during the process, making reference to the large body of reference material that is available from across the housing sector.

The key principles are:

“Places that are well designed and take account of the long term attract investment and increase in value over time.”

A vision for change: The role of the landowner is to enable a vision to be developed for the estate together with the community. One of the case studies, Portobello Square, had a long lead in to develop a “brief for change” (see box, p31). Setting clear aims and objectives at the outset and remaining true to the vision will sustain momentum for the duration of the project. These may be related to the quality of the housing stock, addressing fuel poverty and building performance, for example. There may be a need to diversify the tenure in a mono-tenure neighbourhood. Or there may be a need to increase the housing supply in low-density areas. All estates will have different drivers for change.

Integrating with the wider context: An objective should be to break down the perceived “red line” boundary and better integrate estates with their surroundings, for example to improve access to amenities and areas of employment and to change the social stigma associated with estates. Linkages to other housing and regeneration initiatives in the area and the inclusion of other land can support a business case. For example, West Gorton in Manchester, famous as the setting for TV soap Shameless, is now an integral part of the city context.

Placemaking and design quality: The policy acknowledges the importance of a placemaking approach and design >

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Feature Estate regeneration

Optimising development: Regenerating our rundown estates can offer an opportunity to increase housing supply by making more efficient use of land.

This may be a key driver behind regeneration in areas of high demand.

Optimising the use of land, however, will be applicable in any location. For example, at South Acton in west London, much more efficient use of land has enabled the creation of a new residential quarter.

Creating mixed neighbourhoods: An objective should be to address the needs of the existing community while providing more and better homes for a wider range of local housing needs, to create mixed tenure neighbourhoods.

Increasing the diversity of tenures in an area better integrates estates with their surroundings and the wider neighbourhood, and is a principle behind all the case studies.

Case study: West Gorton, Manchester Manchester City Council, the Homes and Communities Agency, Guinness and developer Keepmoat are working with the local community to deliver a transformational regeneration programme. West Gorton was a low-value area with complex issues such as high levels of crime and poverty. An ambitious masterplan was developed to create a more balanced, stable and prosperous community.

Public and private funding of more than £100m has been invested in the neighbourhood, allowing 144 homes to be renovated and 400 obsolete properties to be replaced by more than 200 new ones, built by the council and Guinness.

New development includes Keepmoat’s Connell Gardens development of homes for private sale a new health, retail and community hub and a new community park.

> quality to develop popular places that people enjoy living in and are uplifted by.

We need to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and create enduring places that delight, drawing from good urban design principles.

It is not just the design of the buildings that is important, but also the spaces between the buildings, streets, squares, village greens and the green infrastructure that make good places.

Places that are well designed and take account of the long term, attract investment and increase in value over time. Agar Grove in Camden, London, is a good example of a design-focused scheme, involving a number of collaborative designers.

“Case studies from across the regions have been assembled, and will be added to, so lessons can be shared between councils.”

Involving residents in design: All case studies have fully engaged residents in the design process consistently through brief development, design, procurement, construction and management stages as an essential building block for good regeneration, creating the right environment for communities to flourish.

A local approach It was evident from our experience that some areas were more familiar with regeneration as a process than others.

Workshops for landowners and housing providers were arranged across areas of England to identify local challenges and barriers and disseminate experience.

Many estates have been successfully transformed in London. The challenge is how the many estates can be transformed in other areas of the country, such as the peripheral towns outside of cities in the midlands, north west and north east, where there is great need but low land values.

Case studies from across the regions have been assembled, and will be added to so lessons can be shared between councils and a network of experts, including Design Council CABE. Each region will respond differently.

The Greater London Authority issued its estate regeneration strategy shortly after the national strategy was launched,

and reflects the focus on increasing affordable housing supply. We expect more areas to develop a similar complementary, yet local, approach.

Ongoing work A current housing policy focus is a place-based approach to development, effectively linking housing and infrastructure. This entails delivering solutions that meet local housing needs for all together with supporting physical and social infrastructure, including employment and other facilities that sustain communities for the long term.

The implication of this for estate regeneration is that meeting the needs of existing communities could be the catalyst for wider public sector improvements and provide better opportunities for people who often feel left behind — a practical example of the prime minister’s vision for a shared society.

Research is being undertaken on four pilots to identify the true cost of sustaining an estate in its existing state of disrepair in terms of education, health, social services, policing, justice system and other public sector services. Reform of how these are delivered and the wider application of social impact bonds may be a future outcome.

Summary Estate regeneration is risky, lengthy and costly and needs considerable support from central and local government to deliver much-needed improvements for its residents. The national strategy clearly states the policy positions on some contentious issues and there is much to be welcomed: clarity of resident rights and protection; new models for delivery; alternative procurement processes; emphasis on placemaking; a good practice guide; reference material; and design quality issues specific to estate regeneration all clearly set out with new funding to support the early stages of projects.

It reinforces good practice, sets out a model approach that paves the way for more private sector investment and demonstrates how existing communities should be the building block for new successful neighbourhoods. It should make estate regeneration an attractive proposition for all stakeholders, including landowners, residents, developers and investors. CM

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Construction Professional

The rising problem of drone use The use of drones is increasing, but contractors should be careful when deploying them, particularly when using them to monitor progress on sites, warns David Savage.

INCREASINGLY, CONSTRUCTION companies are using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones as they are more commonly known, for a variety of purposes including aerial surveys and monitoring the activities of staff and subcontractors on the worksite, in particular their compliance with health and safety policies.

The commercial benefits of using drones on the construction site are not in dispute, but the problem is, their use has a high potential for infringing the privacy rights of individuals whose images are captured by the technology.

Under data protection law, individuals must be informed of how their personal data (ie their image) is being processed. Covert “spying” on employees or subcontractors would, therefore, be completely unlawful.

While it may be easy to inform employees and subcontractors that drones are in use, a major issue is that on many occasions where the drone is operating from a high vantage point, individuals

unconnected with the building site are unlikely to realise that they are being recorded.

It is therefore important to devise methods of providing individuals with notice that the drone is in use and how their images may be used and disclosed.

The UK data protection authority (DPA) — the Information Commissioner’s Office — suggests that this could involve wearing highly visible clothing identifying yourself as the UAV operator, or placing signage in the vicinity of the area in which you are operating the drone.

Legal grounds for use Informing individuals of how you are using drones is only one part of the puzzle, however. Companies must also have a legal ground under data protection law to use drones and this is the trickiest part.

There are two common legal grounds that companies tend to rely on: the consent of the individual; and legitimate business interests. However, in most circumstances it will be impossible to obtain valid consent of employees as consent must be “freely given” which is viewed as impossible in the employment context.

Companies cannot argue that the use of drones is in their “legitimate business interest” if it prejudices the rights and freedoms or legitimate interests of the affected individuals — something that is very likely if drones are used without having due regard to individuals’ privacy.

Seven key tips for working overseas 1. Get to know the location Before you start any new project abroad, the first step you need to take is to familiarise yourself with the working customs in the area. Check the visa requirements for temporary and permanent working contracts and make sure you are up to date with any new regulations relating to foreign workers.

2. Get connected In many countries, having access to a reliable and knowledgeable local contact can be a huge benefit both in winning work and securing permissions to initiate projects. Local connections or sponsors can also be useful advisers when

it comes to understanding local cultural customs, overcoming language barriers and sourcing local suppliers.

3. Understand local tax and residency laws Obtaining specialist advice in the country you are working in is a must if you don’t want to fall foul of the law. To avoid being taxed in two countries, you might want to consider opening up a local presence overseas. You can usually claim Foreign Tax Credit Relief when you report your overseas income in your tax return, but how much relief you are entitled to depends on the UK’s double-taxation agreement with that country.

4. Secure a competent supply chain If the project you’re working on requires contractors or a specific supply chain, you need to consider factors such as accommodation, meeting visa requirements and securing health insurance. Avoid customs and regulatory pitfalls by keeping on top of all paperwork when it comes to working visas and securing your supply chain.

5. Familiarise yourself with payments and currency risk In the UK, construction payments are protected by law through the Construction Act. However, this legislation will not apply overseas. In Middle Eastern

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Bird-proof your site before the nesting season “On many occasions where the drone is operating from a high vantage point, individuals unconnected with the building site are unlikely to realise that they are being recorded.”

Reducing risk What, then, can construction companies do to reduce the risks of privacy intrusion so that their use of drones will not be unlawful? l Conduct a privacy impact assessment (PIA) before undertaking to use UAV technology. A PIA can identify and reduce the privacy risks of projects that involve personal data. l UAVs should not be used continually — it is essential that the recording on the UAV can be switched on and off when appropriate. l Ensure that any data you have collected is stored securely, for example by using encryption, and that the data is retained only for the minimum time necessary for its purpose and disposed of appropriately at the end of this time period. l Reduce the risk of collateral intrusion by using a device that has restricted vision so that its focus is only on one place.

It is also important to note that the use of drones may also trigger an obligation to

countries, for example, there is no statutory framework governing payments, leaving companies that are owed cash having to seek recovery themselves.

Currency fluctuations are another important consideration, especially if you are settling the contract payment in a different currency.

6. Health and safety issues Regulations can vary hugely in different countries, and as such, risk assessments need to reflect this and legislation researched and complied with. However, many countries use British legislation as a

notify local DPAs. In a number of European countries it may also be necessary to obtain approvals from the local DPAs which can be a timeconsuming and complicated exercise.

