The Building Industry blog

Ecology Survey Calendar

2013-03-21T20:33:00.002+00:00

Please find a link to the Ecology Survey Calendar, JPEG image below and PDF hyper link for an better quality image.

PDF link to the calender!

It's Great Crested Newt Survey Time!

2013-03-19T10:24:00.000+00:00

Did you know that Great Crested Newts are heavily protected [1] and that if convicted you can be fined up to £5,000 PER NEWT (a pond may support hundreds of newts!), IMPRISONED FOR UP TO SIX MONTHS and VEHICLES, PLANT AND MACHINERY SEIZED that are involved in committing the offence. Wildlife crime forensics are increasingly being used to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt when wildlife crimes have been committed.

One such example is provided by a Yorkshire-based developer who was FINED £11,500 plus costs after pleading guilty to carrying out works which resulted in damage to a population of Great Crested Newts at a holiday park.

Read on to find out how by using an appropriately qualified, experienced and licenced ecologist you can ensure that your project and proposed activities are fully compliant with wildlife legislation, thus avoiding the risks of prosecution outlined above as well as costly delays due to non-compliance with planning policy.

[1] GCNs are protected under both UK law; The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA) (as amended), and European law (The Habitats Directive); which is transposed into law in England and Wales by The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 (as amended) ('Habitats Regulations'). Great Crested Newts are also protected under various national, regional and local planning policies together with national and local Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs).

Do You Need To Commission A Great Crested Newt Survey?

Do you or your Clients have any of the following:

Development sites containing ponds or ditches; and/or
Development sites supporting habitats such as rough grassland, scrub, and woodland that could be affected by development and that are located within 500 metres of ponds or ditches (these features could be outside the site boundary).

Alternatively, have you been advised by an ecologist, Planning Officer, Natural England or other consultee that you need to undertake a Great Crested Newt survey, perform a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) calculation or a Rapid Risk Assessment (RRA) for a development?

If the answer is yes to any of the above, you need to obtain the advice of an appropriately licenced and experienced ecologist NOW in order that you don't miss the narrow survey window for Great Crested Newts. An appropriately experienced ecologist will be able to support you and your business with professional Great Crested Newt surveys and reports for planning applications and for legal compliance.

If your business requires a Great Crested Newt survey then make sure you don't miss this opportunity - you could have to wait for another year!

What Do You Need To Do Now!

Don't forget - there is only a short window of time for Great Crested Newt surveys to be carried out and it starts NOW! Don’t delay – it could cost you and your Client in the long run!

Five Valleys Ecology Ltd

Ecological Consultancy in Stroud, Gloucestershire

www.fivevalleysecology.co.uk

The Internet and the Built Environment

2013-03-10T22:28:00.002+00:00

What does HMV, Woolworths, Borders, Blockbuster, Jessops, Habitat, B&Q Ireland, Gio Gio, Comet, Optical Express, Allders of Croydon, Clinton Cards, Game Group, La Senza, United Retail, Lombok, Oddbins, Monsoon Accessorize Ireland, Mothercare Australia, Virgin Megastores-FR have in common?

Some say more than 140 million people visit Amazon.com and eBay.com every month. To put that into perspective each year around 200 million people visit Oxford Street and 65 million Heathrow Airport.

A recent article suggested that 15% of America’s regional malls may fail in the next five years.

Mary Portas “…the need to take action has never been clearer. Although some (UK) high streets are thriving, most have a fight on their hands. Many are sickly, others are on the critical list and some are now dead.”
Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen said “In 15 years from now half of US universities may be in bankruptcy.”

Well, why pay £12 for a book when you can order a copy from Amazon for £9? Why mortgage yourself with $50k of debt and obtain a prestigious MBA, when all the information you need is accessible for a fraction of the price?

