Author Archives: Contributor

Katie Pinder is the emerging talent lead at Mace In all walks of life, a truly inclusive and diverse environment can see immeasurable benefits, such as new perspectives and skillsets. Historically, the construction industry’s workforce has been dominated by men. However, a noticeable shift is occurring in the UK construction…

 Katy Harris is director of preconstruction for property services at Seddon As we stood at the midpoint of 2023, the construction industry celebrated a notable milestone: 15.8 per cent of its workforce were women, a rise from 12.8 per cent pre-pandemic. This progress, though modest, is a beacon of change…

Stuart Green is a professor of construction management at the University of Reading. The large panel system (LPS) has recently been in the news, sparking much nostalgia among those of a certain age. Concerns are growing about the safety of high-rise housing blocks built during the 1950s and 1960s using…

Neil Hargreaves is managing director of Knauf Insulation Northern Europe Change doesn’t happen quickly in construction. Ours is an industry that tends to value the steady march of progress above riskier leaps into the future. But for those responsible for compliance within their respective organisations, 2023 will not have felt…

Paul Young is underwriting manager at Markel The green revolution is with us, and is being touted as a way to be more energy efficient and save money as the cost-of-living crisis impacts the UK. However, the shift to greater energy efficiency for domestic and commercial properties has increased the…

Matthew Baldwin is a project director at McBains, a property and construction consultancy The delayed requirements on construction companies to meet new biodiversity net gain (BNG) rules – where they are required to deliver a net positive for the local environment, for example by creating new habitats and green spaces…

By David Strahan EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been corrected to remove two statements about building testing company BSRIA. The original version stated that insulation firm Saint-Gobain had launched its QUB heat-loss measurement product “through BSRIA”. The article also said that BSRIA was “Saint-Gobain’s delivery agency for QUB in the…

Manus Quigg is a partner and Claire Rice is a senior associate at law firm Brodies A recent Scottish case over a building project in Edinburgh has shone a spotlight on prescription and third-party rights in the context of delivery of collateral warranties. Allenbuild was the design-and-build contractor and the…

  Project-starts and main contract awards fell against last year. More positively, detailed planning approvals grew on the previous quarter and a year ago. Housing overview Totalling £9.643bn, residential work commencing on-site during the three months to January fell 14 per cent against the preceding three months to stand 19…

Weak construction-starts performance continued during the three months to January with main contract awards also performing poorly against 2023 levels but increasing against the preceding three months. Detailed planning approvals increased against the previous year to stand down on the preceding three months. Averaging £5.738bn per month, work commencing on-site…