All Comment articles – Page 54
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Comment
Construction and finance: Where's the money?
Construction’s recovery depends on finding finance for major projects and infrastructure. But the banks are risk averse and investors are lacking in long-term vision
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Comment
Monitoring is answer to Stunell's green fears
Monitoring buildings’ energy performance is essential to achieve our low carbon goal – if we fail in reducing emissions it will have serious consequences
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Comment
'Upbeat' Vince sees no sunny uplands for the economy
The mood of the Liberal Democrat conference is matched by Birmingham’s leaden skies
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Comment
PFI: Going private
PFI has had a bad press, but with its combination of risk put on the private sector, predictable cashflow and growing demand, you could be seeing a lot more of it around
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Features
The free schools programme: Fancy free
Rachel Wolf, at 26, is in charge of delivering the government’s free schools programme. In the week the first of these schools open, she tells Sarah Richardson about how construction firms can get involved, and the importance (or not) of good design
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Comment
Providing schools: Creative classes
We don’t have enough places for kids in the schools their parents want. A new approach is needed: adapting other public buildings for education and bringing in private help to show us how
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Comment
Reading the riot act
If your project suffered a loss as a result of the riots this August you may be able to claim compensation under a JCT contract or even from the police through a 125 year old statute
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Comment
The case for skyscrapers: Scaling new heights
The 9/11 attacks made us nervous about erecting tall buildings but actually we need them more than ever - after all, they offer a more sustainable solution than urban sprawl
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Comment
Rocky financial markets: Tread carefully
The turbulence of the financial markets will rock construction when what it most needs is stability - but with sovereign debt crises in Europe and the US, how likely is that?
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Comment
PFI doesn't have to be 'poor value'
PFI is ’poor value’ say MPs but they ignore the benefits such as risk transfer, predictability and maintenance of the public sector estate
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Comment
It's all pants: Unreliable economic indicators
We keep being fed confusing, contradictory, even wrong industry figures - often based on something as haphazard as the sale of underwear. You may as well ask Mystic Meg
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Comment
Beach volleyball stars distract Cameron from quelling riots
Volleyball replaced the mob in central London this week as Olympic organisers shifted tonnes of Surrey sand to Horseguards Parade
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Comment
Infrastructure: A thing of beauty?
Infrastructure can be seen everywhere so it’s a shame it’s often so ugly. Let’s hope for some inspired entries in the energy department’s competition to update the UK’s pylons
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ɫTV
Whatever happened to localism?
The draft National Planning Policy Framework may give the planning system the “teeth” developers have been looking for
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Comment
Wining contracts: Confidence trick
Winning contracts is no longer a matter of being a big company, or even offering the lowest price. What bidders must offer clients is a sense of security
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Comment
QS mergers: Wedding's off
Up-against-it QS firms are hooking up with other companies, looking for global reach and diversification. But now really isn’t the right time to get hitched
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Comment
It is possible to help SMEs and achieve budget cuts
Big contracts and small firms poses a quandary – but there is a model that shows how it can be done
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Comment
Schools PFI: we need to learn from past mistakes
We should welcome Gove’s announcement that upto 300 schools could be built using a model based on PFI, but we also need to be on our guard
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Comment
Procuring a design team: The art of not getting shafted
What’s the best way to choose a design team? Rigid scoring systems need to change if clients are to get the best balance between cost and quality
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Comment
Job losses threaten Green Deal
The industry needs skilled workers In order to meet the targets set out in the Green Deal