So what happens after you leave school? You plug yourself into an online course, read online newspapers, watch movies online, don’t go out for dinner, and don’t bother to try to meet real people; you pitch for an online date, make friends on Facebook, relax with your Xbox and wait for your next online delivery to arrive. On the side you sell your high school goodies on eBay and start blogging, telling people everything they need to know about life.

If you must leave the house, at least for the foreseeable future you should be able to find a Starbucks and McDonald's around the corner. If you absolutely have to buy something from a high street shop, you might find it at a 99p store or a Chinese Shop.

Later, you find a job, and work from home, you do not have to travel to the office (unless you work for Yahoo), just use Skype. Your LinkedIn groups would have grown substantially by now allowing you to do business with your personal network, as your last massive-open-online-course (MOOC) did not really allow you to rub shoulders with too many people.

When on holiday you look at the world through your new Google glasses and spend most of the time uploading photos unto Facebook and chatting to those you left behind. You give up the best spot on the beach for the shady area next to the beach bar to use the free Wi-Fi and see if you can improve your last selfshot on Instagram.

There was no time to talk about China or the Credit Crunch, but sure you will be able to find that info on the Internet.

Useful links;

Who has gone bust?
Portas Review
Dead malls
Universities going bust
MOOC

Prompt Payment Code

2013-02-27T16:53:00.001+00:00

When you sign up to the Code, you commit to:

Pay your suppliers in line with the contract terms
Be proactive in paying them and following the 'Treating Suppliers Fairly' guide
Resolve disputes quickly
Encourage organisations to sign up to the Code

Once approved, you have the benefit to use the PPC logo. The approval process reply one a few references to be authorised.

But, will the PPC initiative actually change anything? Many companies see “unfair contract terms” as the real issue. Players with market autonomy use their authority to force struggling and small suppliers into unfavourable contract terms, or delay the resolution of terms to delay payment. A cultural shift is needed for change to take effect.

The challenge at hand is a cultural one and only likely to be solved through strong leadership. Time to step away from the herd…

Michael Fallon MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise.

“Prompt payment is critical to the cash flow of every business, and especially to smaller businesses within the supply chain. But it is not just the timeliness of payment, though fast payment is always welcome, but rather the certainty of getting paid that is really important, and enables businesses to plan both for their short and longer term futures.

The Prompt Payment Code is about encouraging and promoting best practice between organisations and their suppliers. Signatories to the Code commit to paying their suppliers within clearly defined terms, and commit also to ensuring there is a proper process for dealing with any issues that may arise. This means that suppliers can build stronger relationships with their customers, safe in the knowledge that they will be paid, and confident that they are working with a business that values the service they deliver. Independent analysis by Experian suggests that current signatories to the Code represent over 60% of total UK supply chain value, so the Code is making a difference.

Certainty on payment inspires confidence across the supply chain - confidence that stimulates investment and growth. This confidence is good for both suppliers and customers.”

http://www.promptpaymentcode.org.uk/

RIBA changes 50 year old Plan of Work

2013-02-26T22:16:00.000+00:00

The new RIBA Plan of Work 2013 focus on a number of key issues;

BIM (Building Information Modelling) - The UK Government has set out an ambitious goals in the Public section, and the plan has responded.

Sustainability – The Green overlay published by RIBA places the emphasis of on early concept integration.

Building Services – The new plan acknowledges the complexities surrounding Soft Landings, commissioning and Building Services’ whole life cycle design.

Procurement - The old plan originated from traditional procurement and is not instinctively geared towards many of the contractor led procurement routes as an example.

Statutory – The new plan integrates better with statutory processes (especially Planning, but also Building Control)

Industry alignment - The new plan aligns with equivalent process models published by professional organisations, such as; RICS, CIOB, ACE, BSRIA, CIOB, CIBSE, ICE and the CIC Scope of Services

Design by others – Integrated into the plan is Stage 5, a period to allow Specialist Subcontractors to complete performance design elements and packages.

Flexibility - The generic structure of the plan will make it suitable for a wide range of projects, small and large, simple and complex not only in the UK, but Internationally.

