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Back bites - ...initiative fatigue
00:00 07 Jul 1999
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Cowboy tactics
The Construction Confederation sent in its response to Tony Merricks' report on how to rid the industry of cowboy builders last week. Two points of Confed's response are worth closer attention. One is that member firms would be reluctant to pay more than £250 to £300 to enrol for the Quality Mark Scheme. The other is that the confederation wants the warranty/ guarantee scheme to kick in on contracts worth £1,000 and more - not the £100 proposed by Merricks. Far be it for Back bites to suggest that the confederation is guilty of double standards. But, its members think that £300 is the maximum they should pay. And yet if something goes wrong on a domestic alteration or repair, then some poor individual will have to suffer a hit for up to £1,000.
Hardly Mr Suburbia
Lord Rogers has certainly been hitting the headlines with the publication of his urban task force report: Towards an urban renaissance. When the Government announced Rogers had been appointed to head the task force, many people actually thought it was not a very good idea, as he had never designed a house in his life. During a BBC radio interview coinciding with the launch of the report, Rogers admitted that he would like to design a house, as he had never done so. His practice did the design for the massive Montevetro apartment block on the banks of the Thames. My Lord Rogers of Riverside is said to go through all the designs that emanate from his practice. Perhaps this one slipped through the net?
The green, green...
An amateur gardener can boast the most expensive lawn in Britain after a section of the £1 million pitch from Cardiff's new Millennium Stadium fell off the back of a lorry.
The pitch, which slots together in 7,800 one-metre-square metal pallets, was being taken to storage when several pallets fell off the lorry outside Peter Cavan's house. Armed with a spade and the blessing of police officers at the scene, Cavan gathered up sufficient turf to complete work on his back garden. A spokesman for the Welsh Rugby Union, said: "The grass pallet was spoiled and couldn't have been fitted back in."
The Construction Confederation sent in its response to Tony Merricks' report on how to rid the industry of cowboy builders last week. Two points of Confed's response are worth closer attention. One is that member firms would be reluctant to pay more than £250 to £300 to enrol for the Quality Mark Scheme. The other is that the confederation wants the warranty/ guarantee scheme to kick in on contracts worth £1,000 and more - not the £100 proposed by Merricks. Far be it for Back bites to suggest that the confederation is guilty of double standards. But, its members think that £300 is the maximum they should pay. And yet if something goes wrong on a domestic alteration or repair, then some poor individual will have to suffer a hit for up to £1,000.
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Hardly Mr Suburbia
Lord Rogers has certainly been hitting the headlines with the publication of his urban task force report: Towards an urban renaissance. When the Government announced Rogers had been appointed to head the task force, many people actually thought it was not a very good idea, as he had never designed a house in his life. During a BBC radio interview coinciding with the launch of the report, Rogers admitted that he would like to design a house, as he had never done so. His practice did the design for the massive Montevetro apartment block on the banks of the Thames. My Lord Rogers of Riverside is said to go through all the designs that emanate from his practice. Perhaps this one slipped through the net?
The green, green...
An amateur gardener can boast the most expensive lawn in Britain after a section of the £1 million pitch from Cardiff's new Millennium Stadium fell off the back of a lorry.
The pitch, which slots together in 7,800 one-metre-square metal pallets, was being taken to storage when several pallets fell off the lorry outside Peter Cavan's house. Armed with a spade and the blessing of police officers at the scene, Cavan gathered up sufficient turf to complete work on his back garden. A spokesman for the Welsh Rugby Union, said: "The grass pallet was spoiled and couldn't have been fitted back in."
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