Opinion – Page 346
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CommentCutting bureaucracy: Smash the system!
The spirit of adventure will thrive again, but only if we free it from the soul-crushing bureaucracy of planning rules, building regs, safety protocols and sustainability
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CommentBuilding buys a pint … for Watkins Gray International
Get a predominantly male crowd of people together in a pub, not all of whom know each other, and chances are they’ll end up talking about sport. In this case: motor racing
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CommentRICS and its members: Losing touch
Members from across the whole of the organisation feel the RICS is morphing from an elected body for the members into a quango wannabe
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Your critics miss the point
Tony Bingham’s and Rudi Klein’s (9 October, page 32) articles on the OFT are linked and raise more questions than they answer
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but so does the OFT
Tony Bingham seems to have his finger on the pulse when it comes to explaining cover pricing, which was always a benign process (30 October, page 32)
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Everybody wins
We are, of course, sympathetic to the plight of housebuilders in the current economic climate, but we are deeply concerned by any suggestion that the Lifetime Homes standard should be dropped as part of a review of regulatory “red tape” (30 October, page 19)
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Just a drop in the (rising) ocean
I was pleased to hear Scottish housing and communities minister Alex Neil announce a £15m Scottish home insulation scheme administered by the Energy Saving Trust last week
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Saving the best for last: Wolstenholme report
We’ve had Latham, we’ve had Egan and now we have Wolstenholme. But the most intriguing part of this latest report is what a set of young professionals have to say
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Eco offences: A civil war on pollution
The proposed Environmental Civil Sanctions Order will give regulators powers to impose penalties on construction firms that damage the environment
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How do I... assemble contract documents?
Assembling contract documents correctly is the secret to ensuring a smooth and dispute-free construction process, says John Hughes D’Aeth. And here’s how it’s done
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CommentThe balfour beatty phenomenon
This contractor’s acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoff will be prompting its rivals to ask whether expansion might be a far-sighted strategy in tough times
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Feelings, wo-o-o feelings…
You don’t often see the words ‘engineering’ and ‘emotion’ in the same sentence, but once the connection is made, it can change lives
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Wonders & blunders with Philip Watts
Philip Watts enjoys the feelings of oppression he gets when inside Libeskind’s Jewish Museum. But inside the prison of Sheffield’s Parkhill Estate all he wants is to get out
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CommentHansom: The seat of power
Downing Street is the scene of this week’s tales of the unexpected, as Gordon Brown practises his stand-up routine, Prince Charles is praised for his tact, and a hard-bitten architect gets all gooey-eyed
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The (un)luck of the Irish
If I had chosen this week for a relaxing break in some warmer winter weather in Cannes, I would be severely unimpressed by now.Not only has a large proportion of the town (and the bars and restaurants) been taken over by property types, but last night was the France vs ...
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House building looks set for growth in 2010
The latest Government house building numbers strongly suggest that a shade more than 100,000 homes will be built in England in 2009.This would represent a 40% drop on the peak year of 2007 and make 2009 a record peacetime low.There are hints of hope in the figures with the starts ...
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MAPIC: Europe's big five report a stagnant retail sector
As mentioned in my previous blog, the seminar on retail development in Europe’s big five this afternoon promised news of an “enormous development pipeline”, something I would imagine translating into plenty of opportunities for the construction industry.Well, an enormous pipeline there might be but unfortunately the delegates from the UK, ...
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MAPIC dispatches: Argentina bids to join the BRIC pack
The mood so far at MAPIC is hopeful. Seminar and conferences titles are peppered with mention of “the future”, “looking ahead”, “emerging markets” and “strong pipeline”.It seems that for the retail market, like many others, things are finally starting to look up and while no one is predicting a massive ...
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Are expectations of inflation too low?
Inflation is now on the way up. That was to be expected. As Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, keeps reminding us, we should expect inflation to be very volatile for some while.But, is it me or do the forecasts for inflation reaching a mini-peak at about 3% ...