News update - June 2007

A brief synopsis of some of the key news items related to technical guidance, construction practice, and new regulations that you might have missed in the press.

UK construction skills 2007-2011
Although all sectors of the industry are expected to see increases in output growth, infrastructure and public housing will be the most buoyant. In 2005, 2.41 million people were employed in construction and that figure is expected to rise to more than 2.8 million by 2011. Over the past seven years, this represents an employment increase of 17.5%. An average of 87,600 new workers will need to be recruited per year, a slightly higher number than estimated over the 2006-2010 period. Government spending on education is forecast to be the single largest investment in UK construction in the next five years, eclipsing even the budget for the Olympic build programme. The first three waves of the Building Schools for the Future programme, which will renew or rebuild every secondary school in the country, are all expected to start by 2011. They will release more than £4.7 billion UK-wide for construction and ICT.  The report is available from the Construction Skills website.

Sustainability Toolkit
CIBSE has launched its Sustainability Toolkit, complete with a searchable online database of good practice guidance. The pack consists of : Introduction to Sustainability; Guide L: Sustainability; and the online Sustainability Engineering database.

Construction payment
Government plans to improve payment practices throughout the construction industry aim to:

• Introduce greater clarity and transparency into the statutory payment framework to enable construction companies to better manage cash flow;
• Encourage parties to resolve disputes by adjudication; and
• Identify how the costs and benefits of the package can be evaluated.

"It is essential for the construction industry that we have in place a system which delivers fair payment practices. The framework set out in the 1996 Construction Act has delivered some improvements but recent industry surveys say that poor payment practices continue to be a key issue for many in the industry. We must change that.

"I believe this package represents good progress in securing a better payment system for the industry," said Margaret Hodge, MP.
New Civil Engineer Plus, 20th June 2007

Earthing and bonding
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has published a new Guidance Note covering earthing and bonding.  Further details are available from the IET website.

“Garden grabbing”
Homes are springing up in back yards as the property boom continues. MPs are fighting for a bill to curtail the practice. Developers buy a house with a generous garden, apply for planning permission to demolish the house and build either flats, or even a mini-estate in its place. The charity Garden Organic says an area the equivalent of 2,755 Wembley pitches will be lost to new housing in Britain over the next decade. This is happening because the law allows gardens to be classified as "brownfield" sites, in the same category as former industrial and commercial property. Councils have targets to meet for new houses and for brownfield building - thus gardens are being lost, the campaigners say. The effect is a rash of flats and new houses replacing gardens in high-price areas.
BBC News, 13 June 2007

Grass roofs
Grass-roofed homes and new parkland will replace crumbling 1960s housing in the latest stage of a £50 million regeneration project in Edinburgh. The traditional tiled roofs will be replaced with turfed ones when hundreds of new homes are built in Hyvots and Moredun. The new estate will also feature a pond where rainwater will collect, creating a miniature nature reserve.
Edinburgh Evening News, 20th June 2007

Heat pump technology
Further to NBS Shortcut 4 on Low and Zero Carbon Energy Sources, a new Heating and Ventilating Contractors' Association (HVCA) publication, TR/30, looks at different applications of heat pump technology. It provides generic installation requirements for a range of renewable energy systems including biomass fuel, solar hot water and combined heat and power.  Further details are available from the HVCA website.

Housing safety guidance on fire and carbon monoxide
Kidde Fyrnetics has just published a guide to the latest responsibilities and requirements for protecting occupants from fire or carbon monoxide poisoning. It highlights conflicts between different requirements and problems of interpretation. In the case of fire safety, while national Building Regulations generally claim to be based on the latest BS Code of Practice, there are major differences in some cases – notably the absence of heat alarms in all kitchens, where most domestic fires start. The Guide focuses on the difficulties faced by inspectors in recognising dangerous faults and hazards excluded from the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) as being the tenant’s responsibility. The new 8-page technical guide is available free of charge via kiddefyr@ukgateway.net.