The flexibility in the draft plan is useful with regards to benchmarking, integration and planning a strategy, but the devil is in the detail as always. There is no substitute for detailed design planning and monitoring design risks is a micro level activity. Probably the best book on the market currently is; Leading the Team: An Architect's Guide to Design Management, by Dale Sinclair.

Generation Twitter: the role of social media for occupiers by Elena Kosseva

2011-09-23T14:04:00.004+01:00

Ever since people began forming groups associated for specific purposes, which we now describe as societies, social networking has been an integral part of life – be it for personal or professional reasons. The 21st century came with the dynamic explosion of globalisation and interconnectedness, however, it was back in 1926 when the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy first proposed the theory of six degrees of separation, suggesting that anyone can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of contacts that has no more than five intermediaries. The fast development of communication technologies has largely proven this theory right especially in the last 10-15 years. My generation, for instance, has never really lived without the internet. There is so much demand for different means of communication that we have recently seen the birth of the so called social media, which created many new ways of connecting people virtually.

Not before long, we used to define media as a one-way instrument of communication and a source of information, whereas today Social media implies that the use of web sites and mobile communications provides an interactive dialogue allowing the user to not only to receive information but also to give opinions and communicate with other users. Many companies refer to social media as a consumer-generated media as the cooperation of technology and social contacts create value for the business.

‘Being connected’ is hugely important – phones constantly beeping with email notifications, tweet updates throughout the day and obsession with the number of friends/connection on social networking web sites – that’s what our workspace is like today. In fact the way we work has changed tremendously to make use of these technological advances. Working from home, a café, a quiet bench in the park or at the local pub is no longer a far-fetched idea as the workforce becomes increasingly mobile and socially inter-connected. Social media reflects a lot about our generation’s lifestyle – it is totally new experience, which allows occupiers to get to know a lot more about their clients, business partners and colleagues without the need to meet them face-to-face.

Companies have begun to take advantage of these dynamic changes and as a result occupiers are reducing space and introducing hot-desking. This is particularly useful for small occupiers and start-up companies as they can do business from any location without having to commit to unusable space and lengthy leases. The immense business opportunities arising from social networking allow businesses to expand and contract or find better working practices than the traditional office space can offer.

Social media is not only advantageous to small occupiers. Big tenants could also restructure the way they use space in order to yield the benefits of an interconnected world. BT and HSBC are amongst the many big occupiers who have introduced hot-desking, which has been very successful and saves them millions of annual real estate costs.

The more efficient use of space and the extensive networking opportunities may seem like a drop in the sea for many occupiers to whom the most important advantage of the social media is the availability and convenience of free or low cost marketing and PR, both widely spread throughout the Internet. For instance, a Twitter account allows companies to get ‘followers’ and upload promotional updates or follow customers’ opinions and lifestyles. Facebook is even more cunning in ‘cyber-stalking’ by placing a ‘Like’ button on most web sites, which shares information with all other members. ‘Becoming a fan’ and ‘joining a group’ on facebook is another costless way of marketing and PR, often used by occupier to place adverts, seek opinions/suggestions and create events.

Most of these networks are used to target segments of the market in order to generate a certain PR image. LinkedIn is a professional network aiming at creating business connections – a great way to promote a company or get in touch with other professionals and competitors. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are probably the most popular internet networks amongst all occupiers or at least the ones I am using but the list of social media web sites is endless as many are short-lived and perhaps very much a trend. Could anyone remember myspace.com?

Apart from being a great source of free marketing and PR, the social media offers an enormous pool of ideas and knowledge available within one click of the mouse. Moreover, most social networks allow you to propose ideas, discuss concepts, seek and receive advice and cooperate with others, which can generate business not only locally but also globally. Social networks also give us endless opportunities to expand our social and professional circle by making connections through individuals, which could also generate business opportunities. Everyone has heard of people getting a job (or sometimes losing a job) because of certain information exposed online – what a great (and cheap) way to recruit! Going back to the theory of 6 degrees of separation, social media brings individuals and companies together and shows that the world is a very small place as fast communications are easy to use, very cheap (even free) and widely available.

