News update - August 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.

Contaminated concrete concerns
David Turner, president of the UK’s Institute of Demolition Engineers, said that there is “a serious lack of knowledge of the CDM regulations” at the local authority level and called on the UK’s Environment Agency (EA) and NFDC to resolve issues concerning the disposal of concrete and hazardous wastes.
World Construction Week, 25th July 2007

Energy Performance Certificates ‘go live’ as Home Information Packs come in
Home Information Packs (HIPs) have become mandatory on sales of properties with four or more bedrooms. The HIPs will be completed by the vendor and will provide details of land searches, title
deeds and the property’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). The EPC will assess the building’s energy efficiency and recommend how, if required, to beef it up. It is hoped the move will help cut the impact that homes – which are responsible for around a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions – have on climate change.
AJ Plus, 1st August 2007
See also NBS Shortcut 44 Sustainable Homes Initiative

Flooding guidance
CIRIA is offering free online access to its advice sheets Improving the flood resistance of your home.
Free download report.

Scalding risk from domestic hot water systems
HSE has issued a safety alert to individual homeowners, tenants, landlords and the plumbing industry. This is to raise awareness of a rare but potentially serious scalding risk from domestic hot water systems which include a fixed all-electric or part-electric immersion heater in conjunction with a plastic cold water storage cistern or ‘tank’ located in the roof space. View Safety Alert.

The forecast that’s right up your street
The Met Office are developing detailed town-by-town forecasts that show precisely where extreme rain will fall. By 2011, new computers will allow forecasters to predict the exact path of downpours such as those that flooded Tewkesbury and Gloucester.
The Times, 27th July 2007

Newcastle’s homage to Frank Lloyd Wright goes on sale
The North East’s answer to Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s masterpiece Fallingwater, which claims to be one of the UK’s finest examples of 1970s architecture, has been put up for sale. Called Falling Waters, in a misspelled nod to Wright’s own work, the family home is so named because of its proximity to Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene park and its waterfall. The house was designed by local practice Ronald Chipchase and Partners in 1973 and has been listed on the market for £2 million.
AJ Plus, 31st July 2007

Ceiling on costs halts plan for a full-roof stadium
The Olympic stadium for the 2012 Games will not have a full roof, to avoid busting the £9 billion budget, Tessa Jowell, The Olympics Minister revealed, despite protests about the unpredictable British weather.
The Times, 27th July 2007

St Paul’s, meet Darth Vader cathedral
Lord Foster is to build a futuristic twin for St Paul’s Cathedral, just 600 yards from Sir Christopher Wren’s baroque masterpiece, at an estimated cost of £300m. The practice has won planning permission for an office complex built into a giant dome just 10ft shorter than St Paul’s.
The Times Online, 29th July 2007

Sustainable Development Indicators in your Pocket 2007
These indicators are used to review progress in sustainable development by highlighting areas where there are challenges, and helping people to understand what sustainable development means globally, nationally, locally and for them as individuals. This pocket guide gives the updated indicators for 2007.  View the guide.

Tender prices are continuing to soar
Building prices in Greater London have risen by 8 per cent over the last year and will continue to rise at this rate for another two years. Output in Greater London broke the £10 billion mark rising 18 per cent in cash terms last year, a rate of growth matched only by the North East. Rapid growth across the board – led by a 60 per cent growth in private commercial - means contractors are cherry-picking their projects. Holding the “bargaining power in contract negotiations”, they are increasing risk allowances and negotiating “healthy” margins. Large and complex projects attracted a premium of up to 4 per cent over and above underlying inflation over the last year. Materials cost inflation, although still high, eased off to 2.9 per cent in 2007 after hitting a peak of 10 per cent in 2006. However increased demand for timber in Europe, Middle East and China has led to a 15 per cent leap in prices in 2007, and shows no sign of cooling. And an expected dip in steel prices has not materialised, prices shooting up between 90 and 150 per cent over the past 18 months. Davis Langdon reported a 35 per cent rise in private housing output last year with social housing up by 75 per cent. Infrastructure rose by just 1 per cent (£200 million) in cash terms but has declined in real terms by 30 per cent.
Report by Davis Langdon in QS Week, 6th August 2007

CDM 2007 industry guidance
The CDM 2007 Industry Guidance has been produced by the construction industry for the construction industry, and has a particular focus on small / medium sized businesses. There is specific guidance for principal contractors, CDM co-ordinators, contractors, workers, designers and construction clients. The guidance is free to download from the Construction Skills website.

Partitions in Schools and Floor Finishes in Schools - Part 1 / Part 2
Part of the huge Building Schools for the Future programme of the ex-DfES - now the Department for Children, Schools and Families - are these two guideline documents, geared to clients as well as to designers, covering performance requirements and specifications and giving design examples.
AJ Plus, 26th July 2007

Performance of recycled aggregates in concrete
A new report launched by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) provides detailed technical information on the performance of recycled aggregates in concrete. The research demonstrates that blending 20% recycled aggregate with natural aggregate does not have a negative impact on concrete performance. A total of 125 concrete mixes were cast and tested using a number of different aggregates including natural aggregate, crushed concrete, crushed brick, combinations of brick and crushed concrete, and recycled aggregates sourced from recycling plants in the “as produced” condition. Tests were carried out to determine: cube strength, flexural strength, elastic modulus, drying shrinkage, initial surface absorption, carbonation resistance, chloride ingress, freeze/thaw attack, abrasion, sulphate attack and leaching. The research produced general guidance supporting the wider use of recycled aggregates in concrete as well as grouping aggregate particle composition into three classes of recycled aggregate suitable for different applications.
To view the report visit www.aggregain.org.uk.
AJ Plus, 26th July 2007

Working at height
New guidance has been published by the HSE. View guidance.

Bridge to link Denmark and Germany
Denmark and Germany have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see construction of a new € 4.2 billion bridge linking the two countries across the Baltic Sea. Known as the Fehmarn Belt Link the 20 km long bridge is expected to start construction in 2011, with completion scheduled for 2018.
World Construction Week, 25th July 2007

United Arab Emirates
In a break with their usual temporary installations, the artist Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude have unveiled a plan to build a giant pyramid of oil barrels in the desert of the United Arab Emirates. The idea for the 150-metre (500-foot) monument, roughly two thirds of the height of the Eiffel Tower, with a flat summit, made up of 390,500 oil barrels piled up horizontally, dates back to the 1960s. The so-called Mastaba project takes its name and shape from the rectangular funerary constructions of Ancient Egypt. The exact location for the pyramid, which will be entirely in yellow-orange shades, has yet to be finalised. Models for the Mastaba project can be seen at the Galerie Guy Pieters in this southern French town until September
ArchNewsNow, 25th July 2007