There may also be serious employment law consequences of introducing drones on to the building site. It may well constitute a change in the terms of employment which could require explicit consent of the staff and potentially consultation with, or approval from, works councils or trade unions.

David Savage is head of construction at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys

Poll highlights scale of the issue Charles Russell Speechlys engaged YouGov to carry out research which reveals the extent to which drones are taking off in business, despite poor knowledge of the rules surrounding their use.

One in three business decision makers (34%) said the technology was either already in use in their industry, or would be in the future More than half (55%) of poll participants who predicted the use of drones in their industry said they lacked knowledge about the rules and regulations, such as in relation to security, privacy, aerial trespassing and personal responsibility.

guideline, so UK contractors should be wellplaced to meet local standards.

7. Cultural and religious sensitivities Local festivals and holidays will have an impact on your overall construction schedule while certain customs and practices could affect your employees’ working practices. In Islamic countries, for example, the religious festival of Ramadan can have an impact on normal working hours and overall productivity.

By James Williams, a partner specialising in construction matters at Acuity Legal.

He has worked in the UK, Australia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The bird nesting season is fast approaching and typically runs from March to July (although it may extend beyond these periods), writes John Dickson.

Under UK law it is illegal to move or destroy any nest whilst occupied or being built — it is even prohibited to disturb certain species while they are nesting. In other words, even the smallest bird can potentially bring a construction project to a halt until the young have fledged.

Construction companies, developers and demolition companies must adhere to this legislation or they risk significant fines, long and costly delays, or even a prison sentence. Operational risk is not limited to rural locations, it can extend to urban environments, green and brownfield development sites, as well as buildings awaiting demolition.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that the public is becoming increasingly savvy about environmental and planning laws. Individuals, ornithological and community groups opposed to construction in their area may use the resident species to hold up a project.

The best way to avoid any potential disruption is simply to schedule works to avoid the breeding and nesting season wherever possible.

Of course, this isn’t always feasible, and if that’s the case what can construction firms do to manage risk? l A sensible first step should always be to commission an ecological survey and report ahead of breeding season.

Because the legislative nuances relating to birds makes effective control highly complex, it is imperative to obtain advice from a “bird” expert rather than a general pest controller. They can put

an auditable mitigation plan in place to ensure operations are approved and legal, which will safeguard the project. l Once a risk assessment has been completed, designated habitat safe zones should be established where birds can nest safely in areas where they do not threaten the project. These zones should be made attractive to the species identified on site. l Next, put measures in place to discourage birds settling outside these areas. This means managing habitats on the development site that could potentially support nesting bird populations. This may include cutting grass or grass disturbance, as well the removal of shrubs and trees. l Birds’ access to the development site should be restricted. This can include the use of netting on potential nesting areas such as hedgerows and property due for demolition or development. l Finally, disturbance and displacement techniques should be used to encourage birds to relocate to the predetermined safe zones.

Deterrents can include ecology dogs (trained to sniff out and disperse birds hiding in cover), distress calls, bird scaring lasers and falconry.

To reiterate, the key point is you must always work with a qualified ecologist, and with the assistance of Natural England as necessary. This will ensure the management programmes comply fully with environmental legislation.

John Dickson is managing director at NBC Environment

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Construction Professional

Taking construction to the classroom ISG’s Dr Vicky Hutchinson explains how she secured CITB funding to develop a work experience initiative to make a career in construction more appealing to young people.

WE ARE NO STRANGERS to headlines about skills shortages in our industry and across the wider media. With an ageing workforce and a poor pipeline of young entrants, the construction industry is experiencing a skills crisis now and it is set to become more pronounced in the future.

Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) data shows that the overall appeal of the construction industry as a career option for young people is low, scoring 4.2 out of 10 among 14-19-year-olds.

We set out to challenge the outdated perception of construction by developing the WOWEX (World of Work Experience) concept. It is unashamedly designed with the aim of making our industry more appealing to young people, highlighting and exploring the types of careers that are available and how disciplines like planning and estimating contribute to the successful delivery of construction projects. In these first trials, there is also a specific focus on reaching out and engaging those individuals who wouldn’t normally consider construction roles, particularly girls and black and minority ethnic (BME) groups.

WOWEX is a week-long group placement that incorporates a series of activities aimed at revealing the full spectrum of career opportunities available

“The hope is that hundreds of students will benefit from WOWEX in the future.”

The first WOWEX placements involved students from Stockport College

within construction management. As part of the initiative, students experience a site visit, receive a series of presentations from professionals covering business development, planning, surveying and project management, and get an immersive introduction to the real-world tools and techniques used in 21st century contracting.

The exciting part of this initiative is the wider industry application of the knowledge and learning that we are building up as we trial and refine the programme with four different groups of students over this academic year. After this 12-month pilot, ISG will make all study materials and guidance notes available to the CITB for distribution to the entire industry. The hope is that hundreds of students will benefit from WOWEX in the future.

This resource will include information and strategies specifically to help construction companies overcome the practical limitations of providing work experience. When we have spoken to our counterparts in the industry, the same themes recur — the resource-intensive nature of accommodating work placements on site and important health and safety considerations when bringing minors onto busy, live projects. Direct

learning from WOWEX will help simplify often onerous processes, providing practical solutions so that contractors can maximise the value and frequency of work experience opportunities.

A taster session for the placement was held with students from Buile Hill School in Salford last year. This resulted in great feedback, with 77% of attendees agreeing that their eyes had been opened to the opportunities of working in the industry. The first WOWEX placement was successfully delivered to students from Stockport College at ISG’s Manchester offices in October 2016 — 43% of attendees were non-white British and 14% were female.

The feedback from this first intake has been extremely encouraging, with one Stockport College student commenting: “I enjoyed the whole thing. I like how we are actually doing the real thing on a smaller scale and how everything links together.”

An initiative born out of a desire to drive an increasing number of work placements has turned into a more powerful and ambitious plan to redress the balance between perception and reality for our industry. By measuring students’ attitudes towards construction before and after the WOWEX placement, we’re capturing and ultimately sharing important data on key drivers and insights from a broad cross-section of our future talent pool. Attendees also come away far more energised, committed and enthusiastic about careers in construction.

There’s also a positive benefit for organisations that embrace this type of initiative. It’s been found to be extremely rewarding for our staff and it’s great to be able to deliver social benefit through work, especially since there is long-term value for our business and the wider industry.

Dr Vicky Hutchinson is national frameworks social responsibility manager at ISG For more details on WOWEX, email wowex@isgplc.com

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Construction Professional

Long on detail, short on action The recently published Housing White Paper offers insights into the problems dogging the housing market, but doesn’t offer much in the way of solutions, suggests Assad Maqbool.

ON 7 FEBRUARY 2017, the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) issued its White Paper, Fixing our broken housing market. While the aim of the paper was to highlight a path to improve housing supply, there was implicit criticism of the construction industry’s failure to deliver.

The paper does, in part, recognise the commercial and legal risks placed on the construction sector which have led to the current crisis, but it lacks detail as to how these risks may be redefined to encourage growth.

DCLG starts with some basic economics: “Low levels of house building means less work for everyone involved in the construction industry.” The criticism of efficiency in the industry is tempered by the fact that economies of scale are lost because of low throughput.

At the microeconomic level, construction team members are bidding for limited work and spreading what are already small margins across few projects. Another view of this inefficiency is that it is a result of the way in which construction projects are procured. Bidding for one-off projects will necessarily incur costs that must then be factored into successful bids. One way to reduce this would be to appoint the construction team early, before significant

bid costs have been incurred, and work through the pre-construction phase whilst already in (possibly conditional) contract with the construction team. Without that, only the larger companies are able to sustain bids teams that can respond to opportunities.

This leads to another point raised in the White Paper: that the construction industry is “too reliant on a small number of big players”. Of course, there are many factors that would cause the market to move towards a reduced number of suppliers each with a greater market share. Again, though, the expectations placed in the procurement process on the smaller contractors and developers will tend to marginalise their opportunities.

Particularly of note are turnover tests as part of pre-qualification that are intended to protect clients from insolvency risk but instead arbitrarily cut out small- and medium-sized players. An alternative might be for the government to focus on the performance bond and latent defects insurance markets to ensure that clients have affordable security for smaller contractors and developers.

At the farthest end of that scale, the point is not addressed in the paper’s case study of Graven Hill. It cites Graven Hill as a transformational project in which Cherwell District Council and the Graven Hill Village Development Company have pioneered a 2,000-home self-build and custom-build scheme. While the paper focuses on the relatively low proportion of housing in England that is delivered through custom-build, it does not address the security needed for purchasers to buy into and lenders to fund such a scheme.

Instead, the paper talks about the Buildoffsite Property Assurance Scheme, which is a process of accreditation carried out by Lloyd’s Register to provide assurance to lenders in relation to “innovatively constructed projects”.

The White Paper therefore continues the theme set out in the Farmer Review of the UK construction labour model,

“The White Paper continues the theme set out in the Farmer Review of the UK construction labour model.”

Modernise or Die, (published in October 2016), that efficiency can be gained by promoting premanufactured solutions and offsite building.

Another point highlighted by the Graven Hill example is the need to engage with the planning framework to ensure that it is “more supportive of higher levels of development”. Some focus should be given to the work that Graven Hill has done in creating local development orders that support innovative delivery.

There is certainly scope to improve the planning and delivery framework such that a more diverse range of construction providers can meet a gap in supply.

