NEWSBRIEF

ICE ready to merge with IHIE

A merger between the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Institute of Highway Incorporated Engineers (IHIE) could be completed as early as next month. Talks, which began in October 2001, have reached such a stage that they are now ready to be discussed by the councils of both bodies. If both parties agree to the merger in principle, all members will be balloted for a decision. ICE acting chief executive Amar Bhogal said: "The proposed merger of ICE and IHIE offers many potential benefits to the members and staff of both organisations, including enhanced sharing of expertise and resources."

Allenbuild wins CofE secondary school

Allenbuild Turner will emerge as the victor to construct a new Venerable Bede Church of England secondary school in Sunderland (CJ 15 May). The contractor is expecting a letter of intent this week and plans to start the £8.6m contract in mid-June. HBG and Balfour Beatty were both vanquished by Allenbuild in a three-way revised bid play-off to reduce the initial £10.2m cost of the project.

Rosyth daily European ferry link opens

The £11m Rosyth Ferry Link, Scotland's first daily ferry link to continental Europe, opened last week, following Dew Construction's completion of its design & build contract. Dew faced a tough challenge: it had to complete works in 18 weeks rather than the originally scheduled 44 weeks. The contract involved building a new access road to the ferry port, demolition of 10 buildings, the extension of the mooring berth and a two-tier link span bridge connecting the floating pontoon to the land.

Workers can cash in on tax free handout

Site workers are being urged to cash in on a tax free handout from their employers which will be worth up to £260 a year from July. With effect from 1 July, employers will be contributing £5 per week for every £5 contribution that an employee makes to the B&CE stakeholder pension, EasyBuild. The B&CE said employers gain equally because the pension contribution is offset against savings available to them through the whole template benefits package.

ECA recovers £3.5m for its members

The Electrical Contractors' Association (ECA) has recovered £3.5m of bad debts on behalf of its member firms. The debt recovery service is run with Peterborough-based solicitor Greenwoods. "Our members have enough to do with running a business without being distracted by the recovery of bad debts," said Ken Tracy, ECA commercial officer. "The recovery of £3.5m of bad debt is a tremendous achievement in an industry that has a culture of late payment."

Industry has four years to be 'world class'

The construction industry must have a full directly employed workforce within three to four years if it is to be 'world class', according to Strategic Forum chairman Sir John Egan. The target, which could be finalised in the Forum's final Accelerating Change document, was put on the table by Egan in a bid to fight off the threat of bogus self-employment.

GMB to develop 'body mapping' technique

The GMB union is developing a 'body mapping' technique to help safety representatives identify work-related health problems. Nigel Bryson, GMB director of health and environment, said body mapping is a form of participatory research which aims to demystify occupational health. It helps workers identify shared health problems without the need for complex surveys.