UK Construction Journal V18N09

V18 N09

ECOWORLD BALLMORE VISION FOR THE SECOND PHASE OF EMBASSEY GARDENS

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NEWS - 6

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COMMENTS 26 Paul Cribbens, NHBC Standards Manager, talks about the new standards for 2016 27 James Kelly, BSIA Chief Executive, talks to us about construction safety and site risks 30 Peter Sheridan, Sheridan Gold LLP, discusses contractual interpretation 32 Mark Clinton, Partner Thomas Eggar LLP, considers the issues that arise in adjudicating on contracts that are not wholly in writing 35 Michelle Labrosse, founder of Cheetah Learning, talks about Project management Hygiene 36 Phantom, Why construction companies should be looking to install tracking for their site assets 39 Benjamin Dyer of Powered Now looks at the ins and outs of using review sites 62 Patent protection for innovative products.

Paul Misselbrook, partner at Appleyard Lees

Publications Editor Victoria Lee Operations Manager Gareth Trevor-Jones Designer Richard Gill Publications Officer Matthew Brown Robert Atherton Approvals Sarah Smith Eleanor Matthews Sales Administrator Alecia Rowe Credit Control Carol Ryan

INTERVIEW 34 An Interview with CHR CAD Manager Matt Aspey and their implementation of BIM

EVENT 40 Exclusive Interview: Digital Construction Week. UK Construction Media talks with Oliver Hughes, Director of Digital Construction Week, about the event

Display Advertising Sales T: 01257 231900 E: admin@ukconstructionmedia.co.uk www.ukconstructionmedia.co.uk

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46 Facilities Management in the world of BIM

CIVIL 48 AMP6 – A period of change and long-term investment 50 AMP6 News 51 Rail Focus - UK Construction Journal looks at RISQS with RIA Technical Director, Francis How, and all the latest news from the rail industry 58 Crossrail communication

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60 Exclusive Interview: UK Construction Journal speaks with Adrian Trent, Managing Director of Future54

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UKC NEWS

Breaking ground for the HSB Living Lab research arena Construction is now starting on HSB Living Lab, the research arena for housing of the future. For ten years this mobile and flexible building will function as a living laboratory for technical and architectural innovations. Architects from Tengbom have designed the building and are partners in the research work together with HSB, Chalmers University of Technology and Rice University.

Work on the HSB Living Lab research arena began on 11th September at the Swedish Modules factory. Forty-four flexible modules will be produced for subsequent assembly on Chalmers’ campus in Gothenburg, Sweden. The residents and researchers who will provide the foundation for research into housing of the future will move in during the first half of 2016. Tengbom is the architectural firm responsible for HSB Living Lab, from programme start until 2025.

Peter Elfstrand, Senior Architect at Tengbom said: “Designing the physical platform for our

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long term research work has been a fantastic challenge. The building will house and inspire the search for innovative architectural solutions which means that the need for flexibility, development and evaluation have been the central to its design.”

HSB Living Lab has been shaped by the needs of research in both its interior and exterior design. The module principle and facades with exchangeable materials are two examples of how the building has been designed to develop over time. The research will include everything from innovative technology, sustainable solutions, materials,

functions and methods to social contexts and interaction between residents Emma Sarin, Project Manager HSB Living Lab added: “Breaking ground for a major building project always gives a special feeling. Even though in this case the first module of what will become HSB Living Lab is starting in the factory. This also characterises the entire HSB Living Lab: this is far from being a typical building project. The aim of this living laboratory is to invert the concept of how we can reside and live sustainably in our everyday lives.”

The City of London Building of the Year 2015 winner announced The Leadenhall Building designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners and developed by British Land and Oxford Properties is the winner of the inaugural City of London Building of the Year award.

The winner was selected from some 15 city buildings whittled down to a shortlist of four, including new construction, extensions and refurbishments. The three buildings to join the Leadenhall building on the shortlist were St Bartholomew’s Hospital by HOK, 8–10 Moorgate by Allies and Morrison and 6 Bevis Marks by Fletcher Priest.

The shortlist and winner were assessed by a jury chaired by Paul Finch, Programme Director of the World Architecture Festival. The criteria was to seek out the buildings that support the ambitions of the City of London in delivering a world class working environment, by evaluating both the quality of the architectural design and the impact the building has had on the city street scene.

Organised by the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects (WCCA), the City of London Building of the Year, allows members of the public to nominate a building of their choice and aims to recognise the extraordinary examples of contemporary architecture across the London cityscape.

Master Elect of the WCCA Peter Murray commented: “The City of London is home to some very fine examples of contemporary architecture. We are keen to support good design and to encourage City businesses to do so in the future.”

The City of London Building of the Year Award Supporters’ Group includes Axa Real Estate, British Land, Brookfield, Cushman and Wakefield, Knight Frank, Land Securities, WRBC Development and Wordsearch.

Something in the WaterWalk as Henley signs $100M deal for five sites in the USA Henley’s international expansion continues to grow at pace as the private equity real estate investor announced its first deal in the USA, totalling around $100M. The move sees Henley join forces with WaterWalk Hotel & Apartments, the USA’s first serviced apartment brand, to construct and open five WaterWalk franchises across Florida, North Carolina and New York.

The investment is Henley’s first transatlantic deal but follows recent light industrial acquisitions secured in the Netherlands and Germany which were the Company’s first international acquisitions since venturing into the continental European market in March 2014. The agreement also marks the first investment in the WaterWalk franchise by a non-US based investor.

A hybrid model of hotel and apartment, WaterWalk is the fifth national brand from entrepreneur Jack DeBoer, founder of Residence Inn (now owned

by Marriott), Summerfield Suites (now owned by Hyatt), Candlewood Suites (now owned by Intercontinental), and Value Place. Combining all of the traditional hotel services in a gated, purpose-built community, Waterwalk offers a range of upscale amenities and features including housekeeping, fitness memberships, a communal bicycle program, local transportation, and free customised breakfasts.

Commenting on the deal, Ian Rickwood, CEO of Henley, said: “The deal with WaterWalk represents another major milestone for Henley, as we further our international presence and enter the US market. Our investment strategy is founded upon ensuring the best risk adjusted returns for our investors and our analysis of current demand trends in the leisure and residential markets in the States made WaterWalk a highly attractive investment opportunity. We are

looking forward to breaking ground on these new properties later this year. Our intention is that we will add more units to these first five and engage in additional investment and development activity in the US” Henley has selected individual sites in the Albany, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale and North Orlando markets, expanding WaterWalk’s presence into three new states. Construction is anticipated to commence in Jan 2016.

David Redfern, President of WaterWalk’s Real Estate Development and Franchising Groups, said: “WaterWalk’s versatility as a hybrid property type gives investors and franchisees an unmatched opportunity in the real estate industry by providing the strong revenue potential associated with upscale extended-stay hotels and the capital structure and valuation of an apartment. In fact, according to CoStar [A US leader in real estate data], one of the biggest trends for 2015 hospitality management is foreign investment in hotel portfolios, particularly extended-stay and select-service properties. Henley realised this was a strong franchise partnership due to the demand for this unique product. They believe in our strategic vision, and they are eager to help make our brand available to consumers across the country.”

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Preparing construction businesses for workplace pensions and auto-enrolment As business HR issues go, workplace pensions and auto-enrolment are currently right at the top of the list.

With new laws coming in, it’s an unavoidable issue for any company with employees. Yet with so much involved both with setting up a pension scheme and ensuring that it runs smoothly, it’s not an issue to be addressed lightly.

This is why, at HR4UK, we’ve developed a complete package of pension and auto-enrolment services to support construction businesses, whatever the size of their team.

HR4UK is delighted to be working with UKCG to make these services available to its members.

Addressing the pensions issue Our support ranges from writing an auto-enrolment plan for businesses to setting up a shell National Savings Employment Trust (NEST) Pension Scheme from scratch. We can also administer the NEST Pension Scheme for companies once they reach their Staging Date to help ensure that they comply with their duties and obligations under the new workplace pension and auto-enrolment legislation. This includes automatically enrolling employees who are eligible jobholders and managing opt-ins and opt-outs. Our system keeps a record of all communications as required by law, to comply with employers’ new duties and obligations under the Workplace Pensions Regulations.

Complete support for construction businesses We help take the complexity out of pensions and auto-enrolment by: • Acting as a second contact with the Pensions Regulation body. This means that you won’t miss any deadlines as we’ll be there to prompt you and support you through the whole process.

• Issuing all the statutory notices to all your employees.

• Keeping a record of all the statutory notices as required by law and updating your contracts of employment and employee handbooks as required by these changes.

• Administering your NEST pension scheme once you have reached your staging date, if we manage your payroll.

• Issuing the declaration to the Pensions Regulator for you.

The above services and more are now available to UKCG members.

To find out more, please visit www.hr4uk.com or contact us on 01455 444222 or email: info@hr4uk.com.

HR4UK:

All your pensions and auto-enrolment questions answered in one “How do I set up my company pension scheme to cover different types of employees and contracts?”

“Where do I start with auto-enrolment?”

“How will I know if my new pension scheme meets all the latest employment law requirements?”

Not sure where to start with pensions and auto-enrolment?

At HR4UK, we’re working with UKCG to make straightforward, high quality pensions and auto-enrolment set-up and management available to employers in the construction sector.

Call 01455 630700 or Email info@hr4uk.com to find out more

UKC NEWS

Keeping and Lovell launch Hillbreak Two of property’s best known industry figures have announced the creation of a new advocacy, skills and risk management consultancy.

Deloitte duo Miles Keeping and Jon Lovell have formed Hillbreak to offer consultancy and training support across environmental policy, risk management and investment. The Company’s ethos will be to “support, challenge and inspire” its clients and stakeholders.

The duo plan to help companies navigate what they claim are the multiple risks and opportunities presented by growing environmental, societal and policy pressures. They claim to be the first company offering investors, asset owners and cities both consultancy and training services and have already secured numerous blue chip clients, including former employers, Deloitte.

In recent years, both Keeping and Lovell have played crucial roles in shaping policy and industry practice through

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their involvement in the Investment Property Forum (IPF), British Property Federation (BPF) and Urban Land Institute (ULI), and by chairing pan-industry advisory groups to Government.

Keeping chairs the Green Property Alliance and is a Director of the IPF. Lovell chairs the UK Sustainability Council and is a UK Executive Committee member of the ULI. He was also a founding board member of the instrumental Manchester-China Forum.

At Deloitte, the pair shared responsibility for real estate sustainability services and between them oversaw the real estate graduate experience and the learning and development programmes for Deloitte Real Estate, as well as China markets for Deloitte in the UK regions. They will retain a close working relationship with Deloitte, reflecting the strength of the relationships they have built during their time with the firm.

Miles Keeping, co-founder of Hillbreak, said: “We think there’s a real market

opportunity to offer bespoke, nimble advice across a multitude of functions and are really excited about the impact we think we can help our clients make, both in the UK and internationally.”

Jon Lovell, co-founder of Hillbreak, said: “Our independence enables us to engage more positively and overtly in advocacy activities and to fundamentally challenge and inspire clients at all levels. Our ambition is to continue delivering best-in-class training and advice to our clients, but also to help further the sector’s ambition, thinking and external reputation.”

Nigel Shilton, Managing Partner of Deloitte Real Estate, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Miles and Jon as both tirelessly tackle sustainability in the property agenda. I look forward to continuing working closely with them as Deloitte retains Hillbreak as an advisor. I wish them every success.”

100 ideas unveiled to solve the London housing crisis New London Architecture, the capital’s built environment think-tank, has released 100 ideas to solve the London housing crisis, the result of an international ideas competition. Organised in collaboration with the Mayor of London, the competition attracted over 200 entries from 16 countries around the world.

The 100 shortlisted ideas will be on display in a free public exhibition at the NLA galleries in The Building Centre from 15th October. Ten winning ideas, selected by a distinguished jury, will be announced in October, with winning submitters invited to join a Greater London Authority working group to examine how their ideas can be applied to real London sites to deliver future housing for the capital.

Attracting submissions from worldrenowned architects including Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, Grimshaw, Farrells, dRMM, Mae Architects, Feilden Clegg Bradley and SimpsonHaugh and Partners, as well as developers, consultants, local boroughs and everyday Londoners, the shortlist presents a selection of radical ideas from living on the Thames to the creation of a new mega-city.

As London debates where to house a growing population, a number of ideas examine how we can increase densities in town centres, around stations, and in the suburbs.

The redevelopment of London’s suburbs proved to be a strong theme with Alastair Parvin and Adam Towle in partnership with the WikiHouse Foundation proposing the introduction of a new initiative called ‘Right to Replace’. The scheme would enable homeowners to demolish their properties in the suburbs to create their dream home but only if they use half the space.

Suburban houses are often inefficient with energy and land, so this concept would provide new eco-friendly homes, designed to the owner’s preference, whilst freeing up space for an extra residence.

More ambitious proposals includes transformations of the outer London region, such as property consultants GL Hearn’s idea for a mega-city near the M25, supplying a vast number of new homes as well as new workspaces, retail, public realm and infrastructure links.

Making better use of London’s canal and river network proves another strong theme. Baca Architects’ entry would create 7,500 new fixed-placed floating homes on the city’s canal network, which they believe could be completed in a mere six to 12 months. Similarly, architecture studio dRMM has worked on a scheme called Floatopolis – a larger, more utopian vision to transform London’s famous docks and sites on the River Thames

into water neighbourhoods that not only encompass housing but also lidos, open-air cinemas, workspaces, cafes and schools.

Continuing this line of enquiry, Farrells and Buro Happold collaborated to look at the Thames from an infrastructure viewpoint.

Through the creation of low-level bridges across east London, the duo suggests that a further 50,000 new homes could be created simply through areas becoming better connected with transport links.

There are currently 34 bridges in London, only one is situated east of Tower Bridge.

The creation of these bridges would encourage investment in a number of areas that are currently being overlooked.

Others explored infilling unused land, with ideas ranging from brownfield sites to repurposing rooftops. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff’s research into delivering housing on top of existing public buildings such as hospitals, schools and libraries suggests that a total of 630,000 new homes could be delivered through this method – far outnumbering the current need of 440,000. Bell Phillips Architects proposes adding modular housing to the flat roofs of post-war housing estates, whilst Akira Yamanaka Architects’ submission aims to create micro-housing in the gaps between terraced and semi-detached homes.

Self-build communities were put forward as a viable option with the emphasis falling on homeowners to take the future of their properties into their own hands. Ideas ranged from an app that located sites for

future development to a new ‘build-to-own’ financing and ownership model by Savills.

Global architecture practice NBBJ presented one of the more dramatic transformations of the London streetscape by replacing a selection of roads with rows of new dwellings. With 9,000 miles of streets in London – equating to over a third of London’s built surface area – changing sections of the current road network would create more pedestrian-friendly areas and a better community feel for residents.

Entries submitted demonstrated that designers are interested in developing new construction methods and pre-fabrication.

A flexible apartment plan designed by Levitt Bernstein that would allow the occupant to transform the floor plan from a one-bedroom to a four-bedroom showcased how construction could provide adaptability. Y:Cube by Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners shows how prefabrication can make well-designed, single apartment homes easy and cheap to manufacture within factories.

Lord Bob Kerslake, Chair, London Housing Commission said: “The scale of the challenge is so big that we genuinely need some fresh thinking. There are a lot of new ideas here particularly new approaches to tenure and off site construction.”

All 100 ideas will be on display in the exhibition New Ideas for Housing from 15th October to 17th December, accompanied by a programme of events to establish how London’s housing needs can be met.

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UKC NEWS

Bond Bryan’s Advanced Technology Centre at Bradford College opens its doors The Advanced Technology Centre (ATC), which forms the latest Bond Bryan project at Bradford College, is opening its doors to its first intake of students this week. Being adjacent to the much talked about David Hockney Building, also designed by Bond Bryan Architects and shortlisted for a number of awards, this new addition further adds to the impressive portfolio of Bradford College.

The eco-friendly campus, measuring 3,600sq m, features solar panels, a bio-diverse roof and super-efficient plant, putting the building on track to achieve BREEAM excellent rating. The design creates a flexible solution that is distinctive, a high quality addition to Great Horton Road, complementing the new campus and adding to

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the regeneration of Bradford.

Matt Hutton, Associate Director at Bond Bryan Architects, explained: “Having previously worked with Bradford College we were excited to deliver yet another outstanding facility for students, staff and local businesses alike. The brief was to provide a building which compliments the much larger David Hockney Building in terms of vision and educational aspiration, with a series of multiuse flexible spaces for teaching and learning that encompass traditional classrooms as well as high tech laboratory environments to support realistic working environments.

It was like creating Big Brother’s Little Brother in fact!”

Andy Welsh, CEO of Bradford College Group commented: “Our new £10M Advanced Technology Centre provides an opportunity to work collaboratively with local employers to develop a space that responds to skills shortages by using the very latest technologies to shape innovation in the local economy.”

The project was funded by the Skills Funding Agency and Bradford Council and BAM were appointed as contractor delivering the project on time and budget ready for the start of the academic year.

Former city brewery site to be transformed Work has begun on the multi-million pound transformation of a derelict brewery site into a centre of excellence for construction education.