However, the paper returns on several occasions to the construction industry’s actual ability to deliver. As with a number of preceding governmental commentaries on the construction industry, there is a fear about a lack of skills and an intention to implement renewed training programmes to “address skills shortages by growing the construction workforce”.

When talking about the investment needed to modernise, innovate, and become more efficient, the paper rightly states that “building at scale still exposes commercial developers to significant financial risk... [s]o, there is little incentive to invest…” The same is the case for investment in skills.

One answer must be for the government to encourage contracting authorities to share development risk and to create longer-term relationships with construction partners, to enable a longer-term view on investment in innovation and skills. The government should consider bucking the trend of one-off lowest-cost tendered projects by encouraging the use of long-term strategic alliancing contracts and frameworks agreements at all tiers of the construction industry supply chain, which encourage investment.

Assad Maqbool is a partner at Trowers & Hamlins specialising in projects and construction

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Continuing Professional Development Modern slavery • What is modern slavery?

• Spotting exploitation in your organisation • What you should do if slavery is suspected

Tackling construction’s huge hidden problem PRIME MINISTER Theresa May has called modern slavery “the great human rights issue of our time”. International legislation is ensuring that it will continue to rise up the business agenda, but how can we recognise worker exploitation on site, and what measures can we take to prevent it?

The Global Slavery Index estimates that 45.8 million people are in some form of slavery in 167 countries. In fact, more people are trapped in modern slavery today than at any other time in history.

Slavery is big business. It has its own shadow economy, generating an estimated US$150bn in illegal profits globally.

It has strong links to corruption, people trafficking and organised crime. Protected by vested interests, it is a complex problem that is not easy to tackle.

In recent years, the media has focused on worker exploitation in a variety of sectors, from agriculture (the cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay, 2004) to electronics goods (employees of Foxconn in China working on Apple products, 2012) and fast fashion (the collapse of the Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2013).

Construction has not escaped international scandal. High-profile cases include the World Cup stadium projects in Qatar, and worker exploitation on the New York University Campus in Abu Dhabi (2015), where 10,000 workers were excluded from labour safeguarding measures without the knowledge of the client.

The focus on Gulf countries by nongovernment organisations (NGOs) and campaigning newspapers may give the impression that the problem is only with this region. This is far from the case.

CPD

High-profile cases of worker exploitation in the Middle East have put the issue of modern slavery in the spotlight, but the fact is it is a much wider problem for the industry, writes Emma Crates.

Modern slavery can happen on any building site around the world. It can infiltrate, and remain hidden, within any supply chain.

Given construction’s fragmented procurement processes and heavy reliance on outsourced labour, the challenges in tackling this issue may seem overwhelming. But legislation is forcing action. The UK Modern Slavery Act requires all companies or subsidiaries based in the UK, with a turnover of above £36m, to report annually on the steps they are taking to address worker exploitation both within their organisation and their supply chains. The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act has similar requirements and the European Non-Financial Reporting Directive is also forcing organisations to report on bribery, corruption issues and human rights.

Rooting slavery out of construction will take generations and require strong leadership at CEO and board level. New policies will need to be embedded across many disciplines and departments, including procurement, design, HR, sustainability and contracts.

While that will take time, there are actions managers can take that could make an immediate impact. Fighting modern slavery is about changing attitudes and raising awareness through education and training. Every employee has a role to play in spotting signs and reporting problems.

Modern slavery should be seen in the same context as the industry’s evolving approach to health and safety. Slow and sustainable steps, backed up by industrywide initiatives, will change the image and working conditions of the sector over the long term.

What is modern slavery?

Simply put, modern slavery occurs when somebody effectively behaves as if they “own” the victim, depriving them of their freedom. This could be through forced labour — where the victim works against their will, often for long hours and little or no pay.

These workers will usually suffer verbal and physical abuse and threats of violence to control them. They may be in bonded labour, tricked and trapped into unrealistically high levels of debt by their handlers. They could be forced to work for free or on minimal wages to service the debt.

Alternatively, they could have become victims of human trafficking and have no legitimate status in their country of work.

In developing countries child labour can also be a major problem.

Who is most at risk?

Labourers and those at the lowest parts of the supply chain are most at risk. These are typically migrant workers who move from low income to higher income countries to find better paid work.

Construction’s heavy reliance on outsourced labour makes it particularly

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Continuing Professional Development Modern slavery

recruitment fees before they leave their homeland, they are vulnerable before starting the job or arriving in their country of work. This leaves them open to a variety of abuses including: l Unfair payment practices and/or lack of access to cash. Wages are paid late, withheld or prone to illegal deductions. l The worker may receive far less than was originally agreed. The perpetrators may be controlling their bank account, and may open credit cards and take out loans in their name. l Inadequate accommodation. Workers could be held in cramped, highly crowded and unsanitary conditions against their will. l Long working hours. Workers could be on long shifts, or be moved around multiple locations, working on several jobs at the same time. l Restriction of movement, workers may lose access to their passports and visas, and be unable to leave or look for new work. l Threats of violence, verbal and physical abuse

vulnerable to human rights risks. In extreme cases, such as Qatar, migrant labour accounts for 90% of the construction workforce.

TOM OLIVER

What are the common forms of abuse and control?

Illegal “recruitment fees” are often at the root of worker exploitation: to get employment, workers are duped into paying fees to agents and middle men.

These fees put them into debt that cannot be paid off for years, or even during their lifetime. Sometimes the debts are held by loan sharks at extortionate rates, and could be passed on to the victim’s children.

As a result, the workers are fearful of violent reprisals, both to themselves and their families.

Although recruitment fees are illegal in most countries, many cultures consider the practice to be normal. This enables unscrupulous parties to operate a “double dipping” system, taking fees from labourers, as well as billing employers for legitimate recruitment costs. Negligent clients may also operate under the mistaken belief that the agencies are footing all the costs of recruitment.

Because workers are forced to pay the

“Although recruitment fees are illegal in most countries, many cultures consider the practice to be normal.”

Detecting human rights abuses It’s important to understand that the abuse could be traced to inside or outside of your organisation and it could take a variety of forms. Perpetrators could be corrupt agents or recruitment consultants taking illegal placement fees. They could be an organised gang that is holding trafficked victims in forced labour.

Alternatively, they could be rogue employees, such as supervisors, who select workers for shifts on the basis that they use their sublet accommodation.

Victims are not always easy to spot.

They will be typically fearful of admitting their situation because of the tight controls that they find themselves under.

Commonly, victims will not understand their rights and would be distrustful of the authorities. They may be under surveillance and fear violent retributions.

They may also fear deportation, which could make their situation even worse.

They may be psychologically damaged and feel too ashamed to admit that they have been duped.

Bear in mind that the victims may have entered employment with your company through legitimate channels, albeit under duress.

Spotting the signs Although every situation should be treated on a case-by-case basis, there are some signs to look out for in the workforce.

Exploited workers may show signs of physical injuries or psychological abuse.

They may be dirty or malnourished. Their behaviour may be frightened, withdrawn and confused. They may avoid eye contact.

They may also have very few possessions and not be carrying money or personal items such as purses, wallets or jewellery. They may have few clothes or wear inappropriate >

Qatar Rail turns Fresh Eyes on exploitation

As in many countries around the world, the Qatari government officially prohibits the payment of recruitment fees. In practice, however, the situation is difficult to control or monitor, as corruption has usually taken place outside of its jurisdiction, before the labourers have arrived in the country.

Last year, Qatar Rail, the client overseeing the construction of three major rail networks in the country, launched a new initiative with project management consultant Jacobs International.

Under its Fresh Eyes campaign, all levels of the team, from senior management to office staff, are encouraged to regularly go out on site. As well as checking for potential health and safety issues, they talk informally to individual workers. These regular interactions are aimed at building mutual trust over the longer term. In cases where Qatar Rail becomes aware of recruitment fees or any other form of exploitation, the client will take immediate action against the perpetrators.

“I would urge all expatriate professionals visiting or working in the region to go to the sites and witness the situation themselves. It’s important for us all to become more proactive in looking for problems,” said a spokesperson.

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Continuing Professional Development Modern slavery

CIOB and the Stronger Together Toolkit For organisations to tackle slavery sustainably, it is necessary to start conversations with both employees and key supply chain members.

To this end, CIOB has teamed up with multi stakeholder initiative Stronger Together to launch a combined toolkit, collaboration and training platform for combating slavery in the construction sector.

Stronger Together already has a successful track record in retail. Major brands including Aldi, Asda, Co-operative Food, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose, are using the toolkit to reduce the risk of modern slavery within their operations and supply chains.

The toolkit will be available in February and can be accessed through the CIOB policy website https://policy.ciob.org

> clothes to work. They may look hungry, and have little or no food with them.

Tellingly, exploited workers are rarely left to be on their own and are often under the control and influence of others.

Be on the lookout for situations where one person speaks on behalf of a number of workers. Victims could be looking to him or her for support or permission.

In addition, a third party could be holding the labourers’ identity documents, and could answer phone calls on their behalf.

Watch how workers leave and enter the site. Are they being accompanied to work and back? For example, a driver may drop them off and collect them.

What to do on site?

If you suspect that you have a problem on site, be careful that your actions do not to alert the perpetrators. They could quickly move labourers elsewhere, covering up or removing any incriminating evidence.

Labour exploitation and human trafficking are serious crimes and it is not advisable for untrained individuals or organisations to manage the investigation internally. Your discovery may also form part of a complex investigation by the police.

