Buildings

As concern grows over the structural safety of post-war housing blocks, the Building Safety Regulator is prioritising the issue On 16 May 1968, four people died and 17 others were injured after the 22-storey Ronan Point tower block in east London partially collapsed. A gas explosion in an 18th-floor flat…

Which projects are likely to have the biggest impact on the industry in the year ahead? Keith Cooper reports Houses of Parliament Politicians and construction firms alike are standing by for more details on the beleaguered Palace of Westminster restoration. After more than 7,500 hours of surveys being carried out…

10. M&E contractor enters administration In August, former Mears subsidiary Haydon Mechanical & Electrical went into administration. The London-based £66.2m-turnover firm had more than 100 employees but was experiencing cashflow problems and posted a £6.2m pre-tax loss in its final accounts for the 18 months to 31 December 2021. An…

Diarmaid Connolly is project director at construction consultancy Linesight The rise in AI technology and applications like ChatGPT is creating a boom in the digital infrastructure market, but the growing demand for data centres brings with it a heightened strain on supply chains.  Recent volatility in energy and material prices…

Rebecca Hartshorn is the national framework director at John Sisk & Son The UK could easily find itself in a period of tumultuous politics in the near future, but it’s vitally important that public sector projects are able to continue as normally as possible. The potential for a change of…

As the crumbling concrete hits the headlines, CN takes a closer look – and asks, what happens next? Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) crashed into the public consciousness in late August when, days before the school year started, the government ordered more than 100 school buildings to be closed or…

Will new regulations be enough to reduce the fire-safety risk posed by cavities in modular built structures? Ian Weinfass reports More than eight months have passed since fire-service bosses published a five-page document outlining a litany of concerns about modular buildings. Their warning came a year after structural safety-reporting body…

Iain Taylor is an associate in the construction and engineering department at law firm Fladgate Henry Construction Projects’ high-profile collapse has left creditors in its supply chain short of £43m. The company’s administrators have pointed to Ozel Group’s winding-up petition against Henry in May as the beginning of its downfall.…

Mark London is a partner at law firm Devonshires In June 2022, the Building Safety Act (BSA) introduced several new remedies for those who wish to either recover the cost of remediating buildings or to compel a landlord to remediate the building. These new remedies ranged from extending the period…

Cladding contractors have a crucial role to play in remediating potentially unsafe high-rise buildings – but they are beset by a variety of problems impacting their ability to implement solutions. Keith Cooper investigates  The precise financial cost of removing unsafe cladding from residential blocks is still one of the great…