The University of Wolverhampton completed the deal to buy the 12 acre Springfield Brewery site in Wolverhampton city centre earlier this year after revealing £70M plans to transform it into a state-of-the-art construction and skills campus and business park.

The Springfield Campus will become the home of the new West Midlands Construction University Technical College (WMCUTC), which the University is sponsoring along with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).

The University’s own School of Architecture and the Built Environment is also earmarked to move to the site making it a local, regional, national and international centre of excellence.

Plans for the UTC have been approved by the City of Wolverhampton Council, meaning principal contractors Thomas Vale and technical services providers Mott MacDonald are now ready to start on site for preparatory work for the new build.

Designed by Associated Architects, the development will involve conversion of part of the site including a Grade II listed building, as well as building a three-storey extension.

The WMCUTC will provide education for up to 600 14-19 year olds specialising in construction and the application of IT in the built environment, preparing students for technical careers in the construction industry.

It opens in September on a temporary site at the former Northicote School site and will be known as the Northwood Park Campus before moving to the new purpose built facility at Springfield.

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton, Professor Geoff Layer, said: “The University is incredibly proud to have invested in such a fantastic opportunity for the future generation of construction and built environment professionals.

“This is all part of our major investment plan, “Our Vision, Your Opportunity” which will generate £250M of investment over the next five years as we seek to focus on economic growth and creating jobs.

“The Springfield Campus will really put the City of Wolverhampton and the Black Country on the map and we’re delighted to be working with the CITB and many other major construction businesses as part of this project.

“This will see the creation of a skills pathway for construction education and training from the age of 14 right through to senior professionals.”

Amanda Sergeant, eUTC Programme Manager at CITB and a member of the Board of Governors of the new WMCUTC, commented: “We are delighted to be opening the West Midlands Construction UTC to students. The strong partnership with the University of Wolverhampton and the enthusiasm of our employer sponsors will provide an innovative foundation to inspire our students into exciting careers within construction.”

Interserve awarded £12.3M contract to redevelop historic Leeds Kirkgate Market Interserve, the international support services and construction group, has been awarded a £12.3M contract

by Leeds City Council to improve and refurbish the historic Kirkgate Market in Leeds City Centre, via the YORbuild framework. The redevelopment will primarily modernise the Grade 1 listed building.

Located in the heart of the city, the existing market attracts more than 35,000 shoppers per week. While works are expected to last until autumn 2016, plans are in place to ensure it will be business as usual for the 200 permanent businesses located within the indoor market as well as the 150 trading on the open market.

Specifics of the redevelopment include: • Development of a new event space and dedicated café area • Maintenance to and renewal of the 1976 and 1981 halls, plus replacement roofs in both • Introduction of a new covered daily market within the 1976 hall • Pedestrian routes linking the George St, New York St and Vicar Lane entrances • Improved signage, screens and maps enabling shoppers to navigate the enhanced space.

“As the building is listed, we will be working closely with English Heritage and the conservation team.

“Presently, approximately 1,750 people are employed at the Leeds Kirkgate Market and this project will create a number of additional local jobs, apprenticeships and training opportunities.”

Councillor Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council’s executive member responsible for regeneration, transport and planning said: “We are very pleased to have appointed Interserve to complete one of the most exciting developments happening in Leeds today. By working together we will create a highly successful, profitable and sustainable destination market, which is a centre of excellence for independent retailers and entrepreneurs.

“Kirkgate Market is a prime retail location with a major historical and cultural significance for Leeds, so it is only right that we invest in its future now to make it a sustainable and ‘go to’ destination for generations to come.”

John Gittins, Divisional Director of Interserve, said: “There are a number of challenges with completing work around a live retail environment.

To mitigate these, we have already undertaken some initial enabling works and will complete some of the work outside trading hours to minimise disruption.

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Who is the Principal Contractor after Handover?

It is relatively common that a facility is handed over to the client operations before all snagging on a construction project, or even the main construction scope, has been completed, resulting in the client’s management systems taking precedence over the principal contractor’s.

As the client is now ‘in control’ of the facility, can the principal contractor, appointed under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM2015) remain as the principal contractor? Historically the construction project has been deemed to be completed at handover, even though is wasn’t, and the client’s management systems were operated as for any work undertaken within the facility.

CDM2015 defines the principal contractor as follows: “principal contractor” means the contractor appointed under regulation 5(1)(b) to perform specified duties in regulations 12 to 14; The duties referred to that a principal contractor must perform are: Reg.5(1) Where there more than one contractor will be working on a project at any time, the client must appoint in writing a contractor as principal contractor.

Reg.12 Before setting up a construction site, the principal contractor must draw up a construction phase plan.

The construction phase plan must set out the health and safety arrangements and site rules taking account activities taking place on the construction site and, where applicable, must include specific measures concerning work which falls within one or more of the categories set out in Schedule 3.

Throughout the project the principal contractor must ensure that the construction phase plan is appropriately reviewed, updated and revised from time to time so that it

Reg.13

continues to be sufficient to ensure that construction work is carried out, so far as is reasonably practicable, without risks to health or safety.

During the project, the principal contractor must provide the principal designer with any information in the principal contractor’s possession relevant to the health and safety file, for inclusion in the health and safety file.

The principal contractor must plan, manage and monitor the construction phase and coordinate matters relating to health and safety during the construction phase to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, construction work is carried out without risks to health or safety.

The principal contractor must take into account the general principles of prevention.

The principal contractor must organise cooperation between contractors (including successive contractors on the same construction site) and coordinate implementation by the contractors of applicable legal requirements for health and safety.

The principal contractor must ensure that employers and self-employed persons apply the general principles of prevention in a consistent manner, and comply with the provisions of Part 4 and the construction phase plan.

The principal contractor must also ensure that a suitable site induction is provided, steps are taken to prevent access by unauthorised persons to the construction site; and that facilities that comply with the requirements of Schedule 2 are provided throughout the construction phase.

CDM2015 requires a Construction Phase Plan for all construction work and a principal contractor appointed to manage the health and safety of the project if more than one contractor is involved in the project.

As snagging will almost inevitably involve more than one contractor

and the snagging is still part of the original project, the full requirements of CDM2015 still apply.

It is difficult to envisage the original principal contractor being able to manage the health and safety of the snagging work when the client’s management systems take precedence and the likely event of the original principal contractor not being present at the facility when all of the snagging work takes place.

It should also be appreciated that at the latter stages of most, if not all, construction projects is when the greatest risks for accidents occur. This is due to a number of factors, as follows: • The client’s pressure to get the project finished • The construction personnel’s desire to get onto the next project • The fact that snagging is re-work that is costing the contractor money • The relatively small nature of snagging tasks and the resultant lack of planning • The potential interfaces with other contractors’ and client’s personnel

The most relevant issue to be considered for who should be the principal contractor during snagging after handover is who is in control?

The client will certainly have to some extent control of the work areas, which even as far back as the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 places legal obligations on the client, particularly as require by the following Sections: 2. General duties of employers to their employees.

3. General duties of employers and self-employed to persons other than their-employees.

4. General duties of persons concerned with premises to persons other than their employees.

Section 4 of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974, states: (1) This section has effect for imposing on persons duties in relation to those who(a) are not their employees ; but (b) use non-domestic premises made available to them as a place of work or as a place where they may use plant or substances provided for their use there, and applies to premises so made available and other non-domestic premises used in connection with them.

(2) It shall be the duty of each person who has, to any extent, control of premises to which this section applies or of the means of access thereto or egress therefrom or of any plant or substance in such premises to take such measures as it is reasonable for a person in his position to take to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the premises, all means of access thereto or egress therefrom available for use by persons using the premises, and any plant or substance in the premises or, as the case may be, provided for use there, is or are safe and without risks to health.

The management of health and safety post-handover, with construction snagging still taking place, is complex, with not sufficient consideration given to this phase of a project.

It is likely that the most effective, and possibly legal, option is for the client to appoint themselves as principal contractor for any work undertaken after handover, but there are other options, dependent on the facility layout, timescales and the extent and complexity of the snagging work.

This subject is further discussed in the Callsafe Services Limited October 2015 ebook.

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UKC NEWS

Second phase of Embassy Gardens launched by EcoWorld Ballymore EcoWorld Ballymore has announced the vision for the second phase of Embassy Gardens, the residential development adjacent to the new US Embassy at the heart of Nine Elms on the South Bank.

Comprising 179 suites, one-, two-, three-bed apartments and a stunning penthouse, the release of the second phase offers potential purchasers the opportunity to buy in one of London’s most exciting residential schemes.

Heralded as London’s new diplomatic precinct, Embassy Gardens will reflect this with its use of stylish design and craftsmanship. The design style is distinctive, with the red-brick exteriors inspired by the historic meatpacking districts of New York, and with influences of London’s historic Victorian and Edwardian mansion blocks. Natural light will flood the apartments through floor to ceiling glass windows, while oak veneers and stainless steel kitchens are some of the high specification finishes within each property.

Taking influence from Soho lofts, the properties are large and open plan and many have striking views across the River Thames or overlooking the new US Embassy.

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A sky deck at the top of the two buildings incorporates a spa, summer bar and Orangery and commands views of London icons including the Houses of Parliament and London Eye. The Orangery will bring the relaxed feeling of the Mediterranean to central London, allowing residents to relax in a private space which brings the outside in.

The pinnacle of the development is the Sky Pool, a stunning suspended swimming pool which links two buildings at the tenth storey – the first of its kind in the world. Entirely transparent and structurefree, the pool will allow residents to swim from one building to the other – a 35m high aqua bridge in the sky.

The pool connects the Legacy Building to the EG:LE club; the exclusive private members club for residents of Embassy Gardens. Along with the Sky Deck, EG:LE club includes a private gym and yoga studio, a boxing ring, a private cinema called The Maureen O’Hara and a traditional private library and lounge area named after the Irish playwright The John B. Keane.

One of the leading developments in Nine Elms on the South Bank, Embassy Gardens will benefit from the £15Bn regeneration

which will transform almost 500 acres of underused land into a thriving new area within central London, boasting retail space, 20,000 new homes, infrastructure, and community amenities. Embassy Gardens will sit adjacent to the new US Embassy and the Dutch Embassy – both of which are set to relocate to the area.

Sean Mulryan, Chairman and CEO of Ballymore Group says: “The release of the second phase of Embassy Gardens follows the huge success of our first phase in 2012. With the unveiling of our striking Sky Pool earlier this year, EcoWorld Ballymore set the tone for the second phase of this unique development which leads the way in innovation and design excellence.”

Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, Chairman of EcoWorld Ballymore says: “Nine Elms on the South Bank is one of London’s prime residential riverfront locations, and Embassy Gardens represents an exceptional investment opportunity in one of London’s most desirable developments which will create an entirely new community within the city.”

Tarmac £6.6M investment in infrastructure growth Tarmac - the UK’s leading sustainable building materials and construction solutions company - has unveiled a state-of-the-art asphalt plant inside the M25 at Harper Lane, Hertfordshire. This is part of Tarmac’s strategy to support the UK’s infrastructure growth, including the UK’s planned £15Bn investment in strategic roads, which will see 1,300 new miles of lanes added to motorways and A-roads over the next five years.

The £6.6M plant replaces an older 1960s operation. It has greater capacity, is more efficient, and can manufacture a wider range of products, including lower temperature asphalts. Key points: ••The plant boosts Tarmac’s capacity to supply sustainable asphalt solutions into London and the South East.

••The first UK plant to use high capacity cold Recycled Asphalt Planings (RAP) technology to create mixes containing up to 55% recycled content, supporting Tarmac’s commitment to increase the amount of waste materials it re-uses each year.

••Reduces CO2 levels and produces a wide range of sustainable construction solutions, including lower temperature asphalts, which can reduce the carbon footprint of road projects by 15% to 25%.

••Harper Lane has rail links, bringing essential road stone directly into the South East to supply the region’s 18 new major road projects, which include upgrading one-third of the junctions on the M25, and improvements to the A27.

••The plant is a Benninghoven BA5000U - supplied by Wirtgen Limited.

Cyrille Ragoucy, CEO, Tarmac said: “The UK’s strategic road infrastructure plays a critical role in securing the country’s continuing social and economic development, and unlocking its future prosperity. Tarmac is well placed to support customers in achieving the UK’s infrastructure plans by providing the solutions, expertise and innovation to help deliver projects in a smarter, more efficient and sustainable manner.”

The Harper Lane plant is part of a major investment that Tarmac is making in its aggregate and asphalt footprint across the south of England over the next 18 months.

This has seen the Company installing the world’s first world’s first combined Terex AggreSand 206 modular wash plant and AggreScrub150 in its quarries at Broom South in Bedfordshire, and Stanninghall in Norfolk. Tarmac is also investing in additional RAP capabilities at its asphalt operations in Stevenage, Trowse, and Parkstone.

The investment programme will see Tarmac’s Aggregates and Asphalt and Contracting businesses create more than 115 new jobs across the south of England over the next three years. In 2014/2015 Tarmac took on 91 new apprentices, higher apprentices and graduate trainees, and the 2015/2016 intake will number a further 33 graduates, 80 apprentices, five higher apprentices across its business.

Durkan in pole position with new round of BIM social housing projects Community construction specialist Durkan is aiming to place itself in pole position in the social housing sector through a series of BIM projects across London and South East.

BIM – Building Information Modelling – has been widely accepted for large scale public and infrastructure projects; however the housing sector is being further encouraged by the government for all public projects to use this model by 2016.

Investment in BIM by affordable housing providers has also been much slower.

The BIM process, in conjunction with sophisticated software enables 3D modelling and a far greater range of information to be gathered and more easily accessed for costing, planning, construction and post-build maintenance, for example – which is particularly useful for tenant services.

Durkan is showing investment in BIM pays off at projects such as Hiltons Wharf, Deptford, where construction is nearing completion on 85 new one, two- and three-bedroom apartments overlooking Deptford Creek, of which 20% will be affordable homes.

The more coordinated approach possible through BIM’s 3D modelling capacity was central to resolving the challenge of how to tie in the foundations of the eight-story apartment building with the retaining wall of the riverbank.

When the development is finished later this year, a digital archive of data will be handed over to Durkan Estates, in place of a mountain of paper files, to equip the maintenance teams with a full list of fixtures and fittings, for example, as well as clear, easily accessible designs.

Durkan’s BIM strategy is continuing at 100 Putney Common, a collection of 24 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments on the edge of Putney Lower Common on the former Putney Hospital site, scheduled to launch in September 2015.

The £60M Britannia Music development in Ilford will also rely on BIM to help deliver 330 new homes, plus retail, office and live/work units contained in a landmark tower for the town centre.

Gary Barton, Technical Manager at Durkan said: “The social housing sector has been slow to embrace BIM because, understandably, they first want to see the benefits from investing time and money. These are becoming increasingly clear now as the wider construction industry showcases the fantastic results BIM achieves.

“BIM makes the planning and building process easier and more efficient, giving better results in design, coordination and finish. Importantly for social housing providers it also simplifies the subsequent handover to maintenance teams – which can be crucial for tenants’ satisfaction and delivering a high quality, efficient service.”

Gary added: “It’s important to be among the first wave of housing projects being built using BIM so that we’re ahead of the game – leading not following. If the Government Agencies follow the demand for BIM on new developments, for instance, we’ll be in pole position.”

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CDM 2015 – 6 months on ….

Why was CDM 2015 introduced?

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, define legal duties for the safe operation of UK construction sites. The regulations place specific duties on a series of duty holders to plan their approach to health and safety throughout the life of a construction project; from its inception, to its subsequent, and final demolition and removal.

CDM 2015 was designed to tighten up the communication and co-operation amongst workers and key duty holders to further reduce the risk of fatalities and serious injuries whilst working on construction sites. The regulations apply across all construction sites, from the very large commercial sites, to the smallest domestic contracts, everyone involved is accountable for ensuring the health and safety of those involved.

CDM 2015 came into force on the 6th April 2015, the transitional period of projects that were started before this date expired on the 6th October; therefore all projects should now be run under the 2015 regulations.

The Duty Holders CDM 2015 cites three 'main' roles for managing the health and safety of a construction project, these are the Client, the Principal Designer and the Principal Contractor. There is no longer a CDM-Coordinator.

Project Notification A project is now notifiable if the construction work is scheduled to: • last longer than 30 working days and have more than 20 workers working simultaneously at any point in the project; or • exceed 500 person days Where a project is notifiable, the Client must give notice in writing to the HSE, as soon as is practicable, before the Construction Phase begins.

What issues have arisen?

If we ignore the fact that many ‘duty holders’ are still unaware of the changes in CDM, a number that are aware, reveal their reluctance to take on the responsibilities that the new regulations

have placed on them. In commercial projects, it’s the role of the other duty holders to advise the Client of his responsibilities. This is failing to happen, in many instances, where Designers are reluctant to take on the Principal Designer’s role, and therefore purposefully failing to advise the Client of his responsibilities to appoint the Designer, formally in writing, as the Principal Designer, meaning the responsibilities of the Principal Designer remains with the Client.

As all projects regardless to their size, whether they are domestic or commercial projects, lasting for an hour or 5 years, have to have a specific Construction Phase Plan, this has put a huge financial and time restraint on all contractors, including domestic builders that historically fell through the accountability net.