Yes, Social media definitely reflects a lot about our generation’s lifestyle and business culture. Undoubtedly, online social services create opportunities for occupiers in terms of reducing costs of communications and space and in terms of generating business through marketing, PR and pooling of ideas. New technologies and networks have created numerous ways for occupiers get through to friends, colleagues, business partners and clients, yet again, are we not losing a bit of personal touch? We are more interconnected than ever but communication is getting shorter and shorter – how much can you say in a 140-symbol tweet? Although I have always lived in this innovation era, I still cannot believe how far we have gone – has face-to-face communication become unnecessary and can we do business through the social media?

Fight for global real estate market share

2011-08-23T21:48:00.002+01:00

The first generation of the international real estate franchise brands are being challenged by new innovative franchisors. In this article, international real estate expert, Bill Hunt and Keller Williams Worldwide President, Chris Heller, discuss the present and the future of real estate franchising.
While the European real estate markets are still fighting their way through the economic recession, characterised by decreasing number of sales, declining prices and the tightening of the credit market, and the majority of real estate agencies downsizing as a consequence, a few key players in the real estate industry are making moves that could change the face of global real estate.
The global financial crisis has certainly had a dampening effect on the expansion of the major residential international real estate brands in the United States, including RE/MAX and Realogy Corporation, the corporate conglomerate that owns Century 21 Real Estate, Coldwell Banker and ERA franchises. In the United States, each of these companies has experienced negative growth numbers in the associate count. (Source: Real Trends, 2010)

Bill Hunt, an international franchise real estate expert with a 40-years of experience in developing real estate franchise brands in China, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and Central/South America, and the author of the book “Memoirs of a Franchise Gypsy”, confirms their decline on the international markets as well: “Even the most pioneering of the real estate companies, Century 21, who entered Canada in 1975 and Japan in 1983; and RE/MAX, who began their international expansion into Canada in 1979 and outside of North America in 1995, have slowed their global expansion.”

It would seem that these, first generation, more traditional international real estate franchise brands are slowly being ousted by new models, such as Keller Williams Realty, which announced last year that it would begin seeking out franchise opportunities overseas. Smaller franchise brands are making a play on the global field as well, such as Intero, who are now established in the United States as well as Asia and the United Kingdom, or HomeSmart, who became international recently, when it sold its first franchise into China.

Hunt believes that the major real estate franchises are growing too complacent and are unable to deliver the marketing and technology tools that the next generation of real estate brokers and associates will need in order to compete, including internet marketing and virtual support.
“Today’s buyers and sellers are Generations X and Y, and they are demanding to be communicated with on all new platforms - via email and social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter. A big opportunity exists for a new generation of global franchisors who have built their franchise systems around technology using cloud computing, online education and virtual support. The companies that will flourish are those that focus on the business needs of the agents, instead of just delivering a brand name,” explains Hunt.
Hunt also predicts that future real estate franchisors will have fewer franchise offices and more productive agents at each location, due to increases in mobile and virtual technologies. According to Hunt, it’s a model that’s worked for the franchise titan, Keller Williams Realty. The Austin, Texas-based company, with more than 80,000 associates in 700 offices across the U.S. and Canada is now the second largest company in the United States and it is the only company to post overall growth in North America over the last five years, during which time its competitors have continued to contract.
“Our company is quite a bit different from the other major brands in the global real estate space,” says Chris Heller, President of Keller Williams Worldwide. “We always put training and education first and we have developed an extensive training curriculum that addresses every stage of a real estate agent’s career – from when they first start out in the business, to growing a team and leadership training.”

Another key component of the Keller Williams model is a philosophy that puts agents and brokers on the same side of the table and gives agents a stake in their brokers’ business by sharing the financial rewards. As the company expands worldwide, it plans to put in place a Growth Share fund, which will financially reward associates for helping grow the company.

