On 15 February 2011, Cotswold Geotechnical (Holdings) Limited became the first company to be convicted of corporate manslaughter under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. Guy Bastable, Partner at BCL Burton Copeland, provides an experts view. The conviction came two and a half years after Alexander Wright, a junior geologist and employee of

Small builders will benefit from a £100 million cash boost to recognise and support their important role in keeping the country building, Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said today. The Housing Growth Partnership will act as a dedicated initiative that will invest alongside smaller builders in new developments, providing money to support their businesses, helping get

Construction output is forecast to increase 5.5% in 2015 according to the latest forecasts from the Construction Products Association; however, growth is expected to slow in the following two years due to the impacts of election uncertainty. Construction output is forecast to increase 5.5% in 2015, which is more than double the rate of growth

An adjudication judge has come down wisely against those who may use the other side’s poor state of financial health as a reason for not paying, says Sarah Shemmings The construction industry generally likes the adjudication process because it provides a relatively quick dispute resolution, even if it is only temporarily binding. But even still

Output in the UK’s construction sector has risen for the first time since May, according to the latest figures, with housebuilding leading the way in September. For the first time in four months, the Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) climbed above the 50.0 no-change value, reaching 52.3 and well above July’s seven-year low

The engineering industry needs to tone down its use of images of men in hard hats if it is to inspire more young people to forge a career in the industry, an organisation that awards MBS scholarships to engineering students is claiming. Sainsburys Management Fellows (SMF) says surveys it has taken among second and third

A total of 15 industry-led projects have received a cash boost in the latest round of funding by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). The mix of successful bids in the Flexible and Structured funding scheme, includes training to kick-start the careers of under-represented groups, a programme to use drones to reduce health and safety

A development in Somerset shows why mixed use is the development pattern of the future. Or so its developer thinks Do housing and commercial buildings work well together? Carl Haley, managing director of Persimmon Homes Severn Valley, certainly thinks so. The building group is heavily involved in the creation of a new enterprise area where

A local authority-controlled company has teamed up with Warwickshire County Council to deliver the UK’s first “Sunesis” school. January saw work start on the UK’s first “Sunesis” school. Sunesis is a joint venture between builder Willmott Dixon and Scape, a Nottingham-based local authority-controlled company that works to drive down building procurement costs for the public

Tim Rook, Chairman of Woodpecker Energy UK, maps out a few reasons why biomass could be the answer to carbon neutral heating and low carbon living. Biomass heating is a no-nonsense answer to carbon neutral heating, and an effective way to provide low-carbon, affordable warmth while complying with building and environmental regulations, so it is

Leading British businesses, engineers and experts will come together in a new national innovation centre in Wales focussed on compound semiconductors, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced today bringing vital investment and jobs to the area. On a visit to Cardiff University ahead of a major speech on the UK and welsh economies, Osborne

With the demand of oil increasing, it’s estimated that the Earth will reach its full capacity for oil consumption at some point within the next 20 years. This is despite the production of oil decreasing, and the construction industry is no exception to this, reports Niftylift. The construction industry relies on the production of crude

The industry has reacted to chancellor George Osborne’s ‘mixed-bag’ budget announcement with criticism that it fails to deliver on housing and energy efficiency. Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said she was concerned that some of the measures announced today are going to make it more difficult for people to keep

Thursday, 12 October 2006 A bronze statue to celebrate the lives of workers killed on building sites has been unveiled in Tower Hill in the City of London. Thursday, 12 October 2006 One of Scotland’s largest waterside development will enter its second phase by creating a new communitynamed Ferry Village. The £245m project will span

The government should set a national target for house-building and build more homes for social rent to help tackle the housing crisis, according to the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH). Speaking today at Housing 2014, the organisation’s annual conference and exhibition in Manchester, chief executive Grainia Long said the government must work with housing professionals

Specialist building services contractors risk falling behind in the sustainability race with new competitors flooding into the market as the opportunities for retrofitting existing homes and offices grow, says David Frise, Head of Sustainability at the Heating and Ventilating Contractors’ Association (HVCA). More commercial landlords are prepared to invest in making their premises energy efficient

At a time when the skills shortage proves to be a big challenge for the industry and young adults are considering the next step in their career, Joanne Holmes asks where are all the girls? The idea that you can’t be ‘feminine’ in the construction industry must be demolished and ‘women in construction’ are not

Fines totalling £18,700 have been handed down after a foreman died when an excavator bucket filled with concrete fell on him at a London construction site. Euro Earthworks Ltd general foreman, Gerry Fox, was crushed by an excavator bucket when it fell from the arm of the 12 tonne excavator being driven by a colleague.

I was invited, as were many other businesses from across the country, to the launch of Lord Heseltine’s proposal for the government to deal with growth in the UK. Many people can criticise for any argument for change. This is my opinion only, but I feel that it is shared by a number fellow business

Just 10 per cent of the construction industry is ready for the Government’s Building Information Modelling (BIM) level 2 mandate, according to the 2016 NBS National BIM Survey. The mandate, which came into force today, requires the implementation of BIM at Level 2 on all centrally-procured public sector projects. More than 1,000 construction professionals took

Hemel Hempstead, 30 July 2014 – BAM has secured preferred bidder status for four Hull and East Riding priority schools. The batch of schools, collectively valued at around £38 million, includes two secondary schools and two primary schools and together will provide learning spaces for 3,230 pupils. The schools are funded via the Education Funding