Few domestic builders seem to be aware of the changes in the regulations, which, considering there has been no advertising or even notices displayed in builder’s merchants nationally, it is hardly surprising that they don’t know that they have to produce a Construction Phase Plan for painting a skirting board. The HSE has targeted domestic builders since the changes in the regulations, yet still the message is not being communicated to domestic builders through a forum to which they have access.

The regulations have changed to incorporate more paperwork, confusing accountability and placing a huge financial burden on the contractor – only time will tell if construction sites become safer as a result of it.

If you need further advice on the changes; require a Construction Phase Plan or even want to undertake online CDM2015 Awareness Training to not only demonstrate your commitment to understanding the Regulations, the responsibilities of all of the duty holders, and the documentation that needs to be completed and by whom, then contact Safety Services Direct Ltd on 01237 477931 or email info@safetyservicesdirect.com

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UKC NEWS

Work begins on Financial Conduct Authority HQ at Stratford’s The International Quarter Construction has officially started on the new headquarters of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is relocating from its current premises at Canary Wharf to The International Quarter - the £2.3Bn development in Stratford, which, at a total of four million square feet, is set to become the capital’s fourth business district.

Lendlease and LCR, the joint venture partners delivering The International Quarter, held a ground breaking ceremony for the FCA’s new 425,000sq ft headquarters, which sits at the gateway to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The building has been designed by world class architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, with the interior design being undertaken

by Pringle Brandon Perkins+Will, a practice renowned for their design expertise in delivering excellent workplaces.

Like all the buildings at The International Quarter, the FCA headquarters has been designed with staff health and wellbeing at its core. Features including open atria, extensive natural daylight, internal connecting staircases and a large roof terrace, will allow employees to be more flexible and healthy in the way they choose to work. This new generation of agile offices will be home to 3,500 FCA staff from mid-2018.

An estimated 1,200 construction jobs will be created on site at The International

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Quarter by spring 2016 and Lendlease has recently partnered with Newham Council, Newham Workplace and Building Crafts College to deliver a ten week training programme to upskill unemployed Newham residents in construction – ensuring as many roles are awarded to local people as possible.

The ground breaking ceremony was attended by John Griffith-Jones (Chairman, FCA), David Joy (Chief Executive, LCR), Neale Coleman (Chair, London Legacy Development Corporation), Sir Robin Wales (Mayor of Newham), and Ian Crockford, (Project Director, The International Quarter, Lendlease).

David Joy, Chief Executive at LCR, said: “Today demonstrates that we are making real progress on The International Quarter, one of the largest and most significant mixed-use developments in the UK. Construction is now in full swing on new headquarters - of world-class design - for two major commercial tenants and the remaining office space is continuing to fill up fast. The construction alone will provide 1,200 new jobs and over time, The International Quarter will create more than 25,000 jobs, becoming a major new employment hub in East London.

We look forward to continuing to work with Lendlease to make this happen.”

Neale Coleman, Chair / David Goldstone, Chief Executive, London Legacy Development Corporation said: “What better way to measure the success of the London 2012 Games than to see even more land being used to create jobs and boost the economy of east London. Few of us dared dream that we would have progressed so far and so quickly with the legacy promises we made. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is thriving and the thousands of jobs coming to The International Quarter show just how much confidence developers have in one of the prime commercial and residential development areas in London. We look forward to welcoming the Financial Conduct Authority to Stratford.”

The joint venture partners behind the project, Lendlease and LCR, obtained detailed planning permission for the new building in March 2015, which is located on Plot S5 at The International Quarter next to Building S6. Also under construction, this will be a major base for Transport for London; 3,000 staff will be working here from autumn 2017. Lendlease and LCR are in discussions with a number of major corporate tenants about moving to The International Quarter.

Turner & Townsend set to help transform Nissan Turner & Townsend, the global programme management and construction consultancy, has been appointed by Nissan to provide programme management services for the European rollout of its new showroom concept – The Nissan Retail Experience.

The programme will see the transformation of over 1,600 dealerships in 20 European countries to deliver a new retail environment.

It is conceived as an extension of the internet experience, part of a seamless customer journey from the home to the dealership. In a bold move away from the traditional showroom, the new-look sites will operate without the conventional reception or formal sales desks.

Over a period of four years, Turner & Townsend will coordinate and monitor the rollout of the new concept, maintaining quality and consistency in design and execution.

The appointment stems from a 30 year relationship with Nissan, in which Turner & Townsend has worked in partnership with the auto giant across the globe.

James Dand, Turner & Townsend Europe Managing Director, comments: “Delivering multi-territory programmes on this scale requires robust standards and tools, and the dexterity to respond on the ground.

“Our appointment is recognition that Turner & Townsend continues to be the right partner for Nissan, and has a deep understanding of their brand values.

“While we can rely on our extensive global automotive experience, we also have the right expertise to deliver in local markets, offering control and visibility of performance at every level.

“We are thrilled to be working with Nissan on this major programme that will push the boundaries of customer experience across Europe.”

Richard Tougeron, Dealers Network General Manager at Nissan Europe, added: “The retail environment across our industry is changing. Nowadays, customers make fewer trips to showrooms, so essentially, we only have the one chance to impress them according to brand experience. Our new retail concept addresses this - all we need now is to deploy it across Europe.

“We needed a team of experts that we could trust to deliver with consistency across the region. Turner & Townsend’s proposition is closely aligned to our vision, and I have no doubt that the programme will be delivered with passion, energy and efficiency.”

Demolition marks next stage in transformation of Ocean Estate The Mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs donned his hard hat and protective clothing to see the latest stage of Tower Hamlets’ Ocean Estate redevelopment, which is making way for 225 much needed new homes.

This phase will see the demolition of three outdated and poorly designed blocks (Allonby, Channel and Studland Houses) to be replaced by 225 new homes.

More than half of the new homes (121 properties) will be available for affordable rent and shared ownership.

The council has already invested £8.65M alongside £3.895M from the Mayor of London.

Mayor Biggs was joined by representatives from the council’s key development partners; Jacqui Esimaje-Heath, from East Thames Housing Association and Steve Leakey, from Higgins Construction.

Between 2009 and 2013, more than £220M has been invested in the Ocean Estate in Stepney.

So far 1,200 existing council homes have been extensively refurbished.

More than 800 homes have had new kitchens and bathrooms installed, and all have benefited from new windows and other improvements to the exterior of the buildings.

More than 800 new homes have already been built – offering new homes for social rent, shared ownership and private sale. Half of these (395) are affordable, offering shared ownership opportunities to help first time buyers (100), as well as rented homes for those on the council’s housing waiting list (295).

New community facilities have also been provided, including a community centre with GP and housing services and space for community groups. Play areas and ball courts are just a few of the many features that have also been added.

There have also many opportunities for residents to secure employment.

More than 75 people have been offered construction related jobs, and hundreds of residents have worked on the project.

One particular success has been the Construct Your Career programme which has seen 54 residents graduate with the skills to work in the construction industry. The majority (more than 30) of these now have permanent jobs in the industry.

Speaking after his visit to the Ocean Estate, Mayor Biggs said: “It’s always great to get on site and see for myself how the transformation of the Ocean Estate is providing real and long lasting improvements for both existing and future new residents to the area.

“The chronic shortage of good quality and affordable housing is one of the biggest challenges we face, so we will continue to do all we can to encourage the development of major housing schemes such as this one.”

Cllr Sirajul Islam, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing said: “From the outset the local community have been at the heart of plans to redevelop the Ocean Estate This is particularly important when the scheme is creating new homes and facilities within an already well-established community.

“This next stage of the development will further enhance the dramatic transformation of the Estate and create a community fit for future generations.”

Jacqui Esimaje-Heath, East Thames Director of Land and Business Development said: “The regenerated Ocean Estate has already won several accolades and was recently named by the Mayor as the best new place to live in London. We’re looking forward to working with Tower Hamlets Council to continue the good work and deliver this next phase of high quality and genuinely affordable homes.”

21

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UKC NEWS

‘Learning through doing’ ethos inherent in design of new University Technical College in Dagenham Planning permission has been granted for a new University Technical College in Dagenham, ELUTec. This new type of education facility aims to inspire young people in East London and Essex to become the next generation of talented engineers and designers. Students will combine practical activities alongside theoretical studies through a new way of teaching.

Their educational experiences will equip them with the skills, knowledge and personal qualities they need to have a successful career in industry.

The college will be partially housed within the constraints of a former

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industrial unit to the north of the former Sanofi pharmaceuticals site. A new Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) structure provides a series of academic spaces over three-storeys and a professional ‘business like’ frontage. The lecture theatre is positioned centrally in the main approach elevation where it projects from the main facade to provide a single point of orientation.

The refurbished warehouses to the rear provide large volume, open plan environments akin to industry, allowing the students to experience industrial scale activity within the control and safety of an educational context.

The college, designed by LSI Architects, will be constructed by Kier and is expected to open in September 2016.

Rupert Kitchen, Partner at LSI Architects, commented that: “the technically-rich project based ‘learning through doing’ ethos is inherent in the design, and as such the workshops will be ‘on show’ and visible on arrival with oblique views available from a Forum area.”

Crossrail trains take shape, supporting hundreds of UK jobs The production of the new Crossrail trains, which will help meet the needs of the rapidly growing population of London and the South East, has reached an important milestone with the completion of a test carriage at Bombardier’s train manufacturing plant in Derby.

This first body shell is being used to refine the design and the manufacturing techniques needed for the full production of the 594 carriages needed for the 66 Crossrail trains.

At over 200m long, the trains will be around the length of two fullsized football pitches or 18 new Routemaster buses. They will provide space for up to 1,500 passengers and help to relieve congestion on journeys between east and west London and beyond into Berkshire in the west and Essex in the east. The trains will have wide interconnecting gangways and three double doors on each side of each carriage, providing high capacity and quick boarding and alighting times that will be particularly beneficial at busy central stations.

The manufacture and delivery of the trains and depot at Old Oak Common are supporting 760 UK manufacturing jobs, as well as 80 apprenticeships.

Over the course of the project, it is estimated that Crossrail and its supply chain will support the equivalent of 55,000 full time jobs across the country.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: “The first test train carriage to roll off the assembly line in Derby is a fantastic visual reminder of how close we are to seeing a new railway line up and running in the Capital.

It also shows how this amazing construction project is supporting

jobs and apprenticeships not only in London but across the UK.” Howard Smith, TfL’s Crossrail Operations Director, said: “It’s really exciting to see this first body shell from Bombardier’s new purpose-built testing and commissioning facility. It not only brings Crossrail closer but also highlights how the project is creating jobs, opportunities and economic growth in other parts of the country.”

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “It is great to see Bombardier’s progress in delivering the first test train carriage. This is an exciting milestone for the Crossrail project, and these state-of-the-art new trains showcase British engineering at its best. As well as transforming travel across the capital when it opens, our investment in Crossrail is also helping to boost local economies by creating jobs and apprenticeships around the UK.” Joe Bednall, Bombardier’s Project Director, said: “This assembled body shell, which has progressed rapidly from a blank piece of paper through to build and test, is the first off the production line for the Crossrail project. It will first go to be tested, to validate the body shell design, before being painted and re-assembled to form the client’s cab and saloon mock up. The on-time completion of this new light-weight body shell design marks an important milestone in the ongoing successful delivery of the Crossrail project.”

TfL and Bombardier have been working with designers Barber & Osgerby on the design of the Crossrail trains, which will be unveiled later this year.

The first trains will begin to operate between Liverpool Street and Shenfield from May 2017, running through the central section in 2018 ahead of the full Crossrail route from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east in 2019.

Earlier this year, TfL began operating the first section of what will become the Crossrail route from Liverpool Street to Shenfield and started refurbishing the twelve stations along the route from Maryland to Shenfield. Since 31st May, these stations have been staffed from first to last train. TfL has been working with the operator MTR to improve reliability and from 26th July until 22nd August, 96.9% of all trains along this route ran within five minutes of schedule, one of the best performance figures of all operators in Britain.

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UKC COMMENT

Introducing the new NHBC Standards 2016

By Paul Cribbens, NHBC Standards Manager For nearly 80 years, the NHBC Standards have provided the housebuilding industry with trusted technical guidance. They have been consistently developed, reviewed and revised, ensuring that the technical content, and publication format, keeps pace with innovation and changes in practice.

The new 2016 edition of the Standards maintains this tradition by offering the most complete set of technical information yet, published in a user-friendly, up-to-date format. The Standards will continue to support the industry in the delivery of high quality new homes as production levels continue to increase across the country.

Last year, more than 145,000 new homes were registered in the UK, with NHBC reporting that volumes so far this year are showing an increase on the successful year in 2014.

Working with industry

By working closely with house-builders and industry professionals to develop the content, the NHBC Standards are highly regarded by the industry as a practical, authoritative and accessible source of technical information. Setting clear and balanced technical benchmarks, and providing detailed guidance on how to achieve them, the Standards have always been the cornerstone of NHBC’s standard-raising activities.

This autumn, hard copies of the new edition of the NHBC Standards will be delivered to registered builders, housing associations and industry professionals nationwide. Prior to this, Standards Plus – the online version of the Standards document – will be made freely available to all visitors to the NHBC website (www.nhbc. co.uk). Both versions have undergone extensive design revisions, changing the look and feel of the Standards for the first time in over two decades.

The Standards will become effective for every NHBC Registered home whose foundations are begun on or after the 1st January 2016 and will apply throughout the UK unless otherwise stated. The revised version now includes: ••a completely new design – including front cover and chapter dividers ••greater use of technology to deliver technical information ••consolidation of the design, materials and siteworks sections ••more logical sequencing of content ••revision of all illustrations into a

26

consistent and modern style.

Although there will be fewer pages, aside from the removal of outdated content and the inclusion of Chapter 5.4 ‘Waterproofing of basements and other below-ground structures’, the technical content remains broadly the same as the current edition.

However, there are a few additions which provide new guidance for: ••the positioning of wall ties at the top of gable walls ••protective coatings to steelwork ••liquid applied roofing membranes ••fixings for coping stones on gable walls ••ventilation ductwork

Spotlight on basements

In terms of content and as the major change in the new set of Standards, Chapter 5.4 ‘Waterproofing of basements and other below ground structures’ forms a key component of NHBC’s long-running campaign to address serious issues with basements. In 2013, NHBC launched this campaign highlighting significant problems with the design and construction of basements. Between 2005 and 2013, claims related to waterproofing below ground cost NHBC in the region of £21 million and affected around 890 homes.

This new Chapter introduces meaningful benchmarks and supporting technical guidance for a range of situations where the structure is required to resist the ingress of water from the ground and other sources, where ‘normal’ waterproofing arrangements are not considered appropriate.

Although the Standards have contained guidance for basements for many years (Chapter 5.1 ‘Substructure and ground bearing floors’), with increased use, predictions about heavier rainfall in the future and rising water tables, we believe that the time is right to expand on this guidance and ensure that the waterproofing of below ground structures is sufficiently robust to meet the high demands placed upon it.

Design requirements

Chapter 5.4 explains where waterproofing may be required, and where the new Chapter applies. Structures requiring waterproofing range from those where the external ground levels have been raised around the perimeter to within 150mm of the internal floor finish, to deep basements where there may be several levels below ground, and include any other structure near to or below ground level where

waterproofing may be required.

Robust design should be undertaken by suitably qualified waterproofing experts, and be suitable for the specific ground and building conditions. The design should: ••be undertaken by a suitably qualified specialist who has obtained the Property Care Association ‘Certified Surveyor in Structural Waterproofing’ qualification ••be appropriate to the level of risk where waterproofing is to a part of the structure forming a space where ‘Grade 3 protection’ is required (habitable accommodation) and more than 600mm of ground is being retained, a combined system comprising two types of waterproofing should be used ••consider the likely ground conditions - where the waterproofing is to more than 15% of the perimeter of the building or more than 600mm high, an appropriate investigation of the ground conditions should be undertaken.

In summary, the NHBC Standards 2016 will provide the builders who are constructing the nation’s homes with the very best practical advice and guidance. We would urge people within the industry – whether they are technical directors, construction managers, architects, designers or site managers – to familiarise themselves with the new layout and the updated content.

NHBC’s Technical Helpline is there for people to use should they have any queries as they adopt these new Standards. Contact Standards and Technical if you have any queries on 01908 747384 technical@nhbc.co.uk Paul Cribbens

Sunday 25th October will see the official end of British Summer Time and the commencement of much darker nights.

As such, with the vulnerable nature of the construction industry it is essential that these organisations are aware of the risks they may face on a daily basis.

James Kelly, Chief Executive of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), takes a look at some of the factors that construction companies should be considering in order to ensure maximum protection of both property and personnel.

Construction sites can be an extremely attractive target for thieves, particularly as they are often left secluded outside of hours with many valuable materials and equipment having to be stored outdoors unattended. If these valuable materials are stolen, it can have detrimental consequences for a business, causing significant delays in building work and not to mention financial losses. In addition to this, there are also potential threats to the personnel working both on these sites and off-site. As such, new security techniques are regularly evolving in order to tackle these threats and mitigate losses.

Recognising the Risks

Every single construction site, big or small, will have its individual risks and security requirements, with many sites playing hosts to a number of contractors entering and exiting at different times during the day. As such, it can be beneficial for those responsible for procuring a site’s security to carry out a risk assessment of an impending site before work begins.

