Articles by Date : May 03 2004 - May 09 2004

Irish relief from Aggies tax extended
Economic secretary to the Treasury John Healey has confirmed that the scope and duration of the Aggregates Levy relief scheme in Northern Ireland has.... more
(07 May 2004 14:54)

Construction Act review group unveils timetable
The full timetable for the review group of the Construction Act has been unveiled today (Friday) following its first meeting since its formation.... more
(07 May 2004 11:57)

Babcock secures 42% of Peterhouse
An offer update issued by Babcock on the Stock Exchange this morning reports that 42% of Peterhouse's shareholders have indicated their acceptance of.... more
(07 May 2004 11:09)

Alfred McAlpine drops appeal
Alfred McAlpine has agreed to withdraw its appeal against the High Court judgement that it could not drop the 'Alfred' from its name. more
(07 May 2004 11:01)

Marshalls headhunts for a new chairman
Marshalls, the specialist landscape and clay products group, has appointed headhunters to find a replacement for Christopher Burnett, the current.... more
(07 May 2004 10:37)

Skanska tops CJ PFI league table again
Skanska has again topped the league table compiled by CJ to establish the contractors that have won the most construction business through PFI. more
(06 May 2004 16:53)

New orders improved in March
New construction orders grew 18% in March to £3.2bn compared with £2.7bn in the same month a year ago. In the first quarter orders grew 8% to £10bn.... more
(06 May 2004 15:47)

Working Time Directive brings logistics to fore
The construction industry is going to have to work smarter once the Working Time Directive (WTD) for the road transport industry comes into force on.... more
(06 May 2004 15:15)

Solicitor offers hope to ousted Ballast staff
Solicitor Stephen Jackson has offered to work on a no win/no fee basis for all 500 former Ballast employees who were made redundant six months ago. more
(06 May 2004 14:11)

CECA attacks HA
The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) has blasted the Highways Agency (HA) for a lack of honesty, transparency, consistency and.... more
(06 May 2004 11:25)

Histon creditors will get 30p in the pound
Creditors of Histon Concrete Products can expect to see between 30p and 40p in the pound, according to Paul Finnity of Kroll, the administrator.... more
(06 May 2004 08:47)

Court rules rolled-up pay legal in England
The High Court in London has ratified an earlier English employment appeal court ruling that, under specific conditions, it is permissible within the.... more
(06 May 2004 08:06)

Komatsu UK celebrates record machine sales in March
Birtley-based Komatsu UK has announced a record 399 machines sold during March, an increase of 26% on last year’s best performance. more
(05 May 2004 17:04)

Holyrood construction timetable unachievable
The construction timetable for the £420m Holyrood project "had never been achievable", according to the lead architect for the project. more
(05 May 2004 16:59)

Highway work - Plymouth City Council
Written applications are invited from suitably qualified and experienced contractors, with a proven history of highway reconstruction/resurfacing,.... more
(05 May 2004 16:54)

Drain clearance and related works - Bristol City Council
Applications are invited from established contractors, with at least two years' trading experience, interested in being considered for the following.... more
(05 May 2004 16:52)

Handrails and balustrade work - Durham County Council
Expressions of interest are invited from experienced contractors for the following works. The modification and/or the renewal of balustrades and.... more
(05 May 2004 16:50)

Regeneration of Middlewood Locks - George Wimpey Manchester
George Wimpey Manchester are now commencing the procurement for the first phase of a 3 phase residential development in the exciting regeneration.... more
(05 May 2004 16:47)

New build swimming pool - Oxford City Council
Oxford City Council, in conjunction with Sport England, are to construct a new leisure facility in Oxford comprising a 4 lane pool, changing village,.... more
(05 May 2004 16:45)

Building services maintenance contracts - Trafford Borough Council.
Applications are invited from suitably qualified contractors who are interested in tendering for Building Services Maintenance Contracts managed by.... more
(05 May 2004 16:44)

Site investigation - Sefton Council
Sefton MBC invites expressions of interest from suitably qualified and experienced contractors/consultants who wish to be considered for inclusion on.... more
(05 May 2004 16:41)

Mouchel purchase pays off in orders
Mouchel's acquisition of Parkman has resulted in merger costs of £6.4m. But the enlarged consultancy group has a record forward orderbook of £850m.... more
(05 May 2004 16:33)

Settlement agreements
In July last year, I reported the case of Hurst Stores & Interiors -v- ML Europe Property, which concerned whether a purported settlement agreement.... more
(05 May 2004 16:32)

Metso adds mobile crusher
Metso Minerals has extended its contractor range of mobile crushing plant with the launch of the Nordberg LT1110S. more
(05 May 2004 16:32)

Curiosity kills the CAT
We all want some certainty in our lives, especially when we are spending large sums of money for goods and services. The more money we plan to spend,.... more
(05 May 2004 16:31)

