Modular firm fined £100k after "pointless" death

A Liverpool modular building specialist has been fined £100,000 after a construction worker was killed and another seriously injured when a half-ton steel lifting frame fell from an overhead crane.... Read More

Architects must encourage real progress on green building, not ‘greenwash’

Buildings are the biggest source of emissions and energy consumption in Canada. They play a major role in the environmentally unfriendly trends that project that energy consumption will increase by 37 per cent and greenhouses gases by 36 per cent over the next 20 years in North America alone.... Read More

Homebuilders Association’s New Green Building Program: Blue Skies Ahead?

In a February 20, 2008, article, Engineering News-Record reports that the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is working with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to introduce a new voluntary and flexible green building program that will apply to both new home construction and remodeling projects. According to a home builder in Austin, Texas, "houses will be scored on a point system using a ‘Turbo Tax’ approach after being inspected by third-party verifiers trained by the NAHB Research Center."NAHB plans to publish the new ANSI green-building standard in... Read More

"Free lancing" procurement for campus construction projects may lead to criminal investigation in Maryland

State legislators in Maryland have been grilling Morgan State University officials after an audit brought the university's method of construction spending into question. As reported in the Baltimore Sun and in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the legislative audit revealed that Morgan State, which is not part of the University of Maryland system but receives state funding, "had padded a $4.3-million contract with the Whiting Turner Construction Company with a $3.1-million cushion and now cannot account for part of that money. The audit also found that Whiting Turner had... Read More

Construction bid-rigging timeline

This page provides a timeline of the five-year OFT (Office of Fair Trading) investigation into construction bid-rigging, including links to all key stories during this period.... Read More

Fair Housing Act Accessibility: Examples of Covered Multi-Family Dwellings

As litigation over Fair Housing Act (FHA) design and construction accessibility requirements continues to increase around the country, we are getting more and more questions about what kinds of multi-family housing are, in fact, subject to these requirements.To start with, the accessibility design and construction requirements apply to all buildings built for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, that fall under the definition of "covered multifamily dwellings (CMFDs)". CMFDs are:all dwelling units inside buildings that have one or more elevators if there are at least four dwelling units in... Read More

Bid-rigging: Carillion, Kier, ISG respond to OFT accusations

Some of the biggest names implicated in the OFT bid-rigging investigation into construction have issued their responses.... Read More

Monday LEEDoff: AOL Opens New HQ at 770 Broadway

Last week, AOL officially opened its new corporate headquarters at 770 Broadway, relocating from its former base in Dulles, Virginia. The building, which dates from 1903 and was designed by Daniel Burnham (the Flatiron Building), occupies the entire block between East 8th and 9th Streets and is currently pursuing a LEED for Existing Buildings (”LEED-EB”) rating. AOL’s new space was designed by Mancini Duffy, and it too will seek LEED certification, presumably under the Commercial Interiors system, though specific details on those efforts are unavailable. Landmarked and owned by... Read More

Kent Police to crack down on site thefts

Kent Police is to launch a major crackdown on heavy machinery thefts from building sites.... Read More

Lean & 5S's in Construction #33

Lean Leaders What is a ‘Lean Leader?’ What type of leader is needed to successfully implement Lean? Lou English, a noted Lean consultant, shares his thoughts on this: read more... Read More

Housebuilders in the doghouse with Rachel Hunter

A new market has emerged for housebuilders looking to add value to upmarket properties – the deluxe doghouse.... Read More

gbNYC on Break through Sunday, May 4

It might not be the most opportune of times to be taking a vacation, given the incredible amount of green news that’s been released in and around this Earth Day 2008, but gbNYC will be taking a break from its regular publishing schedule from today, Friday April 25, through Sunday, May 4. Thanks to everyone who has read, contributed, and commented so far during 2008; we promise to deliver more comprehensive content as we continue to cover the green building movement during the rest of the year once we resume. While... Read More

SouthShore Condominiums Transforming Newport Skyline

Rising high above the shoreline of the Ohio River is a new luxury condominium project in Newport, Ky. Called SouthShore, this Capital Investment Group Inc. development is being built on a 2.4-acre site along the south side of Riverboat Row just east of the Interstate 471 "Big Mac" bridge. SouthShore will transform the Newport skyline while offering spectacular views of Cincinnati.... Read More

Bid-rigging: even more OFT investigations spark backlash

An announcement of further investigations and raids on the supermarket sector by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has sparked a backlash against the watchdog.... Read More

Financial turmoil restrains on construction ease

Overall, the collapse of the alternative residential mortgage market is no longer the principal restraint on construction spending. Slowing spending growth in the economy took over that role several months ago.... Read More

U.S. Unsold New Homes Inventory Climbs to 11 Months

In the latest monthly report, for March 2008, from the U.S. Census Bureau, the number-of-months supply of unsold new homes has shot up to 11.0. This compares with a market equilibrium figure of about 4.0. The depth of the collapse in U.S. housing markets has been stunning. At the current sales rate for new single-family housing, everyone could simply go and sit on a beach for almost a year, then start over fresh in eleven months.  − except we’ve all got to try to make a living.... Read More

Persimmon imposes freeze on new sites

Persimmon has announced that it will not be opening any new sites until the mortgage market improves.... Read More