When asked why Keller Williams has only recently started its international expansion, Heller replies: “Unlike the other U.S.-based brands who expanded early on in their development, we waited until we were at the peak of our growth momentum in North America. Now that we’re well on our way to becoming the largest franchise in North America, the timing is right.”

He adds: “We are not a franchise sales organisation, we are a business developing organisation, so we’re not just looking to sell franchises; we are looking to get into business with the right leaders and partners. We are willing to take the time to do it right and find the right people.”
Keller Williams Realty is betting that the combination of their globally-respected brand, coupled with proven models and systems, adapted and localized by strong local leadership will be the key to success.

However, according to Bill Hunt, only 70 to 80 percent of any foreign service/product offering will be relevant in each new country and a level of adaptation and localization must occur for the brand to reach a dominant position.

Chris Heller also confirms this by saying: ”We are well aware that our systems and models, our training and education, need to be culturalised and customised and we plan to do that on country-by-country basis, in partnership with the local leadership, to ensure they are relevant and appropriate for the market.”

In times when international companies seem to have limited interest in European market as such, Keller Williams considers Europe as a key market with great potential. “At this point, we are closely following the situation in several European markets, Western, Central and Eastern Europe in particular. After the long period of real estate markets experiencing general slowdown in activity, we believe that the real estate business all over Europe will experience a strong up-cycle. We want to be ready for that moment and together with our local leaderships, seize the market,” says Heller.

He also believes that a downturn in the market presents more opportunity than any other. “In a downturn, agents and owners begin looking for a better way to do business – we know we can offer them just that with our tools, technology and marketing platform.”

With the global property sales being brisk again after two years of stagnation, according to various industry analyses, the opportunity is clear – interest rates which are at an all-time low and prices which are never going to be better indicate that the future of real estate is bright again. On the other hand, franchising as such, a proven model that in many countries represents more than 40 percent of all goods and services sold, according to the portal franchiseek.com, enables joining the large scale business. What remains to be seen is which real estate franchise company will eventually rise to global dominance.

Author: Adela Papac

Zintro, It’s free to submit inquiries...

2011-08-22T12:37:00.001+01:00

I wanted to share a new resource I recently found called Zintro.

Zintro is a web platform that can connect you with subject matter experts across virtually any industry. There are over 30,000 active experts ready to help answer your questions or consult on your project ranging from quick phone calls to multi-month on site engagements.

It’s free to submit inquiries and takes just a minute or two.

Just describe the project or question and the types of experts you’d like to respond. You can even stay anonymous if the subject matter is confidential or delicate. Zintro will match your inquiry with the most relevant experts who will start responding within a couple of hours.

Use the following link to consult with building and construction experts:
https://www.zintro.com/area6/property+development/?mod=Experts&aff=GGUKPD

Here is an example of an interesting inquiry that was recently submitted:

Subject: Construction Adhesives

Description: Need consultants with expertise in adhesives for bonding glass to flexible materials such as rubber/plastic/neoprene etc AND adhesives for bonding such flexible materials to concrete. Adhesives are for outdoor use and must withstand temperature
fluctuations, moisture, etc. with no degradation of bond strength. Looking for minimum 100psi. Some expansion/contraction will occur as result of daytime heat/night-time cooling. Experts should be familiar with UL testing and with ASTM standards and building code requirements.

Use the following link to consult with building and construction experts:
https://www.zintro.com/area6/property+development/?mod=Experts&aff=GGUKPD

Emerging Market Intelligence

2011-07-17T22:23:00.009+01:00

Independent expert analysis and data to assess growth dynamics and risk in emerging markets

(5% discount code - bpi2011gg) see below!

Emerging Market Intelligence (EMI) is a leading provider of business intelligence across key emerging markets, covering over 115 countries.

