Opinion

George Elliott is an application engineering supervisor in the personal safety division at 3M United Kingdom Exposure to silica dust is a well-known hazard in the construction industry, with long-term effects including silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. An estimated 600,000 workers are exposed to silica in the…

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…

Stephen Chegwin is a principal associate and Emma Humphreys is a partner at law firm Eversheds Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next industrial revolution, with seemingly no limit to its capabilities. For many contractors, AI that radically reforms the workplace may seem a long way off. In some cases, this…

Simon Harris is senior director of operations for recruitment firm Randstad’s construction and property team in the UK Construction employees who suffer work-related stress may sue their employers for disability discrimination – even if they have not been diagnosed with a mental illness by a doctor. That’s what a recent…

Dr Roni Savage is managing director of Jomas Associates SMEs in the UK construction sector have long been the backbone of economic growth, creating jobs, infrastructure and housing. However, these are particularly challenging times, with firms facing the aftermath of Covid, rising costs and increased interest rates. Insolvency rates are…

Bill Barton is the director of Barton Legal Do fixed-price engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts deliver? This question has been the subject of much international debate and discussion for some time, most recently within the International Construction Projects group at the 2023 International Bar Association conference in Paris last…

Paul Reeve is director of corporate social responsibility at the Electrical Contractors' Association Designers and other professionals across the built environment are steadily improving the measurement of embodied carbon in their construction specifications. But now, engineering-services contractors tendering for public sector and commercial work are also being asked about the…

Clive Docwra is managing director of property and construction consultancy McBains On 6 December, the construction and built environment sector will be at the forefront of COP28 when the theme for the day will be ‘Multilevel Action, Urbanisation and Built Environment and Transport’. With the COP28 presidency calling on countries…

Christmas can be a particularly stressful time for specialist contractors. Anecdotal evidence suggests that main contractors’ payments start to dry up – whether by design or not – as the festive season approaches. In the latest episode of CN’s podcast First Site, covering the financial state of the specialist sector,…

Alexis Potter is managing director of CCTV supplier BauWatch UK  As stories about shoplifting hit the front pages and supermarkets rally together to crack down on the issue, my thoughts turn again to the problem of construction theft and what can be done to stop it.  “On large projects, with…