Mike O’Neill, Chairman of the BSIA’s Specialist Services Section advises that “as a business, it is absolutely essential to know what you’re protecting yourself against.” At the heart of any businesses security and its resilience to threats is the risk register. This is a key risk management tool that helps a business identify the day-to-day risks that it faces and the best ways to counteract them.

However, it can sometimes be difficult for a business to adequately identify its risk register on its own; as such, outsider knowledge provided by professional security consultants can be invaluable.

Security consultancies provide independent professional support to ensure that measures required by clients correspond to both existing and emerging threats, whilst complementing a business’s environment and operation. Working closely with the business, consultants help design a holistic security strategy that complements the business’s operation in order to address the protection of people, building, assets and ultimately, reputations.

Security consultants can also act as project

manager, overseeing the implementation of security controls and ensuring that all the necessary procedures are carried out.

Protecting Personnel

Moving away from the topic of construction sites in general, while it is extremely important for construction companies to protect their premises, it is just as important for them to be protecting their employees from any potential risks.

Construction personnel can be required to work alone either on-site or off-site, with some companies having workers who provide building maintenance to a number of different facilities. These workers are often required to work alone at unfamiliar locations during different times of the day or night, putting them at a number of potential risks including violence or aggression from intruders, occupational risks such as trips or falls or even risks to their wellbeing in general.

Increasingly in the workplace, personal responsibility is seen as the job of the organisation rather than the individual.

However, it must be a combination of both the organisation and the lone worker to ensure that this happens, the lone worker must be looking out for themselves, but the organisation has a Duty of Care to their workers to give them the tools to do so.

It is a big responsibility for both, because while the individual stands in the way of harm, the organisation may lose a valuable employee, at least for a period, and stand accused of failing in its duties. This can have potentially devastating consequences with the threat of legislation and litigation.

To mitigate these risks there are a number of security solutions available to ensure the protection of lone workers. Usually, these systems, such as personal alarms, are linked directly to the Police or an Alarm Receiving Centre, allowing for a fast response should a potentially harmful

COMMENT UKC

Constructing a Safe Environment situation arise. However, when choosing a device, it is most important that it meets with the British Standard BS8484, a Code of Practice for the provision of lone worker services. This standard is employed and adhered to by any credible supplier in the industry and forms the basis for police response to lone worker systems.

VINCI Facilities, part of VINCI – a big player in the construction industry – is one company that has been using lone worker security to protect personnel, adopting BSIA member Skyguard’s personal safety service to mitigate potential risks to all of their lone workers1. They used Skyguard’s MySOS, a small and light BS8484 approved personal alarm which allows lone working staff to call for help at the touch of a button, wherever they are, 24 hours a day. If an alarm is raised it is immediately sent to Skyguard’s own purpose-built Incident Management Centre (IMC) where controllers will listen in, locate the user, assess the situation and take the appropriate action – such as escalating the call to the emergency services. This allows for the lone worker to feel secure in unfamiliar situations and gives the employer peace of mind that their employees are as safe as possible.

Sourcing a Supplier

Ultimately, the most important factor in choosing any security product or service is that you are choosing from a reputable supplier that meets with the relevant British and European standards.

BSIA members are inspected to the highest standards and offer a reputable service. To locate a BSIA member near you, visit www.bsia.co.uk/ find-a-local-security-company.

1 www.bsia.co.uk/Portals/4/ Case%20Studies/Lone%20Worker/ Skyguard-VINCI-Case-Study.pdf

James kelly

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WHO DID YOU SAY COULD BE A PRINCIPAL DESIGNER?

By Andrew Leslie, Technical and Standards Manager at APS The amount of incorrect information regarding the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM2015) in circulation is really quite worrying. The regulation’s precise wording is the law; there is no opportunity for interpretation.

The problem faced by the industry is two-fold.

One of the areas where there seems to be a degree of misunderstanding is around the issue of who can be a Principal Designer (PD). Quite a few commentators say that the former CDM coordinator cannot be the PD but that is incorrect if the former CDM coordinator is also a designer. In fact those former CDMCs who are also designers are extremely well placed to be a Principal Designer.

Secondly, there are still numerous architects, building surveyors and other designers who currently know little about CDM and design risk management and are concerned by “messages” from various sources that they must be the Principal Designer on their projects. This is not true for all projects. On domestic projects they may well be the designer “in control of the pre-construction phase” and therefore almost certainly will be the PD. If the client does not appoint them they will be PD by default. On commercial projects that is not the case. A commercial client must appoint a capable design practice as PD in writing. It is not necessarily the case that the design practice is a designer on the project. If the client does not appoint a PD, then the client becomes the PD by default.

In a perfect world, the best person or organisation to be the Principal Designer is the lead designer on a project. But for them to be able to take on that role they need to have sufficient skills, knowledge and experience.

A Principal Designer must be a designer – this is important as to discharge the PD role you need to be up to speed with design, design issues and the development that the construction industry has undergone over recent years.

What is also clear from the regulations, and has been confirmed by the HSE, is that: The Principal Designer role does not have to be undertaken by a designer working on the project in a technical capacity and the Principal Designer can employ others to assist them to discharge their duties but by doing so they cannot rid themselves of their legal liabilities under the CDM Regulations.

Firstly, the CDM2015 Regulations are a subset of the Health and Safety at Work Act and, as such, are regulations about health and safety only.

It is very important to understand that the requirement for the Principal Designer to have health and safety skills, knowledge and experience is in proportion to the nature, size and complexity of the project in question. For most domestic projects, an architect with some design risk management training should be capable of undertaking the Principal Designer role without assistance.

For commercial and larger projects the issues around design and construction health and safety tend to become more complex and in those situations it would

be prudent for the person or organisation being offered the PD role to consider whether or not they have the necessary health and safety skills, knowledge and ability. In these situations it may be prudent for the designer to consider employing someone with the right capability to assist them with the PD duties.

Clients should be very wary of asking designers to undertake the PD role without checking that they do have the right qualifications as CDM2015 places a strict duty on the client to ensure that both the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor comply with certain of their duties. In addition, the success of the project in terms of health and safety relies heavily on how well the pre-construction phase is planned and managed.

So how can a client determine if the person or organisation they are appointing is suitably capable to discharge the Principal Designer role? The client needs to do some research. Secondly the client should establish what training the designer has had regarding health and safety, and in particular the coordination of pre-construction health and safety.

Essentially, the PD role can be undertaken by any person or organisation that undertakes design and has the right mix of health and safety skills, knowledge and experience. This could be an individual, a design practice, a local authority with a technical department or a client.

ARE YOU READY TO BE A PRINCIPAL DESIGNER? APS membership gives you industry recognised advice, guidance and training on CDM 2015

FIND OUT MORE AT

www.aps.org.uk

UKC COMMENT

How to Read a Contract

By Peter Sheridan, Partner, Sheridan Gold LLP The starting point for the law on contractual interpretation is the classic statement in Lord Hoffmann’s judgment in Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd v West Bromwich Building Society (1998).

“Interpretation is the ascertainment of the meaning which the document would convey to a reasonable person having all the background knowledge which would reasonably have been available to the parties in the situation in which they were at the time of the contract.”

The background, or matrix of fact, is broad and means anything (so long as it is relevant: see BCCI v Ali (2002)) which would affect how the document would be understood by a reasonable man, except that the law excludes from the admissible background the previous negotiations of the parties and their declarations of subjective intent. These important exclusions were reinforced in the more recent House of Lords case Chartbrook (2009). The factual matrix may be used to resolve ambiguity and may even lead to the conclusion that the parties have used the wrong words (see Mannai Investment Co Ltd v Eagle Star Life Assurance Co Ltd (1997); The Antaios (1985)). Business common sense is also applied to assist in interpretation.

Generally, though, where the parties have used unambiguous language, the court (or other tribunal) must apply it: see e.g. the decision of the Court of Appeal in Cooperative Wholesale Society v National Westminster Bank plc [1995] 1 EGLR 97 and the decision of the Supreme Court in Rainy Sky SA v Kookmin Bank [2011] UKSC 50 at [23]. Therefore, if there is no ambiguity, one does not normally get as far as considering the factual matrix or business common sense. This approach has recently been emphasised by the Supreme Court in Arnold v Britton (2015), its most recent consideration of the principles of contractual interpretation.

Where the parties have used ambiguous language, and there are competing interpretations to be considered, the correct approach is to ascertain what a reasonable

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person, who has all the background knowledge reasonably available to the parties at the time of the contract, would have understood the parties to have meant (see eg Rainy Sky). This approach should lead to which of the two possible meanings of ambiguous terms is the correct one.

The law on implied terms is similar to that on express terms; so much so that it could be said that the law on implied terms does not add anything to the rules of construction of express terms. The leading case is now the Privy Council decision in Attorney General of Belize v Belize Telecom Ltd (2009); again it is Lord Hoffmann, as in the Investors Compensation Scheme case, who has stated the up-to-date position.

“The court has no power to improve upon the instrument which it is called upon to construe, whether it be a contract, a statute or articles of association. It cannot introduce terms to make it fairer or more reasonable. It is concerned only to discover what the instrument means.

However, that meaning is not necessarily or always what the authors or parties to the document would have intended. It is the meaning which the instrument would convey to a reasonable person having all the background knowledge which would reasonably be available to the audience to whom the instrument is addressed...”

While the law has not really changed significantly, the various alternative tests of the past for implied terms, such as the obvious, unexpressed intention of the parties and necessary to give business efficacy, are all encompassed by and replaced with the single test as to what the instrument, read as a whole against the relevant background, would reasonably be understood to mean.

The courts have not readily abandoned the concept of implied term, or the old tests, but they are merely another way of expressing the same concept as the rules for construing express terms.

To sum up on the law on construing contractual terms, there is now a single test to be applied, which is the ascertainment

of the meaning which the document would convey to a reasonable person having all the relevant background knowledge which would reasonably have been available to the parties in the situation in which they were at the time of the contract.

In a future article, I will consider a recent application of these principles to a construction contract.

For more information, contact Peter Sheridan Partner at Sheridan Gold LLP T: 01737 735088 E: psheridan@sheridangold.co.uk www.sheridangold.co.uk

Peter Sheridan

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UKC COMMENT

Deal or no deal?

Mark Clinton, Partner Thomas Eggar LLP, considers the issues that arise in adjudicating on contracts that are not wholly in writing.

Old habits die hard. One of the construction industry’s bad habits, which shows no sign of expiring, is starting projects before the contract is finalised. The law reports are full of examples of the unfortunate consequences this can have, but the lessons have not been learned.

When statutory adjudication arrived in 1998, it was limited to disputes arising from contracts which were in writing.

The courts clarified the position, saying the whole of the contract had to be in writing. When the legislation was amended with effect from 2011, the requirement for the contract to be in writing was removed. This was an acknowledgment that the old habit persisted. It remains the case that statutory adjudication only applies where there is a contract but it no longer needs not be a written one.

When the change was made to the legislation, some commentators foresaw problems. The conventional way of enforcing an adjudicator’s decision is to go to court for summary judgment. To succeed in an application for summary judgment, the claimant must establish that the defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim and there is no other compelling reason why the matter should proceed to a full trial.

Cases as to whether a contract has been made but not fully recorded in writing or as to what the contract terms are notoriously difficult and often unsuitable for summary judgment. The doubters reasoned that if the defendant can show that there is a sensible argument that there is no contract or that the terms of the contract are different to those on which the adjudicator based his decision, such adjudications could run into difficulty when it came to enforcement.

Over the following four years the issue did not raise its head … until the decision in Purton v Kilker Projects this September. Kilker was on the receiving

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end of an adjudicator’s decision and ran both lines of argument referred to above. Purton said a contract was agreed in a conversation, Kilker said there was no such agreement, they denied that any such conversation took place. They also argued that if there was a contract, it was not the contract which was referred to adjudication.

As to the first line of argument, the court reminded itself of previous cases which had established that one of the factors to be taken into account in this sort of case was that the fact that the transaction was performed on both sides will often make it unrealistic to argue that there was no contract. However, the court noted that it does not necessarily follow from the fact that the work was performed that the parties must have entered into a contract. On the other hand, it is a very relevant factor pointing in that direction. On the facts of the case, the court rejected the argument that there was no contract. However, the court accepted that such a situation could arise even where the transaction had been performed and accepted that a defendant could defeat enforcement by summary judgment on that basis.

On the second argument, the judge did not consider that Kilker had no real prospect of establishing that the contract was not as alleged by Purton.

However, crucially in this case, that would not provide Kilker with a defence because, whoever was correct about the contract terms, the adjudication procedure would be the same, as would the substantive merits of the case decided by the adjudicator.

The case left open at least three questions: would the decision be enforceable if the defendant had a real prospect of establishing that the contract (i) provided for a different adjudicator nominating body from the one that made the appointment; (ii) provided for different adjudication rules

to those relied on by the adjudicator; or (iii) contained terms which would have meant the adjudicator may or would have come to a different conclusion if he had applied them.

We will no doubt see these questions addressed in future cases. They provide another reason, if one is needed, why parties should make sure their contracts are put in place before work starts.

Mark Clinton, Partner, Thomas Eggar LLP

Mark Clinton

Be careful what you wish for and/or agree to It is settled law that a residential occupier is not caught by the statutory provisions of the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 as amended by The Local Democracy, Economic Development & Construction Act 2011 (“the Act”). The relevant provision of the Act, namely section 106 says…

“106 Provisions not applicable to a contract with a residential occupier (1) This Part does not apply – (a) To a construction contract with a residential occupier” It is also settled law that a residential occupier may enter into a contract with a builder that contains an express provision that allows disputes to be settled by adjudication. Thus a residential occupier has to elect to be bound by an adjudication and, again, it is settled law that the decision of an adjudicator is only temporarily binding unless the Parties elect to agree otherwise. Section 108 of the Act clarifies the statutory provision in relation to adjudication brought in reliance of the Act by saying ……

“108 Right to refer disputes to adjudication (3) The contract shall provide in writing that the decision of the adjudicator is binding until the dispute is finally determined by legal proceedings, by arbitration (if the contract provides for arbitration or the parties otherwise agree to arbitration) or by agreement.

The parties may agree to accept the decision of the adjudicator as finally determining the dispute.”

These provisions were examined by His Honour Judge Stephen Davies in a Technology and Construction Court judgement handed down in March 2015 between Anjali Khurana (1) & Mohit Khurana (2) -and- Webster Construction Limited [2015] EWHC 758 (TCC) (“Khurana v Webster”).

For those of us who have to read judgements as part of our efforts to keep up to date and at the risk of sounding sycophantic, the judgement

is a model of clarity being both easy to read and to understand.

In Khurana v Webster the contract entered into by the parties did not provide for adjudication but, when a dispute did arise, solicitors acting for both parties agreed that the dispute would be adjudicated upon by a Quantity Surveyor appointed by the RICS and that the adjudication would be conducted under the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations (as amended) save that the decision of the Quantity Surveyor “would be binding on the parties on a final basis”.

Ultimately, Mr Peter Dale was appointed as the adjudicator by the RICS and it is readily apparent that the Khuranas were less than impressed with Mr Dale’s Decision as they refused to be bound by his award. In November 2014 HHJ Raynor QC heard enforcement proceedings brought by Webster and gave judgement in favour of Webster but stayed execution on condition that the Khuranas must pay the value of Mr Dale’s Decision into court and commence court proceedings in relation to all matters in dispute. The Khuranas complied with the directions of HHJ Raynor QC and Webster then applied to dismiss the legal proceedings commenced by the Khuranas.

In a hearing which took place in February 2015 to hear Webster’s application to dismiss the proceedings, the Khuranas argued (a) that there was no agreement that the adjudicator’s decision would be final and binding upon them and (b) even if there was such an agreement that it was contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (“UTCCR”) and thus unenforceable.

and entering into the agreement. In such circumstances there was no significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations and the term relating to the decision being final and binding was not unfair.

Reading the judgement over, it is apparent that having freely entered into an agreement to have the dispute finally determined by adjudication, an agreement that the Khuranas freely chose to enter, and because the resulting decision was not to their liking, the Khuranas sought to unpick what had been agreed. Such an approach is rarely endorsed by the Courts and it is perhaps not unsurprising that the Khuranas’ claim was dismissed.

Finally, His Honour Judge Stephen Davies made it clear that even if the Khuranas had succeeded in proceeding with its claim again Webster there could have been no basis for seeking repayment of the fee paid to the adjudicator since he did nothing more than he was appointed to do and even if his answer was wrong, absent any wrongdoing on his part, he would still have been entitled to be paid his reasonable fee for the services provided.

Peter Vinden is a practising Arbitrator, Adjudicator, Mediator and Expert. He is Managing Director of The Vinden Partnership and can be contacted by email at pvinden@vinden.co.uk.

For similar articles please visit www.vinden.co.uk.

His Honour Judge Stephen Davies decided that the parties had entered into an agreement to be bound by an adjudicator’s decision on a final and binding basis. In relation to the Khuranas’ secondary position whilst deciding that UTCCR applied, the agreement was freely entered into by the parties, there was no individually imposed term by Webster and the Khuranas were legally represented throughout the process of negotiating

Regent House, F olds Point, Folds Road, Bolton BL1 2R Z t. 01204 362888 f . 01204 36280 8 tvp@vinden.c o.uk ww w.vinden.c o.uk

UKC INTERVIEW

Building Information Modelling = Better Information Management An Interview with CHR CAD Manager Matt Aspey CHR Equipment Ltd is a specialist in commercial catering schemes for the UK food service industry. In 2013 a growing demand for BIM information was being pushed by their customers and partners.