In the UK, your first action should be to inform the police or the Anti Slavery Hotline and receive advice on how to proceed.

Protecting and supporting at-risk individuals If you suspect you have a problem within your organisation or on site, your primary responsibility is to ensure the safety and welfare of potential victims. They may be in a highly traumatised state and could be at risk from those around them. It will be necessary to protect them discreetly until the police, NGOs or agencies arrive.

Remain with the potential victim in a safe place, out of view of other workers and have a colleague present if possible.

It is vital that the victim’s identity is protected as other workers could be colluding in their control. Call in an interpreter if necessary — don’t rely on another worker who speaks the same language.

Where there is more than one potential victim it is advisable to put them in separate rooms as it may not be possible to know who is being exploited and who is an exploiter. Where the exploitation of one job applicant or worker is discovered, consider other applicants or workers who may also be at risk.

Recording evidence Keep a record of the circumstances leading up to any conversation with someone considered to be a potential victim. Record any initial first complaints from victims and collect and preserve CCTV evidence if available.

Photograph any evidence of physical injuries on a mobile phone or camera, and record vehicle registration numbers of any vehicles used by potential offenders, if safe to do so.

However, remember that your key role is to protect the victim, not to conduct an investigation.

Short- and medium-term preventative measures l Check the home addresses of all workers, including those from agencies.

Be alert to instances where many people are listed at the same address, as this indicates high shared occupancy. Also check whether multiple wages are being paid into the same bank account. l Set up a safe forum for employees to discuss and understand their rights. At board level, companies should also provide an anonymous phone line for workers to report abuse.

“If you suspect you have a problem within your organisation or on site, your primary responsibility is to ensure the safety and welfare of potential victims.”

l Confidential grievance processes should be established that includes agency workers. l Be alert to identity and document fraud, which may mask even bigger problems.

Many migrant workers may lie about paying recruitment fees because they are desperate not to lose their jobs. So build up trust with them, and do not necessarily believe the first answer they give on arrival. It is good practice to ask them about recruitment fees after they have been in work for a month and to repeat the question after six months when they may be feeling more secure.

In addition, in some countries it may also be necessary to check that: l Money is paid directly into workers’ bank accounts. l All staff, including agency workers, have a written contract. l Workers receive wage slips and are able to understand any deductions. CM Resources l The Anti Slavery Hotline, 0800 0121 700 www.modernslaveryhelpline.org l Unseen is an NGO that provides support and protection for victims of slavery and human trafficking in the UK. www.unseenuk.org l The CIOB has produced two reports on modern slavery: The Dark Side of Construction (2015) and Building a Fairer System: Tackling Modern Slavery in Construction Supply Chains. Both can be downloaded from the CIOB policy website https://policy.ciob.org

The CIOB has a dedicated CPD portal on the Construction Manager website, featuring CPD modules from the magazine, as well as study topics from a wide range of industry experts. To complete the questionnaire below, and access the free CPD content, go to: www.constructionmanagermagazine.com/cpd

CPD test paper: Modern slavery 1. Slavery is estimated to generate global illegal profits of: l $100bn l $150bn l $50bn l $500m 3. Fresh Eyes is an initiative in which country: l Oman l United Arab Emirates l Qatar l Bahrain 4. Recruitment fees are: l Paid by employers to agencies l Paid by agencies to workers l Paid by agencies to employers l Paid by workers to agents

5. If you discover slavery on site, you should immediately: l Inform the police l Conduct an internal inquiry l Shut down the site l Contact a legal representative 2. Under the Modern Slavery Act companies must issue an annual report on slavery if they have: l More than 1,000 employees l Profits of more than £1m l A turnover above £36m l Offices in more than one country

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Contact Contact THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF BUILDING MEMBERS’ NEWSLETTER ISSUE 150 MARCH 2017

IN THIS ISSUE

47-49 ON THE RADAR

All the latest news and developments from the CIOB at HQ and in your area including Trustees elections and awards night

50 COMMENT

The latest Hays salary survey threw up some interesting findings, says Duncan Bullimore

51 SCHOLARSHIPS

The latest research from the Sir Ian Dixon scholars tackles schools and attracting young people to construction careers

52-53 IN GOOD COMPANY

An exemplar build in Swansea

53 ONE TO WATCH

Adam Mitchell from BAM

54 MEMBER BENEFITS

Take advantage of exclusive member offers

55 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Key events by region for the month ahead

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ON THE RADAR

Contact | Mar 17

awards

THE WINNERS of Innovation awards unveiled

>

The CIOB has announced the winners of its 2016 International Innovation & Research Awards. The awards recognise the best innovators and researchers in the built environment that are making a significant contribution to both industry practice and the academic knowledge base through their work.

pp46-47NRFINAL.indd 47

INNOVATION ACHIEVER’S

• Premier award Chloe Smith and Robert Jones (Fulton Hogan Ltd) ‘Leading the Way – Fulton Hogan’s New Innovation Strategy’ • Highly Commended Prof Rahinah Ibrahim and Dr Navid Nasrollah Mazandari (University of Putra Malaysia/ University of Automotive Malaysia) ‘i-STP: Modular Sewage Treatment System for Remote Coastal Settlements’ • Merit Dr Narguess Khatami (Hilson Moran Partnership) ‘NV LogIQ Wall Controller’

DIGITAL INNOVATION • Premier Award

Dr Jozef Dobos and Tim Scully (3D Repo Ltd) ‘3D Repo – Open Source BIM Platform’ • Highly Commended Dr Songye Zhu, Shiguang Wang and Gary Hui (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University/Chevalier Ltd) ‘A Real-Time Monitoring, Assessment and Alarming System for ConstructionInduced Vibration Impact on Hospital Buildings’ • Merit Mr Simon Kaufman and Richard

Baker (AssetScape Ltd) ‘AssetScape World Management System’

INNOVATION IN EDUCATION & TRAINING • Premier Award

Mr Tony Burke and Mr Rob Garvey (University of Westminster) ‘The First Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in Digital Construction’ • Highly Commended Mrs Christina Duckett and Dr Geoff Cook (University of Reading) ‘The Breaking down Barriers Project at Reading: Educating for twentieth-century lives.

Promoting an inclusive society through innovation in built environment professional education, by embedding the design, construction and management of inclusive environment into curricula across the university using a collaborative approach.’

RESEARCH PAPER • Premier Award

Guillermo Tardio and Slobodan Mickovski (Glasgow Caledonian University.)

‘Implementation of eco-

engineering design into existing slope stability design practices.’

(Published in Ecological Engineering, Vol. 92; pp.138147, 2016) • Highly Commended Natalya Sergeeva (University College London, UK) ‘What makes an ‘Innovation Champion’? (Published in European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 19; Issue 1, pp. 72-89, 2016) • Merit Mark Mulville and Spyridon Stravoravdis (University of Greenwich, UK).

‘The Impact of Regulations on Overheating risk in Dwellings.’

(Published in Building Research and Information, Vol. 44; Issue 5-6, pp. 520-534, 2016)

UNDERGRADUATE DISSERTATION • Premier Award

Mark Lee and Stephen Hetherington (Sheffield Hallam University, UK) ‘A Comparative Study of the Physical Properties of Natural Hydraulic Lime and Ordinary Portland Cement Binders for the Application of External Renders.’

• Highly Commended Grace Di Benedetto and Chris Beckett (University of Western Australia)

‘An Exploratory Investiga.tion of Earth Printing’ • Merit Anthony Butera and Vivian Tam (Western Sydney University) ‘Experimental Study on Recycled Concrete Behaviour’

MASTERS DISSERTATION • Premier Award

Gemma Small and Neil Currie (University of Salford, UK) ‘Engineered Cardboard Origami Floor Joists: Part 2’ • Highly Commended Gemma Webb and Samantha Organ (University of the West England, UK) ‘Investigation into the Practice of Home Improvement by Owner-Occupier Families with pre-school children.’

• Merit Abdul Aziz Abas and Masran Saruwomo (University Teknologi Mara, Malaysia) ‘Variation in Price of Preliminaries in Construction Projects during Tender Stage’

Entries for the International Innovation and Research Awards 2017 will open in June.

CIOB News

This year, the competition received over 160 entries from18 different countries.

Six Premier Award winners were selected to recognise outstanding achievement in their field – with cash prizes of up to £2,000 for the category winner and £500 for highly commended.

An open source BIM platform was among one of the ideas to be selected for the Premier Award. The innovation, developed

by Dr Jozef Dobos and Tim Scully at 3D Repo, gives project teams the opportunity to share, envisage and understand their collective data sets, leading to better informed and faster, easier decision-making throughout the development and delivery of construction projects.

Joining the open source BIM platform as a Premier Award winner is an innovation strategy developed by Fulton Hogan in New Zealand to help increase performance, provide benefit for customers and, in one brilliant example, improve road safety through the development of ‘cats eyes’ which illuminate when roads are subject to freezing conditions . Submissions in the research categories covered a broad spectrum of ideas ranging from an exploration of the performance of origami floor joists, to the use of lime in an external render.

Announcing the results, the judging panel said: “The entries continue to impress and surpass expectations.

Each of the finalists was able to demonstrate clearly the value of their research or innovation to professional practice – a truly fantastic achievement.”

