Opinion 鈥� Page 362
-
Comment
Flaws in Murphys law
I welcome Jim Murphy鈥檚 proposals to create almost 3,000 jobs for young unemployed people across Scotland through the Future Jobs Forum 鈥� including in hard-hit sectors such as construction
-
Comment
Exaggerated defects
John Hughes D鈥橝eth (24 July, page 48) makes some valid claims about the value of latent defects insurance (LDI) but says it is no replacement for collateral warranties
-
Comment
Its a mystery
I was interested to read the letter from James Preston-Hood (July 24, page 29) regarding the plethora of safety assessment schemes
-
Comment
Positive thinking
With regards to the article 鈥淣ew zero-carbon definition cuts cost of home by 拢11k鈥� (24 July, page 13)
-
CommentWoolwich bridge: Crossings out
The Thames Gateway is being stymied by the lack of a bridge downriver of Woolwich. So, asks Nick Raynsford, why does the present mayor of London have no plans to build one?
-
Comment
Wonders & Blunders
Bel Mooney can see the point of contemporary architecture when she looks at Calatrava鈥檚 Milwaukee pavilion 鈥� whereas a Bath hotel just shows up the mistakes of the modern age
-
-
CommentHansom: Sporting life
Some unusual sports are cropping up across the industry, including in-office thought tennis, architectural gymnastics, extreme biking and Olympic-level prevarication. Go team!
-
CommentAnyone for a free lunch?
Do clients want to dump frameworks so they can sit back and watch contractors desperate for work fight it out like dogs?
-
CommentDesigner egotism: Delusions of adequacy
Architects who listen to their 鈥榠nner voice鈥� and not the client produce bad buildings. It鈥檚 the deadly sin of designer egotism, says Robert Adam, and it makes us strangers in our homes
-
Comment
Ignore those saying new construction orders are on the rise
I feel sure there will be someone penning near euphoric words about the 18% rise in orders in the second quarter, which is the opening line of the statistical bulletin released today.Ignore it.The new orders figures bounce about like a drugged kangaroo at a rave party, only it's tougher to ...
-
Comment
ConstructionSkills' three-card trick
Has anybody out in the real world actually spotted the three-card trick that the CITB is pulling on the industry that is taxed by government to pay its staff wages?We all pay a building-industry-only tax. The only two sure things in life are death and taxes, and since in the ...
-
Comment
RICS: Housing market remains fragile, despite recent improvement
The message from the latest update on the housing market from the surveyors' body RICS is that while the market may have found a clearing it is not out of the woods yet.There has been a torrent of better news on the housing market with both the Nationwide and the ...
-
Comment
The blame game
Here we go again. This week has seen a fresh round of HBOS-bashing after Lloyds revealed a 拢13.4bn hit due to bad loans 鈥� 80% of which came from HBOS.Most of that 80% would have been the responsibility/fault of former head of corporate banking Peter Cummings, the man no journalist ...
-
Comment
Supporting innovation in a downturn
Help is at hand for those firms looking to capitalise when market conditions improve. For eco inventors in the East of England, BRE has set up an enterprise hub to offer advice to innovative SMEs on bringing sustainable technologies to market. Meanwhile in Wales British Gas is opening a centre ...
-
Comment
Small steps
鈥淪he鈥檚 so good she should have been a bloke.鈥� That was the comment from the chief executive of one of the industry鈥檚 largest companies after a meeting a super-smart analyst. It was a throwaway remark, but it鈥檚 redolent of the culture that survives in an industry that is still overwhelming ...
-
Comment
CIPS talk of optimism is baffling
The CIPS appeared to be putting a rather positive spin on its July figures for construction activity on the back of a slowdown in the pace of decline and swelling optimism among its respondents.The press release reads: "Optimism about future activity levels in twelve months' time continued to increase in ...
-
Comment
Now is the time to protect the specialist
Much of my time as the owner manager of an architectural mouldings contractor is spent with clients and architects helping them realise their dreams.We are always expected to do this for free. When I first entered the industry in the early eighties we would get fully-designed finishes that required us ...
-
Comment
Why contractors can't help suicidal bidding when the workload turns down
The most concerning issue now facing construction as it dives deeper into recession is that of firms taking on work at less than cost.This is not sustainable business behaviour.More than falling workloads, falling prices defined the chaos that ravaged the industry during the recession of the 1990s.Worryingly, there are the ...
-