They spoke to Quadra about how they could help support their move to BIM.

After the training we were seeing increased efficiencies of 60%, improvements on design process by 50% and better communication to clients using 3D imagery.

Alex has since moved onto using 3Ds Max, a modelling and rendering tool, which is further enhancing his design offerings.

First of all, why did you implement BIM? Think of it as Better Information Management, as well as Building Information Modelling. BIM is an opportunity to go digital with the manufacturing process. A way to improve the handling of product data to increase quality and efficiency and despite what is thought, it does and will continue to affect more than just architects and contractors.

CHR Equipment approached Quadra in 2013 when they were finding more and more of their customers who were requiring BIM Information and they were keen to be ahead of the game. At the time they were using AutoCAD 2D, but were keen to improve efficiencies but also improve the way they communicate with customers, when bidding for contracts.

What has been the impact of implementing BIM? The big success has not just been the improved amount of orders and contracts secured, including Lancashire County Cricket Club and Midsummers House in Cambridgeshire, but also the outstanding results being delivered by staff.

Alex has since been nominated for the CEDA ‘Rising Star Award’ which celebrates the brightest and best individuals and organisations in the catering equipment industry.

What did you do?

The first move we made was to invest in Building Design Suite Premium, which would support the organisation’s strategy for growth and their desire for BIM compliancy. It would also support our desire to move towards 3D design, helping to future proof the company.

The next step was for our Design Technician, Alex to undertake training.

The Revit Essentials training introduced some of the key concepts and gave Alex a good grounding in the workings of Revit. Within four months Alex had really got to grips with the software and was starting to produce some great results.

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loss of business and the opportunity to improve the manufacturing process. As our knowledge and understanding of BIM progressed, so did what we could deliver.

Whilst, senior management had initial reservations about BIM, we soon discovered that implementing a clear strategy has actually improved the manufacturing process at our company.

The fact that I could show increased quality and efficiency in-house with BIM made justifying the cost much easier for me.

Should others invest in BIM? Well, in my opinion we have not only been able to deliver faster, better products to our customers, whilst reducing costs – so yes!

Will BIM get us more business?

From our experience, being first to market gives you an advantage over competitors and makes your business more adaptable to change. BIM has helped raise our profile and has opened up new opportunities for us. Demand for BIM objects is higher than ever and is set to continue in this way. The implementation of Revit and BIM practices have not only saved us time and money, but have also improved our design and presentations, which is undoubtedly impressing our customers.

Justifying investment in BIM Ultimately the main justification for joining the BIM revolution is the potential for

Matt Aspey

COMMENT UKC

Do you have good ‘PM Hygiene’?

Four questions that will help you improve your PM routines

By Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP®, PMI-ACP, Chief Cheetah and Founder of Cheetah Learning When Project Managers establish effective routines for both their own daily work and for managing their teams, they also develop healthy Project Management “hygiene.”

This “hygiene” metaphor relates to having consistent processes in place and it is what Project Management is all about. The better you can develop consistent routines as a PM, the better you will be able to consistently deliver value on your projects.

To determine if you have what we like to call good “PM hygiene” routines, ask yourself these questions: How do you make your to-do lists?

Are they a chaotic sprawl of Post-It notes wallpapering your cubicle wall, or are they a neat list in your Google Calendar colour-coded by priority?

While the latter method might be a bit extreme, prioritizing your daily tasks in some way is a crucial PM routine. Take a few minutes at the beginning of each work day to write out your tasks for that day and note how important they are. Then (you guessed it) tackle the most important tasks first. This will keep you from procrastinating on more complex projects and ensures that your most important work gets DONE. What kinds of tasks do you write in your to-do lists? If you find that you have items like “prepare for project launch” on your list, take a minute to break these down into small, specific, and more concrete tasks.

What, specifically, do you need to do to prepare for your project launch? Give each of these items its own to-do. If you can’t think of everything that will need to be done, that’s okay; you’ll make to-do for those to-be-determined items after you’ve completed the existing tasks. The value of creating small, manageable tasks for your to-do lists is that it prevents procrastination: it’s much easier to do a task on your list when you know how to do it and you can clearly define when it is done.

Do you hold regular check-in meetings with your project teams? The key word

here is REGULAR. This might mean a half-hour meeting to review the project schedule every Monday at 9am, or, if you’re doing an Agile sprint, a 15-minute stand-up meeting every morning for the duration of the sprint. When you’re meetings are consistent (and as short as possible!) your project team members know what to expect and are less likely to resentfully think of them as a “waste of time.” Additionally, they speak to your competence and consistency as a PM. How do you supervise your project team members’ work? As a Project Manager, you know how difficult it can be the toe the line between being an overbearing micro-manager and being too hands-off, finding out significant problems in the project work much later than you need to. One way to monitor your teams work more effectively is simply to change your mode of communication. If you’re colocated with your project teams, take a few minutes in the afternoon to walk around the office and check in with team members face-to-face; if your teams collaborate virtually, call your team members on the phone or via video conference rather than sending off an email. An email is easy to ignore, but more personal face-to-face (or ‘ear-to-ear’) interactions are not.

Incorporating these good Project Management hygiene routines into your daily work doesn’t need to take up a lot of your time. As these practices become habit, you’ll find that they actually save you time by allowing you to use your time more productively and efficiently. This is crucial for both helping you advance in your own career and for delivering more value to your organization.

Project Management to the masses.

Cheetah Learning is a virtual company with 100 employees, contractors, and licensees worldwide. To date, more than 50,000 people have become “Cheetahs” using Cheetah Learning’s innovative Project Management and accelerated learning techniques.

Michelle also developed the Cheetah Certified Project Manager (CCPM) program based on Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality profiling to help students master how to use their unique strengths for learning, doing projects, and negotiating. CCPM graduates are able to choose the right projects and complete those projects “cheetah fast” based on their personality. They also learn how to leverage others’ strengths which significantly improves overall project team performance. When an employer has a cadre of CCPMs on staff, they achieve whatever they set out to achieve in record time. This is why over 90% of Cheetah’s clients experience an increase in both profitability and revenue within the first year of retaining Cheetah Learning for their Project Management training needs.

Honoured by the Project Management Institute (PMI®), Cheetah Learning was named Professional Development Provider of the Year at the 2008 PMI® Global Congress. A dynamic keynote speaker and industry thought leader, Michelle is recognised by PMI as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Project Management in the world.

Michelle LaBrosse

About the Author:

Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, is an entrepreneurial powerhouse with a penchant for making success easy, fun, and fast. She is the founder of Cheetah Learning, the author of the Cheetah Success Series, and a prolific blogger whose mission is to bring

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UKC COMMENT

Why construction companies should be looking to install tracking for their site assets Tracking has been used successfully for many years to protect high-value cars as well as caravans and motorhomes. This technology is now being increasingly used by construction companies. In cars and caravans tracking is installed to provide security and ensure that stolen vehicles can be quickly returned.

Whilst this benefit is also available to construction companies there are additional reasons why they should be looking to install tracking. These fall into two broad areas – safety & compliance and improved asset usage and protection.

Improving safety and compliance

In the 21st Century safety is a key factor that needs to be considered in all operations, but is not always easy to oversee. When you are managing mobile workforces at multiple work sites using a lot of equipment, it is very easy to lose track of what is going in. Fitting trackers to all your plant enables you to monitor both the plant itself as well as the employees’ behaviour when using it. This makes your sites safer and more secure.

Functionality, features such as safe driving alerts, enables you to monitor every aspect of driver safety from compliance and vehicle maintenance to real-time coaching. You can also get real-time alerts on many other things ranging from speeding, through idling to harsh braking. All are fully configurable and can be received by whoever you want.

As well as safety considerations, on any construction site there will be compliance issues that you need to observe, such as restricted access areas, noise ordinances and hours of operation.

With tracking you can easily monitor

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start and stop times, worker activity or equipment use and receive instant alerts for any exceptions. This ensures your staff are complying with work site policies, avoiding infringements, shutdowns or the anger of your neighbours.

Teams are often more productive, and more likely to follow safety procedures, when supervisors are on-site. With a coLocation report you’ll be able to monitor how much time supervisors are spending at the worksite, as well as keeping an eye on excessive congregating.

Increasing asset utilisation

Your plant assets are expensive items that are critical to profitability. It therefore makes sense that they are well utilised and maintained. Tracking can help with this from the strategic planning through to day-to-day usage.

Strategic and tactical planning is made easier when you know exactly what assets you have, where they are located and what jobs need to be done. By fitting trackers to the assets you will always know what you have and where it is through a single Web-based system that can be accessed from anywhere on any Web-enabled device, ensuring planning is made easier and more effective.

Real-time equipment monitoring will ensure you get the best use out of your plant. GeoFences can be set around restricted areas to help ensure that employees follow site rules. Power take-off events can also be monitored to see when and how equipment is functioning. Other features, like idling reports, seat belt alerts and ignition reports help monitor employee driving habits and offer a big picture perspective even when a manager cannot be on-site.

Downtime is costly and needs to be

avoided. This can be minimised by proactive maintenance rather than reactive. With tracking you can easily configure the system to generate alerts for your own service department or local dealer. This ensures maintenance is planned and reduces downtime.

Additionally, with accurate usage records you will be able to make better use of your warranty entitlements.

Finally, tracking will allow you to precisely measure the actual time spent on a job. This will enable you to improve the accuracy of job costing, billing, productivity benchmarking and planning resource requirements. All of which will you allow to bid for new work more accurately and profitably.

Securing your plant

Construction sites are always popular targets for thieves. With tracking installed in your assets, you can monitor any exceptions in realtime, whether it’s unauthorised use, restricted access or a stolen asset.

You can also set up GeoFences around your construction sites. These will trigger an alert whenever a vehicle crosses a designated line. Trackers on the equipment will additionally help track and recover stolen assets more quickly, ensuring minimum disruption and reduced insurance claims.

It doesn’t matter whether your equipment is old or new, non-powered or even outside the mobile network, asset tracking can help your business in many areas.

To find out more about how Phantom asset tracking will benefit your business, contact us.

You can stop a vehicle in its tracks.

With the push of a button on our Fleet Tracking System portal .

STOP

Remote Immobilisation Giving you the power over vehicle theft and misuse Contact us to find out how vehicle and plant tracking could benefit your construction company or business today.

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COMMENT UKC

Getting leads online - Are you being lead astray?

Benjamin Dyer of Powered Now looks at the ins and outs of using review sites The last few years have seen the arrival of online review sites or ’marketplaces’ whose aim is to connect builders looking for work with homeowners wanting jobs done. The opportunity has opened up as Yellow Pages fades from the public consciousness and the web continues its inexorable rise in our lives. The most popular services include new boy on the block Bark.com plus My Builder along with Checkatrade and Rated People.

The latter two appear regularly on TV. These new services are hoping to substitute word-of-mouth recommendation with an online version. By using them, builders can decide when they wish to generate new business and when they don’t, and that potentially offers genuine advantage. In addition, firms should be able to get more business closer to home. However, not everyone is a believer and some of Powered Now’s research poses interesting questions about how well they work.

Just the facts, Ma’am

At the start of the summer we commissioned independent survey company Toluna to ask over 1,000 homeowners whether they had used Rated People, Checkatrade or My Builder to get building work done in the last year. The result was that 12% had used them; this was more than Thomson, local newspapers and Yellow Pages combined.

Against this, 70% of homeowners had used a person or company who was either recommended or one they had used before. So the idea that these new services are replacing word-ofmouth is, put politely, not true.

How do the new services work?

All the rating sites provide homeowners with a free service and they use one of two methods to generate income: ••An annual fee is levied on builders by Checkatrade. It claims that it checks the credentials of all of its tradesmen; Or ••Tradesmen pay to receive leads from My Builder, Rated People and Bark. com (although they have a free service too) although the details vary slightly.

However, it’s chicken & egg when you are new to these services. You need good ratings to get any work, but until you win work you can’t get ratings.

As part of our research, we discussed marketplaces with some of our customers as well as researching online. Opinions strongly differ and a range of them illustrates the point: On the Builders Talk Group on Facebook there was some praise for the marketplaces in the colloquial terms you might expect - “Yeah defo My Builder.

Getin (sic) loads of work off it”.

Guy Hands, Screwfix regional tradesman of the year also found the new services useful: “I used My Builder a lot when I was first getting started. The key with using My Builder is to follow up leads really quickly.”

Adam Taylor, who works at Powered Now comments, “I had a carpenter round to my

place recently that I got from Checkatrade.

He had nothing but praise for them.”

In fairness there is also a huge amount of criticism. Matthew Stevenson of The Landscape Company reports that “We tried Rated People and unfortunately it was not successful for us. We bought and bid for ten jobs but didn’t get any of them.”

Who should use them?

Where you are perfectly happy with your business and getting regular work via wordof-mouth and previous customers, these services don’t have much to offer. If you are keen on growing your business or are starting from scratch, they are worth a look.

While the new services undoubtedly have some issues, homeowners do need a reliable way to find new tradesmen when no personal recommendations are available. The usual warnings apply though, and if you are tempted to try them, it’s best to start small and learn before you make too large a commitment.

About the author

Benjamin Dyer is CEO and co-founder of Powered Now. Powered Now’s mobile app aims to take the pain out of paperwork for individual builders and small construction companies, as well as other trade businesses. www.powerednow.com

The right builder for the job

Reputation remains critical for choosing a supplier, and 50% of homeowners cited this as their top concern. This was followed by getting a good price and the ability to start on a convenient date, each cited by around a quarter as very important.

Research by Bradstone Assured is equally enlightening. This showed that 60% of homeowners feel nervous when meeting new tradesmen and 50% worry that they will get a poor deal. Online reviews are seen as important by 70% and 90% had examined online reviews before deciding who to go with. This all underscores the importance of reputation.

39

UKC EVENTS

Exclusive Interview: Digital Construction Week

Held 20th–22nd October, Digital Construction Week is the event series for the entire built environment supply chain from design, construction and engineering to management and operation.

With digital technology revolutionising the architecture, engineering, construction and operation (AECO) world as we know it, Digital Construction Week will focus on the realities of digital innovation, technologies, and processes for businesses today and implications for the built environment of tomorrow.

In an exclusive interview, Oliver Hughes – Director of Digital Construction Week – discusses the exhibition’s origins, his aspirations for the event and the series’ eclectic schedule.

Tell us a little about Digital Construction Week and its origins.

It’s quite an ambitious project. The idea is to explore digital technologies and processes across the board in architecture, engineering and construction – from design all the way through to operation.

It stems from the BIM conversation in so much as BIM’s done incredible things with the government mandate bringing about huge industry change and really bringing digital to the forefront of our industry.

But for me BIM has become a word for a lot of different technologies, so you have things like 3D printing, laser scanning, UAVs, advanced manufacturing, new methods of construction all falling in to the same conversation. There’s a lot more to it than just BIM as a process.

What we wanted to do is explore what

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digital meant in the broadest sense. So everything from using a system like box to store and manage files and data at a granular level, or a health and safety app that can save you hours at a time on every form you fill out, all the way up to using sensors and data monitoring on huge projects like Crossrail.

We want to explore a lot more and to do that we built into doing a whole week’s worth of activity because it becomes really challenging to cover something so broad, especially when talking about something that has such a huge impact on the entire industry. To do that in one day is impossible so we’ve built out this idea of a festival of everything digital in AECO. We’ve got multiple events running throughout the week. We’re kicking off working with Autodesk, running their leadership conference.

It will have an international flavour, exporting UK expertise overseas and attracting an international delegation.

We’ve got the Westminster Reception on the Tuesday, which is about the government’s BIM mandate and the Level 2 deadline in 2016.

On the Wednesday and Thursday, there’ll be a huge expo with everything from BIM software to 3D printing, UAVs, laser scanning, and robotics. We’ve got a robotics company doing a live build, a digital lounge tech gallery, free to attend seminars and much more. We wanted to get away from the normal exhibition and

create a Consumer Electronics Show or Wired magazine type of feel – something for the industry that people will get excited about seeing, something new and different.

That’s the kind of exhibition for two days, free to attend and we’re expecting 3,000­4,000 people in that time. There are loads of free­to­attend seminars as well as exciting exhibitors.

We also have a paid­for conference which I’m incredibly excited about, hopefully it will really break the mould. We’ve tried to follow the idea of having inspirational talks rather than having case study after case study. The TED style was a real inspiration. We’ve got a lot of non­industry speakers who are real pioneers; Skylar Tibbits from MiT, Julie Alexander from Siemens, David McCandless, Richard Peters from Decoded. We’ve also got a host of leading industry figures who can help take vision through to reality.

The programme is designed as an ‘evolution’ conference. It’s all well and good saying we should be more innovative or adopt all these different technologies, but how do we do that practically, what are the barriers and what are the real opportunities?

And the aim then is to have all our different supporters, sponsors, partners to host their own fringe events on different topics and areas; Breakfast briefings, seminars and networking events.