47

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ON THE RADAR

Contact | Mar 17

training

in brief

New course equips middle managers with skills needed for board level positions

>

> REHAB CENTRE SITE VISIT

Making the leap from middle to senior management needn’t be daunting – if you’ve already honed your skills for the boardroom. The CIOB Academy has launched a new course designed to help successful managers make the next step to board level by creating a pathway from middle to senior management.

The Preparation for Board Appointments course offers senior experienced managers a chance to learn about strategy, finance and governance and will explore capacity for diplomacy and interpersonal skills. Qualities such as integrity, honesty, ethics and objectivity will also be assessed as these are scrupulously exercised at board level.

The course is intensive and fast paced.

It’s split into three residential phases, each three days long. Between meetings, you’ll shadow a company board, having a chance to reflect on your learning as the programme progresses.

Those on the course will also undergo psychometric testing, helping develop a better understanding of personal drivers and emotional triggers. Course tutors will offer support and help identify knowledge gaps and areas for personal development.

As with all CIOB Academy courses, this programme is focused on developing practical skills but will also include

The latest course from the CIOB Academy is aimed at helping managers move up to board level

inspirational speakers who will come in each evening to talk on a range of topics.

The final session will see candidates put through a mock interview for a nonexecutive directorship, presenting to a panel of three senior industry professionals to practise what they have

learnt with the bonus of constructive feedback.

CIOB Academy will run several Preparation for Boards courses each year. To apply or find out more visit www.ciobacademy.org or email academy@ciob.org.uk

A massive three-year, £300m project is underway at Stanford Hall near Loughborough for handing over to the Ministry of Defence in 2018.

The site will become the new rehabilitation centre for wounded military when the current facility at Headly Court closes.

Work includes restoration and conversion of the hall and new facilities added and within the grounds. CIOB members can take advantage of a site visit led by Mark Green of Interserve to include a presentation and a tour.

This will be the first site visit with another planned later in the eyar.

For more information and live footage visit www. thednrc.org.uk To book a place email jnewton@ ciob.org.uk

trustees election

CIOB News

CIOB 2017 TRUSTEE ELECTION: VOTING OPENS ON 8 MARCH

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The election for the CIOB’s Board of Trustees commences on 8 March.

This year’s election is being managed by Mi-Voice.

Prior to the start of the election you will receive an email from Mi-Voice notifying

you about the voting process and who is standing for election. Corporate members will be able to vote by post or online. Ballot papers will drop through your letterbox prior to the start of the election. The deadline for

voting is Wednesday 5 April at 12pm. All candidates have been through a rigorous competency assessement so reward the most able by voting for them.

Voting online is easy: • Visit www.mi-vote.com

• Enter your unique voting code*

• Follow the instructions to vote

*Your unique voting code will be distributed by email and by post. If you cannot locate your mail then please contact the Mi-Voice Support Team at support@mi-voice.com, quoting your CIOB membership number

14/02/2017 14:01

HAVE WE GOT YOUR CONTACT DETAILS CORRECT?

• If you have moved or changed any of your details recently, don’t forget to tell

us. You can update your details online – simply log in to “members area” of the website www.ciob.org. Or email us at memenquiry@ciob.org.uk or call our membership customer services team on +44 (0) 1344 630706 for further help.

If you would rather post your details send them to: The Chartered Institute of Building, 1 Arlington Square, Downshire Way, Bracknell RG12 1WA, UK

competition

in brief

Bright futures 2017: have you got what it takes to make it as a champion?

ALBERT DOCK LECTURE SERIES CONTINUES The next set of lectures in the Inter-pro Albert Dock Series of events in Liverpool will include discussions on the dock past and future. Albert Dock celebrates its 175 year anniversary in 2021 and Inter-pro – a group of 14 professional built environment bodies including the CIOB – launched the lecture series last year to celebrate the Dock as an exemplar heritage regeneration project and acknowledge the range of built environment professionals involved in its success.

The lectures are tailored to appeal to all built environment professionals.

The next event will feature talks from heritage consultants Anthony Clarke and John Hinchliffe and Henrietta Billings (pictured), new director at heritage campaign charity, Save and takes place from 6-8pm 23rd March, Tate, Albert Dock.

To book email klu.wray@hotmail.co.uk

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Your local Novus group is looking for teams of built environment students to take part in the annual Bright Futures Student Challenge.

Novus, the CIOB’s group for student members and young professionals is inviting teams of up to four students to represent their university or college in a two-part competition.

The first round of heats will be held in eight local Hub areas in March where students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their creativity, practical skills, industry knowledge, team-working ability and passion for the industry. The best will be rewarded with individual certificates, a team trophy and prizes.

The event is open to those studying within all disciplines of the built environment and for students at various stages of their studies. The event is guaranteed to be a challenging but fun evening, working alongside like-minded individuals while offering the potential for networking with a number of industry professionals, including judges.

Following the heats the winning team from each local Hub event held across London, Southern and Eastern England will also be invited to compete in the final – with the aim to be crowned ‘Novus Bright Futures Champions 2017’.

This is a great chance to win further recognition to boost and kick start those careers.

For dates and details see p55

event

BOOK NOW FOR YORKSHIRE AWARDS NIGHT

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is at the heart of the region’s construction community.

The awards recognise achievements in 12 categories : • Achiever of the Year • Collaborative Working • Contractor of the Year • Health & Safety

• Innovation • Project of the Year Under £5M • Project of the Year Over £5M • Social Value • Sustainability • Team of the Year • Training • Young Trainee of the Year Award

Tickets for the event are £60+vat each, £600+vat for a table of 10. Included is a drinks reception, gourmet three course dinner, the awards presentation and entertainment.

To book contact sgiles@ciob.org.uk

CIOB News

The CIOB Celebrating Construction in Humber & West Yorkshire Awards (CCIHWY) will be held on Friday 24 March at the New Dock Hall, Leeds. The awards are the region’s premier networking event showcasing the professionalism, excellence and innovation that

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14/02/2017 14:01

COMMENT duncan bullimore

Perks and pay packets Duncan Bullimore reports on Hay Construction’s latest UK salary and recruiting trends report

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espite ongoing uncertainty postreferendum, the construction industry remained in good health during 2016. The confidence was demonstrated by the number of employers who raised salaries (74%), and plan to do so again this year (72%).

There are other positive indications going forward too. Nearly three-quarters of organisations are anticipating growth across the next year, with 77% planning to recruit a mix of permanent and temporary staff.

The Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends Guide 2017 also provided an insight into how confident employers are in

“Over half of workers said that flexible working was the most important benefit when selecting a new job” their current workforce, alongside how employees rate their work-life balance, benefits and pay.

CIOB Column

Employer/staff mismatch

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The research revealed there is a mismatch between the current challenges for employers and the demands of employees.

Over a fifth of staff (22%) said work-life balance was the most important factor in selecting a new role, mirroring that fewer than half (49%) said they were currently happy with their work-life balance.

Our report also revealed that flexible working opportunities aren’t being

effectively communicated or put in place for the construction sector. Over 70% of staff said they don’t currently use any flexible working options, with 31% of companies saying they don’t actively encourage their employees to take up the initiative.

Over half of workers thinking about moving told us that flexible working was the most important benefit when selecting a new job, and selected flexitime and home-working as the top ways of doing so.

Flexible working can also improve upon the number of women within the industry, as nearly three-quarters (74%) chose flexible working as the top benefit when looking for a new role, compared to 46% of men.

Looking to benefits, employers said a company car (55%), above statutory pension contribution (49%) and health insurance (47%) were the top benefits they offered staff.

In contrast, flexible working (53%) and over 25 days holiday (53%) were employees top benefit choices, demonstrating a clear mismatch between employers and staff.

It’s therefore recommended that companies reassess their benefits packages as the workforce becomes more diverse, and challenging in the coming months. Doing so may help prevent employees from being tempted elsewhere, with 61% predicting they would look to leave their current roles within the next year.

It’s clear that there is still progress to be made towards bridging the skills gap. Employees are confident in their skillsets: 97% feel they have the skills to fill their current job role, however a fifth of employers said they don’t currently have the talent to achieve current business objectives. Expertise in particular demand include operational and technical skills, as well as managerial and leadership ability.

Salary slips Over half of staff aren’t happy with their pay packets (54%). The demand for particular skills is driving uplift, as employees looking for roles can find themselves with multiple job offers at once.

However, businesses have recognised that pay is a factor when it comes to recruiting, as nearly half (46%) said competition from other employers would be one of their biggest challenges when hiring this year.

Positively, over half of employers are still confident their business activity levels will increase post-referendum. However, employers should make steps to improve elements of the workplace or roles employees aren’t happy with, in order to attract and retain top talent.

Likewise, employees should recognise skills gaps in order to upskill and improve upon their career prospects.

•

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Duncan Bullimore is director at Hays Construction For further information visit hays.co.uk/salary-guide

14/02/2017 12:10

LEARNING

CURVE Scholarships

>

GOOD THINKING The Scholarship

Bob Heathfield (SID scholarship chair and chair of the scholarship committee at WCC, CIOB past president),Ian Mason (Master of the WCC), Andrew Thompson (SID scholar), Lady Dixon, Liz Waters (SID scholar) and Chris Blythe OBE (CIOB Chief Executive).

>

Improving schools and how to make construction attractive to young people were this year’s Ian Dixon scholarship topics.

The two scholars presented their research findings at an evening reception in London recently. The event was chaired by Bob Heathfield chair of the Scholarship and Awards Committee of The Worshipful Company of Constructors/ past President of the CIOB and also included speeches from Chris Blythe OBE, Ian Mason, Master of the Worshipful Company of Constructors and Dean Ball, company director at Lakehouse.

