Articles by Date : March 01 2004 - March 07 2004

Housebuilding rise will not solve lack of homes problem
The Barker Review on housing supply, due to be published later this month, provides no solid evidence of an undersupply of new homes in the UK. more
(05 March 2004 16:47)

Applying liquidated damages
Bath & North East Somerset District Council can trace its ownership of the site of the hot springs in Bath to a grant of title by Queen Elizabeth I.... more
(05 March 2004 15:20)

Lantra Awards launches new plant certificate
Lantra Awards, in conjunction with the Construction Industry Training Board and the National Plant Operators Registration Scheme, has launched the.... more
(05 March 2004 15:19)

HM Plant announces £5m HQ plan
HM Plant, the UK distributor of Hitachi Construction Equipment, has announced plans for a new £5m headquarters in Newcastle upon Tyne and the closure.... more
(05 March 2004 15:18)

Coffey Construction acquires first Allu PF
Ahead of its official launch at Bauma, Coffey Construction of County Galway has taken delivery of the UK and Ireland's first Allu PF (pressure.... more
(05 March 2004 15:18)

AGD leader rigs on site
UK piling specialist AGD Equipment has hired out two RG16T telescopic leader rigs with Eurodrill double head drilling systems to Dawson-Wam for its.... more
(05 March 2004 15:17)

Wimpey builds up operating margin...
Wimpey's operating margin of 17% represents a huge upward surge in the housebuilding group's performance. Last year's figure was 14%. more
(05 March 2004 15:17)

Galliford turnround
Galliford Try has got its construction division out of the red. The latest operating margin is 0.8% and the reshaped business is on track to hit its.... more
(05 March 2004 15:16)

BAA challenges aggregates relief
The British Aggregates Association (BAA) has lodged a complaint with the European Commission (EC) against the UK government's proposed scheme for.... more
(05 March 2004 15:15)

FMB agrees 8% rise to lift minimum to £250/week
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has agreed an 8.1% pay rise for operatives employed under its single-union Batjic national deal with the.... more
(05 March 2004 15:14)

Pipeline and Edmundson team up on MoD Project Red Dragon
Pipeline Center, part of Wolseley Centers, has joined forces with Edmundsons Electrical to provide a joint stores operation onsite at Project Red.... more
(05 March 2004 15:13)

Waste disposal costs set to rise
The cost of building and demolition site waste disposal is set to soar in the wake of new EU regulations that are due to come into effect in July. more
(05 March 2004 15:11)

Rydon Homes stops work on Brighton site
Work on Rydon Homes' mixed-use scheme in the centre of Brighton has come to an abrupt halt as the development's viability has come into question. more
(05 March 2004 15:11)

McAleer to build hotel in Nottingham
Northern Ireland contractor McAleer & Rushe has negotiated a £19.5m deal for a mixed development in Nottingham. more
(05 March 2004 15:10)

Wanted: larger-than-life builders
Builders with big personalities are needed for a new BBC fly-on-the-wall TV series. more
(05 March 2004 15:09)

Persimmon profit up by a third
Housebuilder Persimmon's pre-tax profit jumped one third higher to £340m last year. Operating margin roared ahead to 20.3%, almost three percentage.... more
(05 March 2004 15:09)

Gangmaster Bill not for building
A law forcing gangmasters to seek licences and keep employment records on casual labourers will not be extended to cover the construction industry. more
(05 March 2004 15:08)

...and adds £10m to pension scheme
Wimpey has lifted its cash contribution to the group's defined benefit pension scheme by £10m to close a funding deficit. The new figure of £18m will.... more
(05 March 2004 15:08)

Wilson Bowden joins the £1bn turnover club
Housebuilder Wilson Bowden has become a £1bn-a-year player for the first time. Formed just 17 years ago, the latest acquisitions of Henry Boot Homes.... more
(05 March 2004 15:07)

Rising coal prices prompt Castle Cement to search for alternative
Castle Cement has switched to alternative fuels to offset price rises in the cement making process. more
(05 March 2004 15:06)

'Green calculator' for assessments
Contractors will soon have access to computer software dubbed the "green calculator" because it provides cost and environmental assessments of.... more
(05 March 2004 15:05)

Rail renewals deal awarded
Network Rail (NR) has answered contractors' speculation that the track renewals contracts will be substantially delayed (CJ 25 February) by awarding.... more
(05 March 2004 15:05)

CRMS to give Stavostroj STA branding in the UK
CRMS, best known as the country's largest Case dealer, has become the distributor for the Stavostroj range of soil and asphalt compactors in the UK.... more
(05 March 2004 15:04)

NFDC tells minister clients are avoiding CDM responsibilities
Construction minister Nigel Griffiths has been advised that some industry clients are still ignorant of, or even deliberately avoiding, their.... more
(05 March 2004 15:03)

