The month...

... in pictures

As the UK construction industry settles into the 21st century, the image of the builder as handyman is slowly being replaced by that of professional contractor. In schools, this change is being used to attract teenagers to a career in construction. Law, business and media have always been more popular with young people – but that is starting to change.

The Science Museum in London is also doing its bit to broaden construction’s appreciation – especially for kids. It’s signed up Bob the Builder to explore structures, water flow, patterns and numbers. Admittedly the target audience is 3-5-year-olds and the show sounds like a lot of fun, but it makes you wonder if construction will ever be able shake its ‘handyman’ image. Nevertheless, Bob remains extremely popular with children and their parents.

The interactive show, ‘Build it with Bob live at the Science Museum’ allows kids to help Bob and his team fix and build areas of ‘Sunflower Valley’ in an eco-friendly way.

Says museum head Jon Tucker: ‘It’s a unique experience. Without even realising it children will be learning the basics of the scientific method – observation, testing ideas out, evaluating results, reporting what they have done and putting this knowledge into a practical context.’

Sounds great. And let’s be honest, Peter the Project Manager just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

... in words

Apart from stations, all our programmes are on or ahead of plan. Andrew Lezala, chief executive officer, Metronet

We don’t know what they’re going to do, and we don’t know when it will end. A director of either Kier, Galliford Try or Rok, which are all under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading for bid rigging.

I’ve been very impressed by the response from housebuilders and the construction industry to cutting carbon emissions. Yvette Cooper MP, minister for housing and planning bigging up British industry at Offsite 2007.

... in numbers

2 The number of kilowatts a biomass boiler unit needs to provide heating and hot water for the code level 6 home, the Lighthouse. But for the showcase at Offsite, a 10kW unit was installed because nothing smaller with an automatic feed was available. Page 18.

11 The position the UK construction industry occupies in a European league of efficiency. Only Ireland and Italy had a lower rating. A continued reliance upon traditional building methods across the UK industry was blamed.

75 Percentage of client satisfaction in this year’s Constructing Excellence Key Performance Indicators, down

4% on last year’s figure. Only

51% rated the environmental performance of contractors as good, which is down three points from 2007.

1,700 The number of electricians on site at T5 as the project approaches its completion date. The original programme stated only 300 would be required for the M&E contract currently under way, which suggests the flagship project may not be running as smoothly as has been reported in the past.

11,000 The amount, in pounds, which Olympic tunnelling firm Murphy put behind the bar so that its 100 workers could celebrate the completion of the tunnels which will carry the electricity cables. And yes, they did drink it all.

3.1bn The amount, in pounds, that Canadian firm Brookfield Asset Management is paying for Multiplex, the Australian company that built Wembley. The new management has said its priority is the Australasian marketplace, and that the UK is not an immediate focus.