ANDREW THOMPSON

LAKEHOUSE CONTRACTS LIMITED

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The research Andrew’s study aimed to investigate how to increase primary school places and improve school building conditions in London and the South East where the need is greatest. Nine main case studies were investigated with support of other case studies for reference. It was found that public buildings such as police stations and hospitals could successfully be converted into primary schools. The research also identified various ‘innovative classrooms’ that involved using double decker buses, boats and parks for learning and teaching. However, it was found that these alternatives were not able to cater for large groups of pupils. There are limitations that exist with these solutions presented in the study. Overall it was

More details can be found at: www.ciob.org/ scholarships

LIZ WATERS

SIR ROBERT MCALPINE STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS & COMMUNITY MANAGER Liz joined Sir Robert McAlpine in 2012 and is currently working on the Broadgate Redevelopment project. She has a BA (Hons) in marketing and has previously worked in the media sector in marketing, communications, sponsorship and events.

Liz’s role includes working closely with client British Land on strategic planning for stakeholder management, communications and socio economic investment for the 10 year redevelopment of Broadgate. Much of her role involves interaction with education and local communities which has been a prelude to her research topic.

The research Given high levels of unemployment among young people and reports that an additional 224,000 construction jobs will be available by 2019, you would find it hard to imagine that the construction industry is facing a skills shortage.

Construction is generally not considered a preferred career choice by young people despite the diverse range of opportunities available requiring different skills and aptitudes. While there is a need for the industry to utilise sustainable measures such as investment in training and apprenticeship to meet both short and long term demand, perhaps one of the initial questions it needs to ask is if it is failing to attract young people into the industry.

The research topic looks at young people’s perceptions of the industry and makes recommendations for how it can invest, inform and inspire young people to choose a career in construction.

•

CIOB Scholarships

Andrew is a compliance manager for the Lakehouse Construction Division. He joined Lakehouse as an assistant site manager in 2013 on an industrial placement whilst studying Civil Engineering BEng (Hons).

Upon graduating in 2015, Andrew returned to Lakehouse as assistant contracts

manager before starting his new role as compliance manager. Andrew’s current role involves auditing Lakehouse sites and providing support to site managers in order to be operationally compliant with internal and external industry quality standards.

The Sir Ian Dixon Scholarship supports research related to any area of construction management.

Sir Ian Dixon was CIOB’s President from 1989 to 1990 and head of Willmott Dixon.

He was an enthusiastic supporter of innovation and education within the industry.

The Sir Ian Dixon Scholarship was established in 1997. It is funded and supported

by Sir Ian Dixon Legacy, The Chartered Institute of Building and The Worshipful Company of Constructors.

The Scholarship is designed to provide an opportunity for companies to develop the potential of their staff through a research programme.

The CIOB invites companies and candidates every year to identify and nominate talented individuals to submit applications. Each scholar is awarded a one-year research fund of £3,000 to produce a piece of research in the UK that results in a tangible outcome and benefits the scholar, the company and the industry.

found that prefabrication, innovative design and converting existing buildings were reliable and practical solutions to the school places and school buildings crisis in London and the South East.

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INGOODCOMPANY >

Kier Construction

Total transformation: Work is underway on Phase 1of the Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter due for completion in 2018

University Of Wales Trinity Saint David

Setting an example CIOB members can look forward to site visits of the exemplar new Swansea Bay project being developed by Kier

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Case study

he skyline of Swansea Bay is changing as a steel frame marks progress on a new £300m development.

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) is building a new academic neighbourhood which is expected to attract businesses as well as benefit students.

The CIOB Supported the bid for UWTSD; it will be a National Construction College in Wales delivering level 1-7 training and qualifications.

Kier Construction won the contract to deliver phase one. Kier is an engaged CIOB TP and the CIOB is planning site visits during the build including during the 2017 Members Forum, which is being held in Wales.

Phase one of the Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter will comprise a faculty of architecture, computing and engineering, a faculty of education and communities and a new library. It is due to open for the start of the 2018 academic year. The second phase of the development will expand the university’s academic facilities further and create space for businesses by 2021.

The project is aiming for exemplar status.

This is based on: › Collaboration and awareness of risk: Kier offered an additional six weeks to the RIBA stage 3 brief and approval period to de-risk this phase and provide a better early understanding of affordability, therefore maintaining cost and time certainty › Onsite training and engagement through Construction Wales Innovation Centre (CWIC). A unique CITB-funded project for Wales that will respond to employer needs across the construction industry at all levels

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› Maximising the value early contractor and services involvement during the preconstruction phase. This includes early engagement of the specialist supplier and a mini tender process for the M&E to enable early specialist input into the design, cost, programme and maintenance, thus derisking one of the major work packages › SAIR driving the improvement in safety culture and reduction in incidents through the measuring of ‘Significant Accident Incident Rate’ rather than traditional ‘Accident Incident Rate’ › Addressing whole life cost issues › The use of level 2 BIM using BIMXtra to provide the equivalent of a level 2 COBie data drop for M&E and FFE › Carbon monitoring and foot printing.

Facing challenges The team has dealt with many key issues facing the project and industry as a whole: › Maintaining cost and time certainty, early understanding of affordability and programme allowed input from the Princes Foundation Architect and the Design Commission for Wales › Reducing risks prior to construction; transparent approach with joint undertaking of survey work › Streamlining the procurement process to reduce cost, red tape and to engage more with the market place › Addressing whole-life cost issues to reduce future running costs, focusing on long term maintenance - specific to the coastal environment, legacy issues and an integrated FM proposal for Soft Landings and operation › Maximising the potential for community

FACT FILE • Client: University Wales Trinity St David (UWTSD) • Architect: Stride Treglown • Contractor: Kier Construction Western and Wales • Value: Circa £30m • Project size: Academic Building (FLEXI and TECH) 10,109m2; Library 2,705m2; Access Hall 2443m2 • Contract: NEC Lump Sum (option A) • Duration: Planning Jun 2016; Start on Site - Oct 2016; Hand Over - May2018 for University start Sept 2018 • Procurement: Mini • Competition: under SEWSCAP2

benefits by having a well structured education/skills focused community engagement plan in place, carefully aligned to the university’s core objectives › Education initiatives programme developed for extent of project, provision of a position for an FM graduate to be employed from the design stage through construction with the opportunity for employment and the FM contractor/client following completion › Reducing the volume of waste generated and the percentage of material going to landfill.

Environmental considerations As a university focused upon sustainability, the buildings will be designed and constructed in a visually pleasing and sustainable way; with green spaces being developed to create an inspiring social environment for students, staff and the wider community.

A principle of betterment to current standards is being pursued where the building is being designed to provide adaptability to future technologies and

“Kier is an engaged CIOB TP and the CIOB is planning visits during the build including during the 2017 Members Forum, which is being held in Wales” 14/02/2017 12:34

ONETOWATCH comply with Hea 4; and a report will be issued along with design drawings to show thermal zoning and controls in order to be provided with continual refinement of the envelope and natural vent system.

Enabling Zero Waste (EZW) targets and methods of measuring circular enonomy will be examined during the scheme

Economic considerations

policies, enabling minimal impact retrofits to be carried out. Other betterment areas include: › Reducing G values on glazing below standard 0.4 to 0.3 › Provision within the design of the curtain walling system for the future fixing of Brise Soleil › Efficient lighting and systems to help reduce the primary energy consumption over the target primary emission rate and carbon emissions, over 2014 regulations › Inclusion of 600m2 with space for 900m2 of PV panels The project is currently being managed through BREEAM 2014, with the use of Kier’s 4 Projects (4P) system to attain Excellent.

Life cycle costing has been carried out in order to ensure that the most cost effective materials and specifications are used in order to reduce the whole life cost of the building. Durability measures will also be installed to ensure that the maintenance costs are reduced where possible.

A number of thermal comfort models have been undertaken by TB&A MEP to

Look out for date announcements for site visits

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Supply chain and community Kier utilises local subcontractors to deliver work packages throughout the project. A ‘Meet the Buyer’ event has already been held for local subcontractors to access opportunities on the project with a key focus on attendance by local suppliers. The business operates a supply chain management system covering 44 key trades. Each of these has to be compliant with ‘Safety Schemes in Procurement’. Performance is tracked monthly. Training and assistance is provided to subcontractors where required.

Key community benefits include: ›1300 person weeks › 25 jobs for NEETS › 10 trainee/apprentice weeks per £1m › FM graduate initiative › 2 undergraduate employment offers › 500 hours of construction training and education – providing access to the site and training facility for schools.

•

Managing surveyor Kent SEN Schools BAM Construction Ltd

Passionate about student participation, Adam is also on the Maidstone Novus Group Committee Q Tell us about your career to date Having graduated from Loughborough University with a first class degree in construction engineering management, I took up a full time position with my sponsor company BAM Construction. I progressed –­­ via the PDP route – to achieve Chartered Status in 2008 at the age of 23.

This helped to push my career forward and having initially taken roles in site management and design management I moved to a commercial role in 2009. Since then I have financially managed various projects for BAM ranging from £4m to £26m. In 2016 I was promoted to managing surveyor and am responsible for multiple projects across Kent.

I have actively taken part in CIOB activities; giving talks to students and completing site tours. This year I have joined the Maidstone Hub Novus committee and will be hosting teams at the Bright Futures Student Challenge.