We are looking to build a festival of activity to bring in the whole industry together. All

this digital and technological innovation is going on, we just want to give a platform to help bring everyone together. We talk a lot of collaboration, so rather than focusing on engineers, contractors etc, in silos we want to bring everyone together, and that’s our aim no matter what level you’re at or what your profession.

There are three days of core events that we’re curating and then mini events throughout the week, designed to be more laid back.

How did Digital Construction Week come about? Where did the idea come from?

I think really just from different conversations ultimately. There’s pockets of excellence all over the place, the BIM conversation I think has helped show that. You pick up magazine like Wired or read about some of the projects getting funding and there’s stories about some of the amazing things going on in our industry and it’s really exciting.

The industry really feels like it’s at a turning point and the conversations I’ve had with our Steering Group and sponsors felt like this was an opportunity to showcase that.

I’m not an architect or an engineer but the industry is exciting to me and the digital side of things is different from the image from outside of industry. That’s kind of what interests me. There’s all this talk of growth, innovation, changing the

image of our industry, skills, diversity, collaboration. Digital to me holds the key to unlocking many of these challenges.

The idea really developed through conversations with industry and the team behind the event is similar thinking from what I’ve had in the past and it matches up well. Having spent 10 years in and around the industry I’m excited to see where we go from here.

In terms of the fringe events, how is it decided who is there in terms of exhibitors?

It’s absolutely open to everybody who is involved with the week or supporting, whether they are non-financial industry partners or exhibitors or sponsors, or just somebody with a real interest and wants to support it as an agenda.

The early discussions we had, we said that there are so many great conversations going on the industry and we’d like to give a platform for that more than anything.

An open source platform if you like.

We didn’t want to compete as such, but instead decided to create a platform to bring the whole industry together and shout about it. So there’s not a fee that gets you involved in it. Its people who want to educate and inform, network and collaborate.

Our role really comes down to a bit of curating in so much as we don’t want competing events on at the same time

on the same day. It’s something that we really want to grow next year, I love the idea of businesses hosting Google Friday type of events in house during the week, exploring their own challenges and then bringing that to share at the show.

We are open to anybody keen to support us and get involved in this big idea of driving change, digital adoption and collaboration. We want to remain as independent as possible.

How do you choose speakers and seminars?

For the conference, we’ve taken a predominantly single stream route with a few breakouts. What we’ve tried to do is create an evolution conference in so much we want it to be relevant whether you’re an architect, engineer, contractor, client, SME or whoever, so there are key themes built around what we mean by digital and digital construction.

The conference will cover adopting the digital mind-set, what it means as far as changing the face of the industry, what skills are needed, getting construction on the agenda in education, and demystify some of the bigger topics like big data, IoT, wearables, new methods of construction.

We have put together key themes around hot topics in the industry, working with our Steering Group who have been fantastic in their support. continued page 44

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BIM to field: Rise of the robots With the Rugby World Cup final being played at Twickenham on 31st October, recent research may have given the teams something to be frightened about this Halloween.

It may sound incredible, but according to Dr Ian Yeoman, Associate Professor of New Zealand’s Victoria University, players will soon be replaced by bionic cyborgs equipped with chips to monitor their performance and nanotechnology medicine implants to heal minor injuries.

Referees will be intelligent robots capable of knowing when players are genuinely injured or simply trying it on and these AI officials will be flanked by mechanical linesmen who would spot offside players instantly.

While the prospect of permanent substitution might scare sportsmen, this vision of the future could prove popular with fans.

Imagine how much fairer it would be if time wasting was eradicated and consider the savings if clubs could genetically-engineer improvements in their existing squad instead of splashing out on new blood?

MEP layout – a robot revolution

No more errors or omissions As well as being a drain on human resources, traditional layout is fraught with errors, omissions and inaccuracies as multiple people undertake repetitive manual work, largely by eye alone. Every small mistake can have serious consequences and even affect the profitability of the job. Missing an angle or layout position can mean systems don’t fit when installed and clashes with other elements and services can lead to wasted materials, labour and time.

Because an RTS uses the same 2D drawings or 3D models as other trades involved in the project, collaboration and avoiding conflicts with other building systems is simpler and quicker. Layout coordinates can be accessed directly from the building model and referenced by the operator immediately via a handheld device.

A paperless, cost effective pathway to efficiency Using an RTS is a paperless process so there’s no risk of losing or damaging documents. Furthermore, by using Trimble connect, other trades working on the same project can access the results because it is linked to the field and the office. A further bonus is that, because the model or design used to plot layout will be the same as was used to prefabricate materials, everything fits into place first time.

Whether Yeoman’s forecast proves prophetic or just a sci-fi fuelled fantasy, what is certain is that - as with almost every industry technology (be it goal line, baseline or RFID tags) has added value to sport in recent years.

The avoidance of clash-related remedial works alone could mean that your payback on a robot could be realised during just one project. Savings in time, money and labour – as well as increased speed and first-rate quality control – mean ROI is quick to achieve.

With the advent of BIM, construction is among the industries most affected by technological advances and, thanks to innovative layout tools such as robotic total stations, MEP companies in particular can benefit from the rise of the robots. In fact, whether you’re advancing your company’s adoption of BIM by using construction layout tools to extend the BIM workflow into the field, improving the Quality Control process or increasing efficiency, investing in a robotic total station (RTS) or the Trimble Rapid Positioning System, will revolutionise the way you do business.

BIM to field benefits

Accurate and efficient one-man operation Whereas traditional layout of MEP services has traditionally required an entire set-out crew on a job site, an RTS enables just one person to do the same job faster and with higher accuracy so it’s no longer necessary for manpower to be ploughed into the field en masse, armed only with a tape measure and string. As well as reducing labour costs and increasing time savings, one-man operation can make it far easier to work in tricky or tight conditions. When F E Moran (FEM) used an RTS for plotting deck insets in an as-built environment they were able to plot 500 individual field points in a day with one person, increasing productivity by a factor of 10. They also saw benefits in field activity.

Chief Engineer, Jason Smith, explained: "It would have been cumbersome to have a two-person team working in this area using a traditional tape measure and paper drawings. The Trimble MEP Layout Solution (an RTS application and software) allows one person to work more efficiently around the clutter"

As we move, in line with the Government Construction Strategy, to more sophisticated BIM processes, such as 4D and 5D, a live link to the field becomes a must. This link can be provided, in part, by an RTS. Although BIM is currently most used and recognised in the planning and design stage, companies looking to develop their BIM strategy and technology into construction & operation will need to be able to complete tasks, including layout, direct from the model. It is also essential that the accuracy of the building model is retained and data from it maximised when working in the field.

Through the use of intelligent field products like a robotic total station, the site is always up-to-date and operating at maximum efficiency, reducing delays and speeding-up progress.

The future of MEP layout In benefitting building owners, MEP companies and ultimately the building users (who reap the rewards of life-cycle management and smart engineering and design) what seems certain is that robotic total stations will play a significant part in the future of MEP layout.

To find out more about how they can help your business flourish as the industry enters a new, technology-driven generation, contact Trimble- owned company, Amtech, or discover more about the Trimble Robotic Total Station at: www.amtech.co.uk.

BIM to Field: Layout as designed Using either 3D or 2D plans, one person can layout hundreds of MEP locations making sure everything is installed according to the building design.

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They have helped us with this programme, so it’s much more curated by us, but with a lot of industry guidance. Ultimately what we want is to help educate, and it’s about asking the right questions, adopting an outcome based approach, and helping explore the business practicalities of these different things.

We want people to go away inspired but also with some real practical learning.

For speakers we’ve really tried to get some different voices, look to other industries, and find new perspectives.

The seminar programme on the show floor, is built around a lot of the same themes but perhaps a bit more focus on specific projects, technologies, and processes. We’re also working with the BIM Regions, Task Group, and BIM4’s on the BIM4 Communities Village which will feature a host of different presentation to help people understand what BIM means to them.

We’ve worked very hard on the conference programme and it is thought through to focus on educational outcomes.

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What message are you trying to convey and what do you feel it offers that is different to what is already available?

Ultimately we’re the only show in the UK focusing solely on the scope of digital technologies and processes in the AECO industry. I think the big thing is it’s talking about collaboration and innovation and you can only get that if you bring everybody together, and it’s around providing learning across the board, understanding how all these different elements work together.

We will without a doubt talk about technology but we want to discuss the process around adopting it, making it work in a project team and across a business.

This isn’t just a show for Google types it’s about the entire industry at every level.

The scope of what we’re doing is different.

It’s pretty ambitious but we want to become more than just a trade event, we want to help drive real change and bring digital to the forefront of our industry.

We are trying to think outside the box to show the whole breadth

of what the industry is.

So Digital Construction Week is trying to show evolution in the industry and give a platform to show all the great stuff going on, with exciting things for people to see and interact with along the way.

Some exhibitions perhaps don’t cater for the likes of SMEs and where they are on their technological journey.

Is this one of the areas that Digital Construction Week excels in?

This is 100% accurate and the SME side was a real big drive for us early on so within the seminar programme there is a dedicated sessions for SME’s. The idea is you could come for half a day to the seminar programme, look around the exhibition, have time for a meeting in town and head home, all for the price of a train ticket.

There is no barrier to entry which I think has been a real challenge in the past, given some conferences cost a lot of money

along with hotel prices. It’s just impractical.

The SME side of things is as important as anything in the discussion about collaboration so we’d like to show that. BIM’s a great example where I think it’s quite a challenge for SME’s. There’s so much to get your head around, where do you begin? We wanted to break this down, because ultimately it’s about efficiencies, what SME wouldn’t want to be more efficient?

The thought tends to be BIM isn’t for some SMEs because it’s costly or they’re only one part of the process. We’re working with BIM4SME and the Regional BIM Regions to help our visitors understands what it actually means to them.

But it’s about stripping away the hype and getting to basics.

The message we’re trying to get across is that it isn’t about huge investment, but rather is about becoming more digitally aware, and ultimately, about efficiency.

We’ve also done things like make the two-day conference modular, so if you want you can just buy a one day ticket.

We have worked hard to strip away issues people might have with getting along and

attending as well. The conference will open from 10am on the Wednesday so people from different parts of the country can get down in time. We’ve tried to be really conscientious about keeping the week open for the whole of the industry.

Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

There’s so much going on. Ultimately for us, this is the first event that will become annual and we’ll be looking to run and partner a number of events next year as well.

We’d like it to be something that can drive the industry forward, charting the change of the industry because for me, it’s really exciting. There are lots of conversations around virtual reality, IoT, Big Data, robotics, UAVs etc. They will become common place and we need to figure out how we will make that a reality by making them work for us.

We’re working closely with BIM Task Group, the Cabinet Office is supporting us too.

We’ve really worked close with industry bodies and ultimately the message was to move away from being another BIM event or

conference and hopefully that will be achieved.

We’d love feedback from people as well about what they’d like to see in digital construction.

Digital is the lifeblood of the event and it feeds into so many different things.

We’re really excited to see how this changes over the years and how needs change, so we’ll constantly evolve.

It’s very exciting. Our Steering Group of 15-20 people have been massively supportive and we have a fantastic line up of names that have really helped to shape the event as something hopefully coming from the industry and not just from us.

Digital technologies and processes have been used in construction for years. There are so many great examples, we just want to give a platform for that and be a part of helping to keep driving the industry forward.

And most of all please register and come see us at the show!

For more information about event series please visit the Digital Construction Week website: www.digitalconstructionweek.com

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UKC CASE STUDY

Facilities Management in the world of BIM Building Information Modelling (BIM) is revolutionising the way in which we design, construct and operate our buildings. It is a true catalyst for change – one that enables collaborative and cost-effective thinking, while also driving efficiencies and reducing waste.

Clients now have access to an unprecedented amount of data – all of it collated and displayed within an easily digestible 3D model – which in-turn offers an accurate understanding of how a building will function well in advance of its construction. This knowledge enables solutions to be tested ahead of time and informed decisions to be made at a much earlier stage. Today more than ever, buildings can be fine-tuned and finessed

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to fully meet the needs of the end-user.

But while the construction benefit is clear, how might the BIM proposition impact Facilities Management (FM)?

Put simply, BIM techniques have the potential to streamline the process, making the long-term management of a building more transparent and efficient.

Information modelling is enabling facilities managers to operate their client’s buildings with greater ease and flexibility.

Disruption can be minimised with more assurance, and unnecessary spend – previously obscured in reams of raw data – can now be identified and curtailed.

Leading facilities management provider BAM FM has been an earlier adopter of BIM, with hugely positive results.

Kath Fontana, Managing Director of BAM FM explains: “A great example of a practical benefit can be seen in our work at a large general hospital.

There was a fire in the client’s (nonBAM) facility, impacted by failed fire dampers and breaches in firewalls from post-construction installations.

Safety Notices were issued to every establishment requesting information on the fire dampers and firewalls in all buildings.

“Using our building information model, we were able to generate a full schedule of information for the BAM facility in about 15 minutes containing asset numbers, classifications, locations, etc. This

saved us around four days of effort and had an intangible benefit of increased client confidence in us.

“In contrast, we recently received a new build project to price on a tender basis. We had four weeks to analyse the job without an asset register, and using only 150 general arrangement PDFs, which is quite typical for the industry. How much easier would this be using BIM?” Here, BAM FM’s partnership with Autodesk has proven instrumental in ensuring that the Company has access to the latest in BIM software, consultancy services, research and global best practice.

BIM is now able to provide facilities

managers with 3D data-rich models, effectively extending the boundaries of BIM beyond its traditional design and construction applications, and into the life-cycle of a building.

With BIM transforming the FM landscape however, facilities managers must embrace information modelling if they are to remain competitive and in touch with client expectations. And with the Government’s Level 2 BIM mandate on the horizon, the time is now.

Kath Fontana concludes: “We must understand the impact of BIM on our sector. Every FM business should have a BIM strategy so we can plan our approach and allocate appropriate resources.

BIM is a fast-moving field and FM must engage and influence how the operational aspects of an asset are developed digitally. If this isn’t done by us it will be done to us. The BIM clock is ticking. Are you ready?”

47

UKC CIVIL

AMP6

A period of change and long-term investment AMP6 kicked off in March this year, with the utility companies moving into this sixth phase of asset management following long periods of tendering and negotiations.

This phase of investment has seen the shift in focus from short term investment, replacing the ageing structures and systems to improve efficiency, to a ‘totex’ – or total expenditure investment – looking to improve and upgrade the systems for future benefits and in the long term.

This was set out in the Ofwat report, published in 2013, which showed the methodology Ofwat was to use to assess water companies’ business plans for AMP6.

The methodology relates to water supply and sewerage in England and Wales and made it clear that the water industry’s emphasis is shifting from the ‘ticking regulatory boxes’ approach of previous AMPs to focusing on value for money for customers.

For the first four AMP periods, water companies’ business plans were dominated by the need to meet tough European Union legislation covering issues like wastewater quality and wildlife habitats.

This period will see water companies trying to get the most out of their existing assets and finding ways to minimise cost of operation

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The Ofwat document made it clear that water companies should be focusing on what it called ‘long-term outcomes’, which it hopes will encourage innovative ways of working that will deliver services for less money, and with less impact on the environment.

As a result, the regulator expects to see substantial efficiency savings being delivered during the five year AMP6 period.

At the same time, Ofwat wants to encourage companies to manage water supplies more sustainably. It believes this will happen because the companies will no longer have a bias toward capital intensive and resource intensive solutions, and because it is introducing incentives to encourage the water companies to trade water and to source it form areas that do not damage the natural environment.

This shift in emphasis is leading to water companies looking for different skill sets from their supply chains – expertise that will help make more of existing assets.

The focus on long-term thinking is also being reflected in the way some water companies are looking to procure the firms tat will deliver work during AMP6, with many opting for alliances, or for frameworks that run beyond the traditional five-year AMP period.

Ofwat gave final approval to a £44Bn

spend by water firms over the next period at the end of last year, saying that the deals struck with the water companies will lead to 5% average fall in bills across England and Wales.

Jonson Cox, Ofwat chairman, said: “This is an important step in maintaining customers’ trust and confidence in the water sector.

“We set out to deliver a challenging but fair outcome. We are requiring companies to meet higher service standards and deliver on their promises to customers.

“We are bringing down bills so customers can expect value for money, while investors can earn a fair return. Companies will need to stretch themselves to deliver much more with the same level of funding as in previous years. We will achieve more resilient infrastructure and better service as a result.”

Alongside the asset investment and upgrade, major projects set to take place include Severn Trent Water’s Birmingham Resilience project, Wessex Water’s integrated supply grid, and modernisation of United Utilities’ Davyhulme wastewater treatment works, with the Thames Tideway Tunnel to be financed and delivered by an independent provider. continued page 50

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Northumbrian Water names AMP6 winning bidders

Northumbrian Water has named the four winning contractors to deliver the AMP6 framework.

An Esh Construction and MWH Joint Venture, Integrated Water Services, Interserve and Mott MacDonald Bentley will carry out planned maintenance work on Northumbrian Water’s network over the ten-year contract.

Works on the contract range from short term flood damage mitigation to long term, large scale capital projects designed to improve overall asset infrastructure.

John McGovern, Northumbrian Water Group’s Head of Asset Delivery, said: “These partnership agreements clearly demonstrate our commitment to providing our customers, who rely on us every day, with an excellent service and to protecting the environment. The contracts will boost the economy of our region and of the local communities we serve and will also support employment.