Ice blocks to cool the Tube
London Underground is planning to use ice thermal storage located beneath the train’s seats to cool the carriages on the Piccadilly Line. Conventional air conditioning cannot be used in Tube tunnels because it would further increase temperatures. The ice store will be charged when the train is on the surface. Once inside the tunnels, the refrigeration plant will be switched off, enabling ice alone to cool the carriage air supply. When the train re-surfaces, the refrigeration units will switch on to re-freeze the store. Trials will take place next year.
Building Services Journal Online, 13 June 2007

PFI
The Financial Times  reports that incoming prime minister Gordon Brown is set to stick with PFI schemes.
Financial Times, 26 June 2007

RIBA backs flood plain innovation
Architects should design temporary homes and houses on stilts for the flood-prone Thames Gateway, a new RIBA report suggests. The government wants to build up to 160,000 homes in the Thames Gateway by 2016, but the threat of flooding appears to be worse than previously thought. The study, Living With Water: Visions of a Flooded Future, advocates a “more flexible and sophisticated approach”.
Building Design, 15 June 2007, p.2

Shopping the bullies
Friends of the Earth (FoE) campaigners have proposed a series of measures to strengthen planning control over supermarket developments and urged the Government not to dilute the current ‘needs test’, which requires justification of any new out-of-town store by demonstrating the requirement for additional retail space. It also suggests a floorspace cap in national planning guidance. To view the report visit: http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/shopping_the_bullies.pdf.

Steel designers win code delay
Designers are set to claim an unlikely victory in the campaign to force a postponement of the full introduction of Eurocodes - European design rules for structural steel to be introduced next year. Intense lobbying by structural designers, steel fabricators and contractors has forced a rethink of plans to replace British Standards by 2010 with complaints that it could lead to safety compromises on safety. Engineers and designers will be allowed to design structures using both the new codes and British Standards during a two year co-existence period in which both codes will be valid. But the Government now seems set to extend the period that national design standards can be used.
Construction News Plus, 21 June 2007

Concern over CDM2007 guidance
Stone and concrete associations have expressed fears that the Construction (Design and Management) 2007 Regulations guidance discriminates against them by placing them on a danger list. CDM 2007 - Designers' guidance, which is produced by the industry and vetted by 10 relevant professional organisations plus the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), lists products and practices, “that should not be specified or result from the design (without good reason)." Last on the list is the "specification of blockwork walls with retarded mortar mixes which may give rise to temporary instability." Both the Quarry Products Association (QPA) and the British Precast Concrete Federation (BPCF) are appealing to the HSE, concerned that their members will be adversely affected by the new guidance. Both argue that retarded mortar mixes will always cause temporary instability (the retarder lengthens curing time), but they say this should not be deemed unsafe as the instability is understood and taken into account during construction.  CDM2007 - Construction work sector guidance for designers is available from the CIRIA website.

Mandatory quality assurance scheme
UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA) has launched a mandatory quality assurance scheme for suppliers to the timber frame industry, called Q-Mark. It will initially cover plasterboard, timber, sheathing materials, engineered wood products and fixings. To apply, companies must provide information on health and safety, insurance and compliance.
Building, 15 June 2007, p.80

UK's first desalination plant
The government's planning inspector has recommended approval of the UK's first desalination plant in East London. Thames Water will now develop the plant on the north bank of the Thames at Beckton that will desalinate up to 140 million litres of brackish water (part saline and part fresh) a day. This scheme had originally been halted by mayor Ken Livingstone on the basis that it would produce too much carbon dioxide emission in its construction.
New Civil Engineer Plus, 18 June 2007

China to build highway to Mount Everest
China is to start building a highway to Mount Everest as part of the preparation for next year's Olympics. The tarmac road will be fitted with guardrails and will run up to the 5,200m base camp, through one of the world's most remote regions.
The Guardian, 21 June 2007

Moscow buildings at risk
According to the report by the campaign partnership of Save Europe and the Moscow Architecture Preservation Society, one thousand historic buildings in the Russian capital, including 200 listed structures, have disappeared in the last five years. The study aims to draw international attention to the widespread destruction of buildings, which are often replaced by crude replicas, and the failure of the city’s authorities to enforce protection laws. The campaigners report identifies the disappearance of several 17th century townhouses and the demolition and rebuilding of the 1930s art deco Hotel Moscow as among the worst examples. To obtain Moscow heritage at crisis point, contact Kevin O'Flynn: email - oflynn@imedia.ru.

Switzerland’s longest land tunnel
Officials have inaugurated the world's longest overland tunnel, a 21-mile-long rail link under the Alps to ease highway traffic jams in the mountainous country. The tunnel, which took eight years to build and cost 4.3 billion Swiss francs, will trim the time trains need to cross between Germany and Italy from 3½ hours to just under two. By running at low elevation, the tunnel will be able to accommodate trains and cargo loads that cannot negotiate the long climb. Passenger trains will start travelling through the tunnel on Dec. 9.
The Independent Online, 18 June 2007