Q Why did you choose a career in construction?

What else would you have done?

From a young age I had an interest in construction, watching spaces turn from

empty land into useable buildings. For some of my youth I was intending on joining the police force and becoming a traffic officer.

Q What are the best and worst parts of your job/ this industry?

The travelling and early starts can sometimes eat into more of your time than you realise, but the variety of work locations is also one of the most enjoyable parts.

One of the best elements to this career is the people: such a wide range of personalities and professionals. One other great satisfaction is watching a building being occupied and enhancing peoples lives.

Q What do you do in your spare time?

At the weekend I enjoy family time at my local beach which is only a five minute walk from my home and it’s great way to keep my young children entertained. In the winter I ski.

My career does flow into my spare time as I have a keen interest in architecture and enjoying taking in famous buildings around the world when I travel, having visited the Burji Khalifa, Beijing “Bird’s Nest” & Petronas Towers.

Q What are your career ambitions?

I hope to progress to board level, maybe one day sitting in the CEO chair. I also wish to use my experience to help others.

•

CIOB members

>

Led by the client, the project is being progressed in a collaborative fashion, with the establishment of an integrated team from an early stage in the project’s development.

The SEWSCAP2 framework has been used to engage a main contractor and design team on a two-stage design and build basis. The NEC contract form (Option A: Lump Sum) is favoured for greater certainty for the client. The provision of a ‘not to exceed’ offer based on 50% cost certainty at the end of RIBA stage 3 demonstrates this collaberative approach.

Adam Mitchell MCOB

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MEMBER BENEFITS

create something amazing. today

FULL CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP OF CIOB brings with it many benefits, including exclusive access to discounts and special deals on products and services that could enhance your professional development, help your business or boost your earning power. Products and services currently on offer from our special partners are listed below...

opportunity

EX

CLU SIV MEM E OFF BER ER

ITN PRODUCTIONS | Feature in the next CIOB & ITN collaboration

The film Masterminds of Construction is brought to you by ITN Productions & CIOB and is the second programme in a series that brings greater understanding of the value of construction and explores the career opportunities available to young people in the industry.

View the film at http://www.ciob.org/masterminds-construction or to take part in the next programme in the series contact james.linden@itn.co.uk

car hire

CAR HIRE PEUGEOT | Exclusive member discounts on car hire

Peugeot is offering CIOB members exclusive discounts on cars and vans provided through Peugeot Contract Hire.

These agreements include Peugeot Assistance provided by the AA (including European cover), Vehicle Excise Duty for the duration of the contract and free metallic paint.

Visit our partnership website www.peugeotcontracthire.co.uk/ciob or call 0345 313 3811 to discuss your requirements.

finance

CIOB INSURANCE SERVICES | Premier BusinessCare

As the approved business broker to the CIOB, Premier BusinessCare specialises in finding CIOB members the best insurance covers available in the market at competitive prices. Working with a variety of UK insurers, we are able to give you a quick quotation to cover your profession and your business, including Professional Indemnity, Directors and Officers, Liability covers, and many other construction and commercial insurances. However large or small the job, it’s our job help you safeguard against the unexpected.

Call 0330 1026158 or visit www.ciobinsuranceservices.com for more details

software

CUBICOST BY GLODON | Free trial and training in cost software

How do you track cost variations, recover certainty and profit, as well as grow your business? Cubicost is Glodon’s Suite of Takeoff and Billing software (2D, 3D and BIM) used by global consultancies to regional contractors, our products drive project savings in time, resource and cost of tendering and thus, increase margins. Glodon are market leaders in Asia, a $500m group with 5000 employees, operating in 15 countries worldwide. Glodon is delighted to be working with CIOB. A FREE Trial and half-day training package is exclusively available to CIOB Members.

Contact us to book a demonstration. E: uk@glodon.com . W: www.cubicost.com T: 0203 808 4669

learning

ASTA POWERPROJECT BIM FROM ELECOSOFT | Making 4D planning easy

Are you able to link your project plan and 3D model together with ease for 4D planning in one application? Asta Powerproject BIM from Elecosoft makes this possible without being overcomplicated – making it ideal for tendering and progress monitoring.

Elecosoft currently provide project management software to over 90% of the top 100 construction UK companies and is offering a 14-day trial and online demo of Asta Powerproject BIM to CIOB members.

To find out more, call 01844 261700 or visit www.astapowerproject/bim

learning

IHS | Have you tried the new Construction Information Service?

The Construction Information Service (CIS) has been thoroughly refreshed and optimised to provide an indispensable source of key information that can help you realise significant time and cost savings The online tool delivers current regulations, construction standards and industry news covering building, engineering, design and construction processes. Data covers construction stages from design to completion for projects in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Users have access to technical data from 500+ publishers including full text copies of British Standards and CIOB documents. Using the CIS, you will be able to:

• E nsure design compliance and sustainability • I nnovate designs and construction methods • S upport construction lifecycle from start to completion

CIOB Member Benefits

For further information see www.ihs.com/products/uk-construction-information-service.html or email michelle.judd@ihs.com

FREE CORPORATE HOTEL BOOKING SERVICE | Save on average 21% on over 550,000 hotels worldwide with Roomex travel

Roomex.com is proud to offer CIOB Members immediate direct access to their live online hotel booking platform via the following link www.ciob.roomex.com. Alternatively for a bespoke corporate solution with full features and benefits Roomex can tailor your own company site page on the platform. All at no cost.

Visit www.ciob.roomex.com

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14/02/2017 14:12

DATESFORYOURDIARY EAST OF ENGLAND

How to Write your PR Report Workshop 2nd March, 6pm, Lancaster House,Thorpe St. Andrews Business Park, Norwich Contact: mrix@ciob. org.uk Novus Bright Futures Student Challenge 8 March, 5.30pm, Anglia Ruskin University, Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford Contact: coh@ciob. org.uk SuDS & The Role of Permeable Paving 15 March, 6pm ISG, Ipswich Contact: coh@ciob. org.uk Visit to Aviation Academy 23 March, 3pm, Aviation Academy, Norwich Airport Contact: mrix@ciob. org.uk

IRELAND

Site Visit to Redevelopment of Windsor House 16 March, GRAHAM Construction site entrance, Bedford Street, Belfast Contact: KMenagh@ ciob.org.uk Microsoft Project for Construction Managers 21 March, Mullan Training, Blackstaff Studios Belfast Contact: KMenagh@ ciob.org.uk Meet the CIOB 4 April, Crowne Plaza, Belfast Contact: KMenagh@ ciob.org.uk

LONDON

Dudley College (Advance II) – IPI Methodology & BIM In Action 7 March, 6pm, Dudley Contact: gfloyd@ciob. org.uk New Defence Rehab Centre 28th March, 4pm, Stanford Hall. Stanford.

Contact: jnewton@ciob. org.uk PDP Workshop 30 March, 6pm, Solihull.

Contact: jbennett@ciob. org.uk

NORTH

Novus Student Challenge – Quiz Night 1 March, 6pm, The Adelphi Hotel, Leeds Contact: sgiles@ciob. org.uk Common Defects in Victorian Houses 7th March, 6.30pm, Leyland Golf Club, Wigan Road, Leyland Contact: kpercival@ ciob.org.uk CIOB & IStructE – Leeds Station South Entrance 15 March, 6pm, Leeds Beckett University room TBA Speaker: Ian Besford, Projects Principal – Structural Engineer Contact: sgiles@ciob. org.uk Innovations in Concrete Foundations 16 March, 6.30pm, Irish World Heritage Centre, Cheetham Hill, Manchester Contact: kpercival@ ciob.org.uk North West Annual Black Tie Dinner 5 May, 7pm Radisson Blu Edwardian M2 5GP Table: £780; Individuals £85 ( both incl VAT) Sponsorship packages available Contact: kpercival@ ciob.org.uk

SOUTH WEST

Managing Moisture During Building and Construction Projects 2nd March, 1pm, Richfords Fire & Flood, Leigh House, Dudnance Lane, Redruth, Cornwall, Contact: estreames@ ciob.org.uk Southampton Hub Heat: Novus Bright Futures Student Challenge 8 March, 5.15pm, Southampton Solent University Contact cbenjamin@ ciob.org.uk

SOUTH & SOUTH EAST

Novus Bright Futures Student Challenge Reading Hub Heat 8 March, 5.30pm, venue tbc, Contact: joparker@ciob. org.uk Novus Bright Futures Student Challenge Dorking Hub Heat 8 March, 5.30pm, University of Brighton, Lewes Road, Brighton BN2 4GJ Contact: bmilton@ciob. org.uk Novus Bright Futures Student Challenge:Maidstone Hub Heat 8 March, 5.30pm, Midkent College, Tonbridge Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 8AQ Contact: blawrence@ ciob.org.uk Dorking Hub: BIM – The Legal Implications 16 March, 6.30pm, University of Brighton, Moulsecoomb Campus Contact: bmilton@ciob. org.uk Sustainability: ‘How We as an Industry Should be Looking at Renewable Resources When Planning ’ 21 March, 6.15pm, Solent Hotel & Spa, Rookery Ave, Whiteley, Fareham Speaker: Gary Wilburn, director of design and sustainability, Richard Hall programme manager Future South, Chris Cooper, director Know Now Information ltd Contact: cbenjamin@ciob.org.uk

find out more about events in your area go to www.ciob.org.uk/regions or > To look out for your electronic news and event updates from your CIOB branch or CIOB centre. To receive information from the CIOB visit www.ciob.org.uk and log on to the members’ area to input/update your details and preferences.