“We are working closely with all companies involved to ensure the smooth transition of contracts and we look forward to working with those appointed. Having long-term framework agreements in place will enable better planning, relationship building and the transfer of in-depth knowledge and skills.

As a result of the security that this work brings, those who have won contracts will also be able to further invest in their own businesses, people and systems.”

Stephen Wilkie, Regional Managing Director of Esh Construction, based in County Durham, said: “We are proud and delighted to have been awarded this contract together with our colleagues at MWH, especially as our working partnership goes back for more than ten years.

“This contract extends our working relationship with Northumbrian Water with whom we have worked for over 20 years and is in addition to another contract – delivering reactive wastewater maintenance services – which we won earlier this year.”

Cath Schefer, Managing Director of MWH UK said: “We’re delighted with our appointment to this framework contract with our partners Esh. It is a great opportunity to bring our complementary capabilities to meet the challenges of AMP6 and the Totex environment. We look forward to working collaboratively with the other framework partners to drive efficiencies and ‘best in class’ customer service.”

Northumbrian Water Group supplies 2.7 million people with water and waste water services in the North East and 1.8 million people with water services in Essex and Suffolk.

Yorkshire Water Services appoints £100M contract partner

Yorkshire Water Services has appointed Nomenca Limited, part of the NM Group, a £100M contract in the delivery of their £3.8Bn AMP6 investment programme.

50

Carrying out the repair, restoration, maintenance and improvement works to Yorkshire Water Service’s existing assets, as well as some customer support responsibilities.

Mark Fryer, General Manager for Nomenca Leeds commented: “this is a key contract win for Nomenca. I am thrilled, excited and looking forward to being involved with working collaboratively with Yorkshire Water to deliver savings through their Direct Delivery Model.”

Paul Robins, asset solutions manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “Following a 12 month selection period, we are pleased to announce that Nomenca is one of four contract partners we will be working with to deliver this new MEICA capital framework. The MEICA framework will provide a fast and efficient delivery route where capital work can go straight into delivery. A key element of the new framework will involve the contract partners bringing the private to public pumping stations up to company standards.”

WaterBriefing report suggests £43Bn is being invested through AMP6

WaterBriefing released a report in April that contains valuable and detailed information on all major contracts that the UK water companies have in place.

The report is called ‘The UK Water Sector – Complete AMP6 Contracts and Tier 1 Contractors 2015’, and this year’s report is of great use because it highlights new opportunities within the sector at a time when the AMP6 cycle is commencing.

Through the £43Bn UK water sector investment programme, construction firms will have more business opportunities because according to the report, hundreds of new projects will come on-stream.

Companies all over the UK are benefiting from the vast amounts of details regarding contracts contained in the report as a way to target business opportunities.

Containing more than 400 pages, the report has hundreds of key named operational level contracts for both construction and water companies.

Information about major AMP6 projects is also included. This covers start and end dates, number of bidders, contract values, and any expansion options where a project would run into the AMP7 investment period which is scheduled to start in 2020, end in 2025 but could reach beyond.

Those that are already starting on new schemes for water companies throughout the UK include major Tier 1 alliances of construction firms and civil engineering consultancies working in partnership with utilities to deliver the programme, as well as SMEs and Tier 2 subcontractors.

As well as detailing all major AMP6 contracts, the report covers all the AMP5 contracts that have extended into AMP6.

All major alliances and joint ventures are covered in the report, as are contracts and major work programmes that are handled on a company-by-company basis.

There is key supply chain information that has hundreds of key named operational level contracts to hand.

Elaine Coles is the publisher of this significant report and she believes this can help companies plan towards contributing to these projects.

She said: “With a record spend over the next five years, the UK water sector will see many more construction projects carried out and will require a wide range of contractors to help contribute to their successful completion.

“With Tier 1 firms focusing on the wider supply chain, they will be aiming to outsource much of the work to local SMEs. Now is an excellent time for construction companies across the industry to start looking towards ways that they can get involved with the delivery of these projects.”

Growth in the water industry is set to increase by more than 10% in the next two years, meaning opportunities are there on projects of differing sizes.

This report is useful for this reason, and when you consider that 80% of the work on water and wastewater projects is typically carried out by 20% of the supply chain, it is important for companies strategically targeting the water sector to understand how alliances operate.

Through WaterBriefing’s report, companies can identify who they need to communicate with and gain valuable information about organisations, products, services and expertise.

Elaine added: “A variety of contractors from large Tier 1s to much smaller SMEs have already bought the report and are using it to gain a real competitive insight into how the sector will be operating in the future. Armed with this information, they will be able to capitalise on the upcoming opportunities within the water sector. Past reports have been a key part of their strategies for locating areas of new business, and this new report for 2015 will be no different.”

Framework agreements between water companies and Tier 1 contractors already in place will last for the whole AMP6 cycle, and could be extended beyond.

CIVIL UKC

UK Construction Journal Rail Focus RIA Technical Director, Francis How, on the challenges facing RISQS Francis How is the Technical Director of the Railway Industry Association and a member of the RISQS Board.

He told UK Construction Media about the challenges facing RISQS and how he would like to see the scheme enhanced even further: “At RISQS, we are proud of how we have taken the former qualification scheme that was known as Link-Up and improved the governance so it is now run by the industry, for the industry.

We are under no illusions that more needs to be done though to make this scheme one that is universally used across the industry as a qualification scheme for suppliers.

I am a Board member at RISQS as a representative of the Railway Industry Association (RIA). In addition, I sit on the Strategy Group which focuses on the longterm ambitions and targets of RISQS. It is something I feel strongly about and there are many challenges that we face.

There are many companies that make use of RISQS as buyers, such as Network Rail and some train operators but we’d like to see this volume increase, which is no small challenge.

Another objective is to help the industry understand the benefits of reducing the number of repetitive audits by clients that suppliers have to undergo.

Both RISQS and the Rail Industry

Suppliers Approval Scheme (RISAS) include audits as part of the supplier assurance arrangements, which can reduce the amount of repetitive audits.

Our challenge is to make sure that the industry realise there are benefits to doing this and what they are.

Speaking of RISQS and RISAS, this year we will look at possibly integrating the schemes or at the very least, aligning them more closely than they currently are.

Although the schemes don’t have identical purposes, the reason for this alignment or integration is simple: both schemes work within supplier assurance and managing them together would benefit the industry as a whole.

I firmly believe that RISQS is the best industry standard for suppliers within the industry but I feel that RISQS has a role to play in other areas too.

One of these is to stimulate a greater emphasis on continuous improvement in the supply chain.

Traditionally, the UK rail industry has focused on standards and compliance and can be characterised by “transactional” relationships between clients and suppliers.

By this I mean working relationships are carried out as intended through contractual requirements but generally, this can result in neglecting long-term relationships.

It doesn’t apply to everyone of course, and there are examples of strong, longlasting relationships but I want to see more cases where the relationship between clients and suppliers is enduring.

For many years, RIA has operated its “Value Improvement Programme” (VIP) that promotes strong collaboration between clients and suppliers and this

is being revised and then relaunched.

Despite this, I believe more can be done and RIA is working with the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) to consider how continuous improvement can be embedded strongly in the rolling stock maintenance and overhaul market. This could then be extended to other parts of the rail industry.

I believe that RISQS offers what no other scheme can, and yet I still want to enhance our offering even further. Therefore, I want RISQS to be more transparent because it will reduce barriers to entry for new suppliers, meaning the companies that have the correct qualifications, expertise and approach to safety will find it easier to obtain supplier qualification.

Finally, I feel it would be greatly beneficial to re-appraise how RISQS can bring greater benefit for suppliers. In the past, RISQS has focused on purchasing and client organisations and although suppliers have used the scheme, it has been seen as necessary by these companies because of their desire to do business with Network Rail.

What I would particularly like to see is the nature of RISQS change over time so that suppliers no longer see the scheme as a burden and instead view it as something that can provide them a range of benefits.

For example, if RISQS was able to provide feedback to suppliers and enable them to benchmark themselves against companies operating in the same part of the rail market, it would see RISQS become a valuable tool for them, and not just the buyers.” continued page 53 Electrification of Bath’s railway line

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At AJ Services, we uniquely employ all arms of the fabrication process in-house, meaning we are always able to provide a fast and efficient turnaround service to meet the individual requirements of our clients. Our expertise will ensure that we are unrivalled for our commitment to Safety, quality of design and production through to installation.

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Network Rail’s ‘Orange Army’ at the historic Dundas Aqueduct

Revamp of Paddington station will mean better facilities for passengers Over the next 18 months Network Rail will be making significant changes to Paddington station to provide passengers with new and improved facilities and ultimately a better travelling experience.

The Grade 1 listed structure is currently benefitting from a renovation of its roof and an upgrade to its lighting system above the platforms, but now Network Rail is starting a major programme of work to significantly improve the appearance of the station as a whole and provide growing numbers of passengers – 61 million forecast for this year - with a wider range of places to eat, drink and shop.

Details of this work are as follows: ••The area known as ‘The Lawn’ which houses the retail outlets at the back of the main station building is to be renovated to provide passengers with better retail choices and more food and drink outlets.

••Better waiting facilities, including more seating areas, will be installed.

••The glazing on the roof of the station will be replaced with new, clear windows to let in more natural daylight.

••The roof will be cleaned and the pillars, roof and steelwork repainted to improve the station’s appearance.

In addition, First Great Western will be carrying out work to their ticket office to provide 12 ticket counters, install new state-of the-art ticket machines and transform its appearance using a Brunel inspired design.

Natalie Holden, Network Rail’s Senior Commercial Scheme Sponsor for the project, said: “Paddington is one of Britain’s busiest stations and getting busier each year, so it’s only right that passengers have the facilities to make their travelling experience better.

“We’re working closely with English Heritage to preserve the heritage of this iconic building, making sure the changes we make are sensitive to the original structure and take account of its Grade 1 listed status.”

During the 18-month duration of the project, train services will not be affected by the work but passengers will notice

changes to the layout of the station and to some of the retail outlets.

Natalie continued: “Paddington will remain open for business while we work, trains services will continue to run and there will still be places where you can buy food and drink.

“We’d like to thank passengers in advance for bearing with us while we make their station a more pleasant place and provide them with a greater range of facilities.”

While these improvements are carried out, Network Rail will also be continuing its work on the Crossrail programme, to better connect the South East with London and reduce journey times across the capital.

In addition, work will be continuing as part of the Company’s £7.5Bn modernisation programme to electrify the Great Western Main Line in preparation for the arrival of a new fleet of longer, faster, quieter and greener electric trains and to re-signal the route to provide greater reliability and punctuality for passengers.

First Great Western’s Flagship Station Manager at Paddington, Ian Monks, said: “Paddington is an icon of engineering and we welcome this work, which is being conducted as part of the most significant programme of investment on the Great Western network in a generation.

“As well as improvements to many station facilities to better passengers’ experience, the electrification of the Great Western Main Line will also see us provide our passengers with reduced journey times, more frequent trains and more seats - all the things we know that they want to see.”

Britain’s railways now safest in Europe, but regulator highlights priorities for improvement The Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) annual safety report welcomes the rail industry’s strong track record on improving safety and highlights the need for it to meet the challenges of growth and change. ORR is supporting the rail industry to take a more proactive approach to managing safety, predicting and preventing problems

before they pose a safety risk.

ORR’s latest health and safety report combines the findings of its inspectors, who spend the majority of their time out on the rail network a detailed analysis of statistical trends and industry capability.

The report highlights that the trend in harm to passengers is down by a third in the past ten years and Britain’s railways are now regarded as the safest in Europe.

Following a decade of sustained focus on safety management and improvement, 2014 was the eighth consecutive year without any train accident-related passenger fatalities.

It was also the second consecutive year with no passenger train derailments. The rail industry, informed and supported by ORR, has successfully collaborated to reduce the risk of passengers coming to harm when getting on or off a train. However, despite these successes, the latest safety data and evidence from ORR’s inspections show that there is still room for improvement in terms of working more proactively. The industry needs to predict and prevent problems, focus on worker health and integrate safety by design.

ORR’s Director of Railway Safety, Ian Prosser, said: “Great Britain’s railways have a strong track record on improving safety, and after a decade of investment and growth, are now statistically the safest in Europe. While this improvement is to be commended, statistics only tell part of the story, the industry cannot become complacent.

ORR’s inspectors have identified that there is still room for improvement.

“ORR’s evidence highlights the challenges facing the rail industry, in particular, the need to manage growth safely. Our safety inspectors report a mixed picture, with improvements at level crossings, on platform safety and asset management.

However, inspectors are also seeing scope for improvement in safety risk assessments and worker health and safety.

“The regulator is working with the rail industry to help it take a more proactive approach, recognising and managing safety issues before passengers or rail workers come to harm.”

In order to improve its health and safety management, the regulator wants to see the rail industry: ••Be more proactive, predicting and preventing problems. ORR’s independent continued page 54

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safety assessments have highlighted inconsistencies in safety management across the rail industry. ORR has found evidence of excellence and best practice in places, with improvements in safety at level crossings, and the industry collaborating to reduce harm to passengers when getting on-or-off the train. However, ORR inspectors have also had to step in where serious issues have been found, such as insufficient safety risk assessment, lack of planning for maintenance activities, poor management of electrical working, lifting operations and working at height.

Network Rail’s slow start undertaking maintenance and renewals work against its plans, if not prioritised and managed carefully, has the potential to increase infrastructure safety risks. ORR has challenged Network Rail to identify and take steps to address this and will monitor and take enforcement as necessary.

••Integrate safety by design. The industry must take advantage of opportunities provided by its current multi-billion pound investment programme, to ‘design out’ or reduce safety risks when renewing or building new infrastructure, rolling stock and equipment.

••Ensure worker health is considered as important as worker safety. ORR’s report and analysis shows that there has been a significant improvement in the rail industry’s management of worker health, however there is still more to do. ORR is pushing the rail industry to improve its management of worker health risks, to make better use of data to drive change and take action on key health risks, such as hand arm vibration, musculoskeletal disorders, mental health and exposure to asbestos, silica and diesel fumes.

It’s electrifying!

Investment in UK rail will see cleaner, greener and faster transport The UK Government has committed itself to a programme of electrification, which will transform the railway network across the country, providing a sustainable, world-class transport system.

Electrifying key routes on the railway will mean faster, greener, quieter and more reliable journeys for thousands of passengers, while economic growth will be supported across the country. The busiest routes will benefit from improved reliability and more seats on trains.

Electric trains have more seats than diesel trains of the same length, and journey times can be shortened due to the superior performance of electric traction. Journeys are smoother and more comfortable too.

Electric trains also boast 20-35% lower carbon emissions than diesels with no emissions at the point of use, improving air quality in pollution hot spots such as city centres and stations. The trains are more reliable and require less maintenance, and being lighter they cause less wear to the

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track, helping make the railway more reliable.

Electrification of lines is currently underway on the Great Western route and across the North of England between Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Blackpool and Leeds, completing the electrified route between Manchester and Scotland.

Great Western

Network Rail is currently electrifying one of the oldest and busiest railways, bringing better connections across southern England and South Wales. The Intercity Express programme will transform travel with a new fleet of faster, longer trains and more frequent intercity services.

This is the biggest investment in the Great Western railway since Brunel built it more than 150 years ago.

Work has recently completed on the electrification works around Bath, with 10km of track lowered and replaced in the surrounding area in preparation for the new fleet. As part of the £50M project, the team also installed 11 new switches and crossings. The next stage of the electrification programme involves installing the overhead line equipment.

Spread over five separate sites, the preparation work in Bath was the largest project Network Rail has carried out to date and the biggest on the Western route for 40 years, culminating in the line re-opening to passengers, on time, on 1st September.

Time-lapse footage of the works is available, showing the scale of the project and the level of work involved across the various sites, including the iconic Box Tunnel and the picturesque Sydney Gardens.

The North

A fully electrified route between Preston and Blackpool will connect the area to the West Coast main line, the key rail artery linking the North West with London and Scotland.

Work started on the Manchester to Preston route earlier this year and contractors are currently working on the Farnworth tunnel in order to make room for over head line equipment. The reconstruction of Farnworth tunnel is an important stepping stone to an electrified railway. The existing tunnels are too small for the overhead lines, so we need to make one of them bigger.

It’s a complex engineering project, the tunnel, which is almost 300m long, needs to be refilled and then re-bore it using purpose built equipment.

Britain’s largest boring machine is on site, working in exceptionally poor ground conditions with unforeseen running sands. This is slowing the excavation speed and creating voids which need filled before boring can safely continue.

Despite more than 1,500 test holes being drilled to try and predict the ground conditions in the area, engineers have encountered far more sand than was predicted, making the tunnel boring process extremely slow adding weeks to the programme. It has proved impossible to safely excavate while concurrently installing and grouting sections of tunnel wall as was originally planned.

HS2 Bidding process opens Chancellor George Osborne has invited bids for phase one of the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project between London and Birmingham.

Speaking at an event in Chengdu, China on 24th September, the Chancellor encouraged firms to bid on the seven contracts, worth a combined £11.8Bn. A new ‘H2 partnering day’ will be held to allow British and Chinese companies to look into the possibilities of creating joint ventures to bid on the HS2 contracts.