McCarthy & Stone makes high margin
Mouth-watering returns continue to flow from McCarthy & Stone, the UK's biggest player in the specialist retirement homes sector. more
(05 May 2004 16:30)

HSE calls for firms to test vibrations
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is tendering for companies to undertake a series of real-life, on-site vibration measurements replicating typical.... more
(05 May 2004 16:27)

Rexquote on track with Case CX135
Road-rail specialist Rexquote has launched its new Case CX135 Crawlerailer machine. The company said this is the first time it has used a Case.... more
(05 May 2004 16:26)

EU workers a short-term fix for skills gap
Access to more foreign workers through the expansion of the European Union is not a long-term fix to the UK's skills shortage,.... more
(05 May 2004 16:25)

Collaboration mistakes jeopardise partnering
Partnering as a procurement method is being put at risk by collaborations that are getting their priorities wrong, according to JR Knowles chairman.... more
(05 May 2004 16:23)

Asset stripper that closed Contrad is shut down
The asset-stripping organisation that caused the collapse of Contrad Construction has been shut down following a Department of Trade & Industry (DTI).... more
(05 May 2004 16:22)

ACA dispels precast myth
The Architectural Cladding Association (ACA) wants to dispel the myths surrounding precast concrete cladding. more
(05 May 2004 16:21)

Working at Height regs will reduce UK ladder accidents
As many as 70,000 workers will stop using ladders in the UK and look for alternative means of access as a result of the Working at Height Regulations.... more
(05 May 2004 16:20)

Ordnance cleared at foundry
Unexploded ordnance clearance specialist BACTEC International secured the safety of up to 50 households last week when more than 30 shells were.... more
(05 May 2004 16:19)

Paddington campus faces further cuts in size
The £800m privately financed Paddington Health Campus scheme is embroiled in further controversy this week following revelations that it is facing a.... more
(05 May 2004 16:18)

Amec to build health centres
Amec has taken two deals to design and build healthcare centres totalling £33m in the north and south-east of England. more
(05 May 2004 16:17)

Four shortlisted for £159m DLR extension to Woolwich
Contractors from the UK, France, Germany and the Far East are in the mix for a £159m deal to extend London's Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to.... more
(05 May 2004 16:16)

Willmott Dixon to design and build Leicestershire schools
Willmott Dixon is to design and construct two new schools in Leic-estershire in a deal totalling £18m. more
(05 May 2004 16:15)

John Laing fined £175k for deaths
John Laing Services was fined a total of £175,000 and ordered to pay £40,000 costs last week for the deaths of two men on a south-east London site.... more
(05 May 2004 16:14)

'Untouchables' to police Irish contracts
A team of US-style "Untouch-ables" is planned to police construction contracts in Northern Ireland (NI). The aim is to stamp out racketeering by.... more
(05 May 2004 16:13)

Individual CAT is only criteria for Area 2 prequalification
Individual CAT scores are the only way to prequalify for the Area 2 Enhanced Managing Agent Contractor (EMAC) deal, the Highways Agency (HA) has.... more
(05 May 2004 16:12)

Government must act to save light rail plan
Standardisation, a better understanding of risk and the use of a common procurement route are the only way light rail schemes will survive, according.... more
(05 May 2004 16:11)

Hochtief/Griffiths win road
A joint venture between Hochtief and local contractor Alun Griffiths has beaten four rivals to a £9m local authority road deal in south Wales. more
(05 May 2004 16:10)

Pathfinder PFI school plan is too dear
Greenwich, Lewisham and Southwark councils are under pressure to modify their £245m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) alternative PFI scheme. more
(05 May 2004 16:05)

Firms in BEAR contract will not be able to recoup losses
Babtie, Ennstone and Ringway will not make back all their losses on their BEAR jv by the time the Scottish trunk road contracts expire in 2006. more
(05 May 2004 16:04)

Miller beats rivals to £45m Edinburgh HQ
Miller has beaten three rivals to a £45m deal to build one of Edinburgh's greenest buildings. more
(05 May 2004 16:03)

Bridge fault will hold up Selby bypass
Skanska's £42.6m A63 Selby bypass project will be completed two months later than planned due to the discovery of a fault on the scheme's swing.... more
(05 May 2004 16:02)

HA warns councils not to misuse CAT
Local authorities are turning to the Highways Agency's (HA) Capability Assessment Toolkit (CAT) league table as a ready-made list of competent.... more
(05 May 2004 15:56)

Speke Airport fatality prosecution collapses
The Health & Safety Executive's (HSE) prosecution of a consulting engineer for breaching the CDM Regs collapsed last week, just two and half days in.... more
(05 May 2004 15:55)

Terrapin bags £47m MoD prefab project
Terrapin has won its largest prefabrication contract to date, working with Sir Robert McAlpine in a 50/50 jv to provide offsite construction for the.... more
(05 May 2004 15:54)