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Oxford Hub: People, Profit and the Pound; An Overview of UK Construction in 2017 28 March, 6pm, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Park End St, Oxford Contact: joparker@ciob. org.uk Maidstone Hub: CPD Claiming Time and Money under JCT and NEC3 Contracts 28 March, 7pm, Holiday Inn, London Road, Wrotham TN15 7RS Cost: £10 for members, £25 non members, free to student members Contact: blawrence@ ciob.org.uk

WEST

Oxford Hub Heat: Novus Bright Futures Student Challenge 8 March, 5.30pm, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3 0BP Contact: joparker@ciob. org.uk

If you have a smartphone, iPhone or tablet, why not search your apps for a free downloadable QR reader and scan our details.

Contacts General Main CIOB telephone number +44 (0)1344 630700 Chief Executive Chris Blythe 01344 630701 Member Services Head of Member & Business Development 01344 630852 Change of Address 01344 630789/630731 Direct Debit Enquiries 01344 630831 Membership Certificates 01344 630720 Membership Enquiries/ Progression 01344 630706 Subs Enquiries (Members) 01344 630831 Training Partnerships 01344 630726 Certificate Ceremonies 01344 630785 SMTS Enquiries 01344 630742 Experienced Practitioner Assessed Programme (EPA) 01344 630887 Experienced Practitioner Assessed Report Route (EPAR) 01344 630887 Benevolent Fund 01344 630780 Professional Development 01344 630716 Library Enquiries 01344 630873/737 Head of Education 01344 630822 Adjudication and Dispute Resolution 01344 630732 Scholarship and Research 01344 630776 Chartered Building Company/ Consultancy Scheme Chartered Building Scheme Manager 01344 630746 Administrator 01344 630743

Publications Magazine subscriptions (non-members) 01344 630811 Construction Research and Innovation (CRI) 01344 630735 Construction Manager 020 7490 5636 Contact 07704 336835 Policy and External Relations Deputy Chief Executive 01344 630702 Press Office 01344 630766 Web Site Enquiries 01344 630738 CIOB International General Enquiries +44 (0) 1344 630791 CIOB Africa + 27 11 234 7877 CIOB Australasia +61 (2) 9816 4700 CIOB China East +86 21 2211 1556 CIOB China North +86 10 6528 1070 CIOB China West/South +86 23 3670 6360 CIOB Hong Kong +852 2543 6369 CIOB Malaysia +852 (603) 2284 5754 CIOB Middle East +971 (0) 4457 9107 CIOB Singapore +65 6334 4116 The views expressed in Contact are not necessarily those of the editor or the CIOB. The editor reserves the right to edit any article submitted for publishing.

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CIOB Diary Dates

Thames Tideway Tunnel: Recruiting New Communities into Construction 6 March, 6pm, Burns Room, Union Jack Club, Sandell Street, Waterloo, London SE1 8UJ Cost: £8 Members, £25 Non-Members, Free to student members Contact: bgrange@ciob. org.uk PDP Workshop 15 March, 6pm, Gascoigne Room, Union Jack Club, Sandell Street, London, SE1 8UJ Contact: jbennett@ciob. org.uk

MIDLANDS

MARCH TO MARCH 2017

The Chartered Institute of Building

The Chartered Institute of Building is at the heart of a management career in construction.

Our focus is on those entering and already in a management career in construction. By delivering qualifications and certifications that meet the needs of a changing industry. We work with members, employers, academia and governments across the globe to drive forward the science, practice and importance of management in construction.

OUR VISION: Built environment professionals making a difference OUR MISSION: To contribute to a modern, progressive and responsible construction industry, meeting the economic, environmental and social challenges of a global society OUR VALUES: • Creating extraordinary people through professional learning and continuing professional development.

• Promoting the built environment as central to quality of life for everyone, everywhere.

• Achieving a sustainable future worldwide.

• Being socially responsible and advocating exemplary ethical practice, behaviour, integrity and transparency.

• Pursuing excellence in worldwide management practice and technological innovation rooted in evidence based research.

• To be the inclusive valued Institute of choice for built environment professionals.

We have over 47,000 members around the world and are considered to be the international voice of the building professional, representing an unequalled body of knowledge concerning the management of the total building process.

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Kryton concrete waterproofing recommended for dream home

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Ian Walters, a construction manager and CIOB member with over 30 years’ experience in the sector has erected his first self-build in Kent, using Kryton concrete waterproofing to protect his dream home.

“Of course, I manage every build professionally, but I took a belt and braces approach to building my own home. I wanted to be 100% certain that there would be no water ingress at all,” commented Ian.

Ian Walters, self-builder, is delighted with the final results

Above left: The large basement extended across most of the plot Above right: Kryton’s KIM® was added to all concrete mixed for basements and footings to permanently waterproof the structure

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remains waterproof for the life of the structure and the Krystol continues to react, even self-sealing micro-cracks if they appear over time.

The Kryton concrete waterproofing system was recommended to Ian by Seamus Ruddy of Erris Basements, who were responsible for the construction of the basement and footings of the home. In turn, the products had been recommended to Erris Basements by other specialists they knew in the industry.

2. Krystol Waterstop GroutTM and Krystol Waterstop TreatmentTM were used at the base of all walls to permanently waterproof the construction joints. They both also contain Krystol technology. These two products are part of the Krystol Waterstop System, made up of products which combine to waterproof construction joints, pipe penetrations, tie-holes and control joints.

To create this secure waterproofing, Kryton products, which are supplied in the UK by Source One Environmental (S1E), were used in two ways:

An external membrane was also installed as the second waterproofing system, to comply with current building regulations.

1. Krystol Internal MembraneTM (KIM®) was added to the concrete mix in dry powdered form. This additive includes unique Krystol technology which acts as a catalyst for un-reacted cement particles to react with any water, forming crystals which grow to fill the pores and capillaries of the concrete, further blocking any route for moisture. Once treated, the concrete

“The Kryton concrete waterproofing system was simple for the contractors to install and Kryton’s distributors, S1E, were on hand throughout the project to offer advice when needed,” stated Ian. “I’m delighted with the results – a perfectly dry basement for my new home.”

l Call: +44(0)1226 397 015 l

www.s1e.co.uk

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NEWS • PEOPLE • PROJECTS • TECHNOLOGY • MANAGEMENT • EDUCATION • CPD • JOBS

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17/01/2017 16:51

Project of the month Thames Tower

Redeveloping a prominent building in the centre of Reading came with the further challenge of adding four floors. Jai Sanghera from dn-a architecture reveals more.

Describe the project The thrust of the £44m project was to redevelop and reinvigorate an outdated 1980s office block into a contemporary mixed-use work place for the 21st century.

Hence the key objective was to entice high-calibre forward-thinking companies looking for premises in an urban and vibrant location rich in amenities.

The design concept was inspired by the Guaranty Building — the first modern skyscraper designed by Louis Sullivan in Buffalo, New York — that is of very similar proportions to Thames Tower.

Various options were considered, including full demolition. The solution eventually chosen was to strip back to the frame and add four new steel-framed office floors, making it a more sustainable option.

Vital statistics?

The contract period is for 109 weeks, it is expected to be finished by the end of February 2017.

The main contractor for the 260,050 sq ft (GEA) tower is Bowmer & Kirkland and the client is Landid and Brockton

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Capital Partners. Others who worked on the building were Peter Brett Associates (structural engineer) and Shipley Structures (steelwork contractors).

What did the works entail?

The works included stripping the building back to its structural frame, the removal of the existing concrete upstand panels to all elevations and the screed on the existing floors to help lighten the frame.

Stiffening plates and brackets were installed at level 11, and a series of additional perimeter support beams were connected to the external edge of the existing columns, which all helped to reinforce the structure.

The building has been reclad with a new terracotta tiling system to mirror the red brick buildings in the town centre.

The four corners of the building were also altered to create a now perfectly square structure. This was achieved by installing a new steel column to each of the building’s corners with secondary infill framing. These triangular corner infills were subsequently metal decked and concreted throughout the full height of the building.

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What was the biggest challenge?

Working within a tight site with the boundary line being critical as on the north and south elevations it coincided with the existing facade line. So early discussions were arranged with the cladding subcontractor.

Logistics and working with the various cranes on the project were also a challenge. Before the new four storeys at the top of the building could be built, the existing concrete frame had to be strengthened as it was decided that a tower crane was needed. But to get the tower crane on the roof, another 500-tonne mobile crane was needed.

What will you take to other projects?

Working closely with client and design team at all stages of the project is key to success and to pre-empt any challenges, you always have to be thinking laterally.

Top: The design concept is based on Buffalo’s Guaranty building Above: Terracotta tiling mirrors the town’s red brick buildings Below: Interior walls are left exposed to create a modern look

What will be the champagne moment?

The eventual decloaking of the cathedrallike spaces of the newly formed entrance lobby and the penthouse level with its south-facing terrace along with the painstaking resolution and attention to detail of the exposed services, resulting in a stimulating and uplifting workplace. CM

Construction Manager Published for the Chartered Institute of Building by Atom Publishing 2nd Floor 3 Waterhouse Square 138 Holborn London EC1N 2SW Tel: +44 (0)20 7490 5595 Fax: +44 (0)20 7490 4957 firstname@atompublishing.co.uk

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