He also invited Chinese investment in the Northern Powerhouse by showcasing £24Bn worth of investment opportunities.

Mr Osborne said: “This government is committed to rebalancing our economy and building a Northern Powerhouse, and improving transport links and launching HS2 is key to supporting long-term economic growth across the North and Midlands.

“That’s why I’m here in China today opening the bidding process for construction contracts worth £11.8Bn, which will propel HS2 forward.

“We are truly entering a golden era of cooperation between our two countries, and it’s crucial that businesses and communities from across the UK feel the full benefit of forging closer economic links with China.”

Duncan Green, managing partner at Pick Everard, welcomed the announcement, but he also issued a note of caution on how the tender process should be handled. He said: “Having worked with HS2 Ltd for some time we are fully conversant with the significant benefits the scheme can offer to the country’s economy and today’s announcement is great news.

“However the tender process must be open and transparent to ensure UK firms are given every chance to compete, and in particular the process must be run efficiently to avoid the delays we have seen on other major procurement exercises.”

Construction of phase one between London and Birmingham is due to begin in 2017 and will see journey times reduced from 81 minutes to just 49 minutes.

OFFICE IN A BOX: A ONE-STOP SOLUTION FOR YOUR REMOTE BROADBAND ISSUES In a world where communication via the internet and email is so quick, easy and universally used, broadband has become something we take for granted - but we all know how frustrating it can be when it goes down, particularly when your business relies on it.

For those working in the construction industry, it’s no different but working on building sites where the infrastructure is yet to be put in place, the obstacles they face are much larger. That’s where Office In A Box comes in.

Countrywide Telecoms founder and ex-soldier PJ Farr, from Guildford, Surrey, has come up with the ingenious solution of creating a mobile box, which provides instant broadband wherever installed, creatively combining and utilising the powers of 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi technologies.

This remote broadband ensures business can operate from the moment construction starts to the point when the cables are in place for broadband to be permanently installed. The practicality of this product also ensures that when its services are no longer Office In A Box can simply be picked up and moved to another location.

PJ, who served in the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment for 4.5 years, now employs a number of ex-military personnel, and has achieved contracts with some of the country’s top housebuilders including Linden Homes, Barratt Homes and Bellway.

The 26-year-old said: “My experiences as a rifleman in the British Army are what led me to develop Office In A Box. We would often be posted to remote locations and, in an age where the internet is so fundamental to day-to-day life, it got me thinking about how businesses survive in areas where broadband is not available.”

Office In A Box: A one-stop solution for your remote broadband issues/2 The value of Office In A Box is of course not limited to construction sites. In a fast-moving world fuelled by the power of the internet, anywhere that communications go down a long line of problems ensues. It therefore provides the essential backup businesses and homeowners need when these problems occur.

With no wires and no mess the Office In A Box is a neat, reliable and invaluable resource, which helps deliver essential communication in rural, hard-to-reach areas, and provides a failsafe backup should established communications go down.

The Office In A Box was highly commended at the 2015 Housebuilder Product Awards.

For more information about Countrywide Telecom Communications, telephone 01483 663366 or visit www.countrywidetelecoms.co.uk

CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS

INTERVIEW WITH COUNTRYWIDE TELECOMS FOUNDER PJ FARR Describe your business in no more than a dozen words?

Independent communications provider of IT/broadband solutions primarily to the construction industry.

‘When we first heard about Office in a Box a year ago, we thought it was too good to be true – we could never get IT systems installed at our developments in time for launch. We decided to give it a try and commissioned Countrywide Telecoms to install broadband in the marketing suite at our flagship site Swallowhurst in Cranleigh. It was simple and instant, and since then we’ve never looked back. Countrywide Telecoms now provides a start-up service and ongoing support for all Linden Homes Guildford sites.’

Natalie Flint, Sales & Marketing Director, Linden Homes Guildford ‘Our Milford Grange site, in Storrington, is in a rural location and we were having real difficulties in getting phone lines and broadband installed. After a long delay, a major telecoms company told us that we’d have to wait at least another three months, so it wouldn’t be ready in time for the launch. Countrywide Telecoms set up communications in the marketing suite in less than 48 hours. I can’t rate the company highly enough.’

Lynnette St Quintin, Sales, Marketing and Customer Services Director, Barratt Southern Counties

Why did you decide to start working in your sector?

While I was in the British Army, I was often posted to remote locations and, in an age where the internet is so fundamental to day-to-day life, it got me thinking about how businesses survive in areas where broadband is not available. When I left the army, I developed Office in a Box, it provides super-fast broadband to 90% of the UK in under 10 days – it’s tailor made for the construction industry who usually start on site with no facilities in place. Now they can have an office set up virtually immediately – essential for ordering supplies and liaising with all their agents, suppliers, architects, planners etc.

What has been your greatest challenge?

Managing growth has been the biggest challenge – demand for the product has really grown momentum!

Tell us about your project to help members of the armed forces set up in business.

After being made Business Ambassador for Guildford, I decided that I would like to help other ex-forces personnel, who were in the same boat as me. I now visit large business to explain the benefits of employing ex-forces personnel.

To date, what has been your greatest success?

Apart from actually getting our business off the ground it’s been winning the contracts with some of the biggest housebuilders in the UK such as Barratt and Linden Homes as well as some of the smaller developers such as Burton Homes.

What key skills do you have that have been key to your success so far?

Determination and the ability to pick yourself up when you’re having a bad day. I have also found that we have broken the mould when dealing with customers. We don't believe in B2B but ‘human to human’ (H2H) personal contact and we follow a strict set of core values that were imprinted on me when I was in the Army.

Courage Discipline Respect Integrity Loyalty Selfless commitment Countrywide Telecoms founder, PJ Farr What motivates you?

Growing the business and showing people that with the right mind-set, you can take your business as far as you want.

What do you do to relax?

Ha Ha this is a hard one to answer I don't think any business owner can truly relax but I enjoy going to the gym and riding my

Countrywide Telecoms Export House, Woking Surrey GU21 6QX

01483 663366

www.countrywidetelecoms.co.uk

sales@countrywidetelecoms.co.uk

UKC CIVIL

NEC3 contracts a ‘bedrock of success’ on Europe’s largest construction project - Crossrail With an estimated total cost of £14.5Bn and a peak workforce of 14,000 people, the historic Crossrail project is not only firmly established as Europe’s largest construction project, but also as the biggest ever to be procured using NEC3 suite of contracts.

The new 118km high frequency, high capacity railway for London and the South East is, of course, a flagship of the Government’s ‘Achieving excellence in construction’ principles. Therefore, it was imperative that Crossrail’s approach to procurement and the massive number of associated contracts involved on the nine year-long scheme was as fair and robust as possible.

Now in its seventh year, more than 10,000 people are working simultaneously across over 40 construction sites. Given the sheer scale of contracts procured, a full range of NEC3 contracts has been the bedrock of this world class and technically complex scheme.

The use of NEC3, specifically designed to stimulate good management of the relationship between parties to a contract, was a major element in enabling this ongoing success.

To date, Crossrail has awarded direct tier

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1 contracts with a value of more than £7.5Bn, which in turn are contributing to the creation of at least 75,000 business opportunities covering the project’s direct contractors and their supply chains.

These figures include NEC3 Professional Service Contracts (PSC), tunnelling contracts under the NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract option C (target contract with activity schedule) and major framework contracts.

The first Crossrail services through central London will start in late 2018. As the scheme comes towards its later stages, Steve Rowsell, Crossrail’s former Head of Procurement and now Chairman of the NEC Users’ Group, discusses the importance of NEC’s versatility across a wide variety of commercial situations, works and locations, as well as its straightforward language and structure.

He comments: “Crossrail’s approach to procurement is aligned with the UK government’s achieving excellence in construction principles, including a fair allocation of risk and reward, early involvement of the supply chain, minimising of interface risks, incentivising performance and selection of suppliers on the basis of best value.

“The NEC3 Suite was the ideal choice for us because it supports the desired culture and way of working, provides robust contract management processes, achieves a fair and sensible allocation of risk and can be used for all project requirements to give consistency in approach.”

Again, consistency across the board is a key consideration in a project of this scale, and the significant benefits associated with using an integrated suite of contracts have not gone unnoticed, and the importance of having a common language and common terms across such a sizable and critical programme has been paramount.

The use of standard and easy to understand contracts is at the heart of the scheme, allowing the project team to concentrate on literally breaking new ground. The pioneering technical challenges on the scheme have included, for example, eight giant tunnel boring machines that burrowed and weaved their way between existing underground lines, sewers, utilities and building foundations at depths of up to 40 metres, to create the 42km of tunnels required to deliver the new railway.

Rekha Thawrani, General Manager for NEC, believes the contract suite’s stimulation of good project management

has been a key component in this world-class project’s success so far.

Thawrani comments: “Crossrail is among the most significant infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the UK and it’s been fantastic to see the successful implementation of NEC3 on this scale.

“The Crossrail team has taken meticulous care with the setting up and administration of a huge volume of contracts, and is setting a fantastic example to the wider industry. Adopting the contracts in their purest form has delivered significant benefits in terms of keeping to the construction programme and minimising disputes.”

Three years of tunnelling came to an end in May 2015, and the focus of the construction programme is now shifting

towards the major task of fitting out the empty tunnels, stations, shafts and portals with the infrastructure, power and technology required to create a fully operational railway.

Over the coming few years, new specialist teams will work with a new set of machines to lay 42km of tracks.

Railway infrastructure such as platform screen doors, ventilation fans, cables, walkways, power, signalling and communication systems will be designed and installed. At the same time, 30 station improvements, 12 above-station developments, and urban realm improvements across the entire route will be delivered.

David Morrice, Delivery Contracts Director at Crossrail adds: “We’ve

invested a significant amount of time and money in training and education with regard to NEC3, which has facilitated a good understanding of cost allocations and contract administration at all levels of the supply chain.”

“Time assessment is a hugely important driving factor for us, given the damages associated with getting behind schedule.

“The prospective approach of the NEC3 works well from a commercial perspective, as it allows us to identify and agree upon critical activities and delays as we continue to move forward.”

For further information about the NEC suite of contracts visit www.neccontract.com.

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UKC PROFILE

Future54

Founded in 2013, Future54 is an independent project and cost management consultancy. It has quickly established itself as a market leader with a prestigious portfolio of projects.

UK Construction Journal spoke with Adrian Trent, Managing Director of Future54, about his ideals and aspirations for the Consultancy, and the reasoning behind the company’s swift success.

Could you first of all provide our readers with an introduction to Future54?

What would you describe as being the fundamentals of the Organisation?

Future54 is an independent project and cost management consultancy. My ambition is to provide a first class service to the industry, specifically for the residential, hotel and commercial office sectors.

Our core values of adaptability, teamwork, confidence, perseverance, passion and trust give me focus for the type of team that I want to build. It’s how I select talent and when they come in for an interview I need them to respond to those core values to bring the very best quality of service to the client.

Whilst providing that service I’m also very conscious that clients are price sensitive.

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Being a young firm where all the directors, including myself, are fee earners, we have low overheads and high productivity.

Future54 is comprised of a diverse and knowledgeable core workforce, many of whom have worked abroad.

How has this international experience informed the development of the Business?

Our professional experience is absolutely key and, when recruiting, we actually look for little idiosyncrasies – moments where people have gone off track to try exciting new things. We think that’s essential because it makes you adaptable and a more curious person.

Personally, I’ve had a really interesting career. I left the UK a building surveyor, learnt how to build offices in Australia

and came back a fully-fledged project manager. I avoided the large firms because I wanted to get deeper into construction, and worked directly for a developer. This gave me practical construction experience which, when coupled with the formal learning of project management, equipped me with the knowledge to deliver major projects and grow a really effective team.

One of my main goals is growing the team and being a strong leader. In my opinion you can only lead a team effectively if they believe in you and the company’s goals. I think one of the great teachings of RICS is learning what your boundaries are – you get as much mutual respect for that as you do for giving the right answer.

For me in particular – yes, I’m loving the major projects and I’m also enjoying growing the team. At the moment I’m nurturing what I would consider the next level within the firm, which will be the most valuable level within Future54. I

now have seven people behind me and they are all effectively being groomed for major management positions. They will all have their own teams ideally within the next three to five years.

Though relatively young, Future54 has already accomplished a great deal.

What would you attribute this early success to?

You need to feather your nest well.

I’m here today because I was planning three to four years ago, if not more. I nurture relationships, both on a client and a professional level. This is definitely key – I believe those relationships are part of a successful business. You have to identify the people that you can grow with, as an individual and a company.

The firm has lent its expertise to a number of prestigious mixed-use projects including the Minories and Queensbridge House developments. What is Future54’s involvement and how do these schemes demonstrate the Company’s capabilities?

We have some excellent developer clients and we provide them with a range of services including cost management,

development management, project management and employer’s agent services. Strategically we have a great service offering to the industry, especially mixed-use developments. In addition we’re extremely agile which ensures that we are able to provide all the services required for large high profile projects.

We’re extremely well placed with a strong team of experienced, dedicated and passionate professionals. As Directors we are on the ground working with our team and clients, and we know exactly what is going on with each of our projects. We mentor and guide all cost and project managers, we have a professional development scheme and our internal development programme has been put in place this summer.

hotel sector, however there is much more market share to be had from the commercial office and residential sectors.

Our initial aim is to focus on growing in the UK first. I want to get a critical mass where we have a comfortable market share with some significant repeat clients.

Ultimately, the quality of our clients signifies our current status. We’re excited to be building Hilton’s first Canopy Hotel and also the first Starwood Westin Hotel in the UK. These, along with all of our clients and projects, are huge accolades that are incredibly important to the team and encourage our future growth.

For more information about the Consultancy please visit the Future54 website.

How do you see the Business continuing to develop in the future? Would you consider schemes overseas for instance?

I have ambitious plans and we would like to take more market share, especially in the commercial office sector within the UK. We have identified it as an area for growth – we have two major projects at the moment and are looking to increase our portfolio in this area.

We are about to be appointed on a mixed-use scheme which includes over 1,000 residential units, a school and a marina. We’re already strong in the

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UKC COMMENT

Patent Protection for Innovative Products Paul Misselbrook, partner at leading IP firm, Appleyard Lees gives an overview of the importance of patents in the construction industry The construction industry is one of the leading sectors when it comes to creating innovative new products. But how can you ensure that competitors donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take your idea and pass it off as their own? Protecting your intellectual property is vital and the benefits for companies are vast.

To put it into perspective, here is an example where Appleyard Lees assist a manufacturer keen to maximise their investment in the development of a cladding panel. The improved cladding panel included changes to the geometrical shape of the product, which allows the cladding to be installed easier and more efficiently. As the improved geometrical shape could be easily copied, the client was vulnerable to competitors copying the improvement.

A patent was filed, prosecuted and granted giving the manufacture the right to prevent competitors from selling or marketing infringing panels. The manufacturer can now actively seek to enforce those rights to restrict entry of similar products to the market.

The story started in the summer of 2010, when the UK Manufacturer was looking to protect a new and innovative cladding panel. Cladding panels were known in the construction industry, but were complicated and utilised clips or restraint brackets. During product development, a new innovative cladding panel was designed that could be installed without the use of the clips or brackets. The improved design involved changes to the geometrical shape of the panels to allow interlocking. Consequently, as soon as the product was released, competitors would be able to see and understand the improvement,

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following which there would be few technical difficulties in implementing the improvements themselves.

Whilst a design registration can protect the shape of the product, because in this case the shape led to an improved technical effect, a patent application gave the best possible protection to the client.

Once granted, a patent registration would prevent competitors from copying the way the improved cladding panel works irrespective of the other design features.

The UK patent office then conducted a search and examination of the new application. It is their job to prevent applications covering known products or obvious developments of existing products from being granted. The patent office used patents published before the application was filed to argue that the protection being sought by the new application covered too much.

In consultation with the client and using their expertise and knowledge of the cladding industry, counter arguments and amendments to change the scope of protection were filed.

Although grant of the patent signals the end of the patent application process, one way the patent investment can be recovered is to use the patent to prevent competitors from copying the improvements and forcing them to compete using the old technology. Often this can be achieved by reminding the competitor that patent infringement risks court injunctions against them, delivery up or destruction of infringing stock, and damages or an account of the infringerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s profits in selling the infringing products. However, it may come to the point where court proceedings are necessary. In any event,

the patent registration will continue to cause the competitor uncertainty allowing the new and innovative cladding longer in the spotlight.

In this case an easy to implement change in design of the construction product was protected from being copied through the patent process allowing the manufacturer to prevent me-to products from entering the market.

For more information on patents, design or brand protection, please contact Paul Misselbrook.

Visit www.appleyardlees. com for further details.

Paul Misselbrook

www.educationestates.com @eduestates #educationestates

Callsafe Services Ltd

CALLSAFE SERVICES LIMITED OVER 25 YEARS PROVIDING EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT HEALTH AND SAFETY ADVICE AND TRAINING TO THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND OTHERS David Carr PgD, FIIRSM, DipSM, RFaPS, Managing Director Callsafe Services Limited. Yardley House, 11 Horsefair, Rugeley, Staffordshire. WS15 2EJ Email: enquiries@callsafe-services.co.uk Web: www.callsafe-services.co.uk