Scottish fuel strike causes site closures

A strike among Scottish fuel workers has forced some construction sites to stop work in the region, it has emerged.... Read More

Change or Die: 10 Keys to a Successful Sales Transformation

If your organization is contemplating an overhaul of your sales function, study up on these 10 principles to help you minimize your risks.... Read More

Planned Construction Spending in Canada in 2008 to be +5.0%

Statistics Canada has recently made available the results from its latest survey of major owners entitled Private and Public Investment in Canada, Intentions 2008. The results reveal much about what is going on in the country and the regional shifts that are occurring. Total current dollar construction investment in Canada in 2008 is expected to be $219 billion. This will be a 5.0% increase from the previous year. The 2007 increase versus 2006 had been a similar +6.0%, but the mix will be quite different this year.... Read More

Construction Takes Another Hit

The value of new construction starts during the first quarter of 2008 was 19% lower than the first quarter of 2007, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, which includes ENR.... Read More

N.Y.C. Buildings Commissioner Resigns After Spate of Accidents

Amid growing pressure and swirling controversy following a recent spate of high-rise construction accidents and fatalities, New York City's buildings commissioner resigned on April 22.... Read More

Equipment Demand May be Slipping

US construction equipment manufacturers continue to be in a “maintenance” market as they have been for about a year. Shipment and orders are varying month by month in a very narrow range. They are averaging high enough to avoid discount pricing but not high enough to permit the margins they realized in the 2005-06 equipment boom.... Read More

HSE probe mystery construction death

Mystery surrounds the death of a 24-year-old lorry driver found dead on a Scottish construction site.... Read More

Heritage skills gap threatens Britain's historic buildings

Millions of old buildings are under threat due to a lack of skilled heritage workers.... Read More

Grand Designs to blame for boring box homes

Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud has blamed his own show for encouraging a boom in building boring “white box” homes.... Read More

Professional Liability Insurance for BIM

In working on an architectural services agreement recently, I struggled with how to address professional liability for the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM). Its anticipated use on the project is by the Architect and its consultants, with potential input from a construction manager. While this use is fairly narrow, it nevertheless seemed to me important that the issue of professional liability for the use of BIM needed to be expressly addressed, so that the Architect could obtain coverage (via a BIM endorsement or otherwise) under its professional liability... Read More

Builders Under Credit Squeeze for Loans to Build Homes

The mortgage credit crunch has spilled over into land acquisition, land development and home construction (AD&C) lending, increasing the challenges faced by builders in the current housing downturn. The NAHB has petitioned Congress for relief.... Read More

Brooklyn Named to List of Top 10 Green Roof Cities

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (”GRHC”) recently released the results of its 2007 Green Roof Survey, which collects data on the size, composition, and location of green roofs in North America. The survey, which GRHC has been conducting annually since 2004, placed Brooklyn at number 4 on the list of the top 10 green roof cities, with 102,908 square feet of green roofs implemented in 2007. Chicago came in first for the fourth year in a row with 517,633 square feet. GRHC points to Chicago’s policies that support the... Read More

BLOG: Billionaire Developer Roski Pushes New L.A. Stadium--Joe Florkowski

Billionaire developer Ed Roski announced at a news conference on Thursday that he will build a stadium to bring professional football back to Los Angeles.... Read More

CanaData’s Latest Housing Starts Forecast: 210,000 Units in 2008

In its latest housing starts forecast package (see accompanying tables), CanaData has revised its 2008 total Canada figure up from 200,000 units to 210,000 units. This may still prove to be conservative. Housing starts through the first quarter of this year have averaged 246,000 units (seasonally adjusted at an annual rate), which is +9.0 versus the same period last year. But there are signs of weakening. Tables record Cana Data’s latest housing starts forecasts for Canada, the provinces and six major cities.... Read More

24th Annual CONEX Show

More than 4,500 contractors, sub-contractors, public works officials, landscapers, and more attended the 24th annual CONEX show on February 6 and 7. This is the third year the event was housed in the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Conn. — a convenient location for the area's largest construction show.... Read More

2008 Missouri/Kansas ACPA Award Winners

The Missouri/Kansas Chapter of the ACPA honored exceptional concrete pavement professionals at the 28th Annual Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Conference & Annual Back to Basics Seminar on February 26 – 28, 2008, in Kansas City, Missouri. The awards program encourages high-quality workmanship in every concrete pavement project and serves as a forum for sharing information about high...... Read More

BCA Construction & Design Expo

Building Contractors Association of Northeast Indiana (BCA) recently hosted its 31st annual Construction & Design Expo at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne. The expo featured over 150 exhibitors showcasing a variety of products, tools, equipment, and services for building professionals throughout the tri-state area.... Read More

Bid-rigging: latest developments in OFT construction investigation

The OFT investigation into bid-rigging in construction is the biggest scandal to hit the industry in years. This page will keep you updated with all the latest developments.... Read More

Bid-rigging: even more OFT investigations spark backlash

An announcement of further investigations and raids on the supermarket sector by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has sparked a backlash against the watchdog.... Read More

16 mile bridge could link Jersey to France

Proposals have been made to link the Island of Jersey with mainland France via a bridge.... Read More

Sir Anthony Bamford tops construction rich list