Aggregate Industries increases profit for seventh year
Aggregate Industries (AI) made its seventh successive record pre-tax profit last year as its expansion policy resulted in 10 more bolt-on.... more
(05 March 2004 15:03)

Ringway's honesty puts it at bottom of CAT table
Honesty and a lack of guidance have led Ringway to post a Highways Agency (HA) Capability Assessment Toolkit (CAT) score of just 33. more
(05 March 2004 15:02)

Cleveland Bridge to make 240 redundant
A quarter of Cleveland Bridge's entire workforce of 920 face redundancy as a result of clients "stalling" over a number of future projects. more
(05 March 2004 15:02)

Ramesys and Oracle to offer 60% cheaper ERP
Major contractors can look forward to investing in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software "without having to worry about cost overruns" after.... more
(05 March 2004 15:01)

EA names six to help plan flood defences
The Environment Agency has lined up six consultants under a £30m framework deal to help with flood defence planning. more
(05 March 2004 15:01)

Printing error to blame for Havering delay
Havering council in east London is re-issuing tender documents for a highways term maintenance deal worth up to £28m. more
(05 March 2004 15:00)

Pochin will hit target of £50m turnover this year
Pochin's ambition of doubling its construction division's turnover to £50m during the current year is on target and will be achieved, said a.... more
(05 March 2004 15:00)

Survey shows 40% of contractors lack disaster recovery plans
Contractors' disaster recovery systems are not up to scratch, according to new research. more
(05 March 2004 14:59)

NHS Estates' property to be used for housing
The £400m NHS Estates property portfolio is to be used to develop a national social and low cost housing programme that will be procured using a.... more
(05 March 2004 14:59)

HSE inspectors vote to strike on pay
Construction and railways inspectors at the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) backed their union's call to strike over pay earlier this week. more
(05 March 2004 14:58)

Single drum roller report sent out
The preliminary report on the trials of single drum rollers has been sent to interested parties for comment before being returned to the Highway.... more
(05 March 2004 14:57)

Paddington bosses deny cuts in project
The £800m Paddington Health Campus (PHC) project wheeled out its big guns this week to refute a "misleading report" in The Evening Standard that.... more
(05 March 2004 14:57)

9,000 trainees join industry but fewer than 100 are female
Last year, more than 9,000 new entrants were recruited into industry-approved training schemes - an increase of 10% on the previous year's total and.... more
(05 March 2004 14:56)

Welsh Assembly picks line-up for its £16m highway scheme
Contractors have hit the road for a brace of highway deals in England and Wales totalling £27m-plus. more
(05 March 2004 14:55)

Construction course applications on the rise
Applications for construction cousres are rising significantly, according to the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS). more
(05 March 2004 14:50)

Council builders want more than 4%
Unions representing more than 50,000 construction operatives working for local authorities are calling for an increase of well over 4% in basic rates.... more
(05 March 2004 14:36)

Manchester United ponder upping Old Trafford capacity to 75,000
Manchester United FC is considering expanding Old Trafford by a further 7,500 seats to a 75,000-capacity. more
(05 March 2004 11:27)

Marshalls celebrates record £50m profit
Marshalls, the specialist landscape and clay products group, achieved a record profit of £50m last year. more
(05 March 2004 11:04)

Output increases 11% to £92.6bn
Construction output grew 11% last year to reach a record level of £92.6bn, driven by equally by the new build and repair, maintenance and improvement.... more
(05 March 2004 09:03)

Sir Robert McAlpine fears for future as High Court name battle continues
Sir Robert McAlpine has expressed its fears for the future as the High Court row over it's £1m High Court bid to stop Alfred McAlpine trading simply.... more
(04 March 2004 17:00)

£12m Wigan deal delayed
Contractors hoping to get shortlisted for a £12m road deal in Wigan face a wait of at least six months before they know if they have made it. more
(04 March 2004 16:53)

Steel firm rejects sick building accusation
Richard Lees Steel Decking has hit back at The Concrete Centre's claims that its latest advertising campaign for its new product Resotec admits that.... more
(04 March 2004 16:48)

Thomas Equipment upgrades skid steer loader
Thomas Equipment has upgraded its top-of-the-range Model 255 skid steer loader to improve its productivity and performance. more
(04 March 2004 16:24)

Third man arrested over Tebay fatalities
A 42-year-old man has been arrested today (Thursday) over the deaths of four men killed by a runaway railway trailer in Cumbria last month. more
(04 March 2004 16:05)

Water industry funding levels questioned
Water companies' funding for AMP4 came into question yesterday in a Commons environmental audit committee. more
(04 March 2004 13:25)

Mowlem profits up to £45m despite poor performance of construction division
Mowlem’s pre-tax profit in 2003 climbed to £45m - but this was no thanks to the performance of the group’s construction division where margins.... more
(04 March 2004 13:19)