Through a global team of analysts, they deliver strategic insights into growth dynamics of most sought after emerging markets. Our research and consulting solutions offer 360 degree view of business issues, facilitating faster and better strategic decisions.

Discount code!

Please find your special discount code(bpi2011gg). Use this code to receive 5% off when purchasing any of the EMI products.Sample snippet report (please e-mail gilbertg.life.u@googlemail.com if you have any queries regarding the discount code)

(buy a report) the Report Store!

Market Size and Forecast

Market size and forecast reports provide detailed industry insights broken down at the sub-sector level. These reports highlight insights across the value chain, and directly help in generating revenues, improving profitability and formulating strategy. Key features include the following:

Identify the most attractive industries in key emerging markets

Global and regional benchmarking reports, identifying specific market opportunities

Leverage our proprietary EMI Investment and Business Opportunity Quadrant to shape up your market entry / investment strategy

Gain insight across core industry along with key value chain elements and end-use markets

Track secondary markets such as maintenance and service

Country Risk Assessment

Assess risk of doing business across key emerging markets and shape up your business strategies to maximize gains. Benefit from EMI’s Country Risk Index, which evaluates risk on a range of parameters. EMI covers over 400 indicators (historical and forecast) evaluating the following macro-economic fundamentals:

Economic performance

Business environment

Infrastructure quality

Labour force

Demographics

Political and social risk

Read further on the EMI website!

Too many e-mails from LinkedIn?

2011-07-14T17:03:00.012+01:00

Please find this step-by-step guide to change your e-mail setting and reduce your LinkedIn e-mail traffic by almost a 100%.

Step 1: Hold the mouse cursor over your name (top right), and click on “Settings”.

Step 2: Click on “E-mail Preferences” (side left, towards the bottom).

Step 3: Take turns to click on “Set the frequency of group digest emails” and “Set the frequency of emails” to adjust your setting.

Click on the image to enlarge (print screen example).

ESI.info "the first virtual marketplace"

2011-06-29T17:27:00.003+01:00

ESI.info appears to be much more than a simple online directory, but rather innovate solutions that help architects and designers on projects and provide manufacturers and suppliers an easy way to access the wider UK Construction market.

http://www.esi.info/

ESI.info is the first virtual marketplace for the built environment and industrial sectors! The team is passionate about developing online tools that connect designers, buyers and suppliers throughout the construction supply chain.

Background
ESI.info has evolved from the Built Environment Directories, published by Endat Standard Indexes. Their expertise is in managing construction information and data to help those involved in specifying products and services, find the right suppliers for their building projects.

Features
What makes ESI.info unique is the extent in which the website presents products and services to users, by allowing them to search and compare similar products, based on technical or visual detailing, ensuring the right products and services can be found, shortlisted and selected according to specific design and client briefs.
There are also a number of tools in the MyESI area, providing users with enhanced productivity tools to help them manage information relating to projects.
Project folders- save searches and groups of products organised by your ongoing projects and share this information across the project team, or with clients as an email or as a printed document.
Moodboards- allows designers to visualise how different elements will work together on a project.
Action buttons- Allow users to request quotes, samples or more from multiple companies rather than individually having to send out requests.

Benefits
• At a glance- They provide the tools to compare products across the market from a single source.
• Find the right products and services and save time and money in doing so
• Create folders aligned to projects to easily share with team and clients
• Discover new products through detailed sections covering the wider construction and industrial sectors
• Detailed photography allows project designers and managers to visualise how products will look and assess these at a glance according to their design or client briefs.

Web address : http://www.esi.info/

Outsourcing

2011-06-25T21:17:00.002+01:00

Please find a few advantages to Outsourcing services from within your company.

Reducing Costs:

The most obvious incentive to outsourcing services is to reduce costs. Reducing costs increase profitability and client satisfaction.

Lower salaries and overheads enable outsource centres to provide skilled resources at reduced rates. Even in the current climate, the Dollar, Pound & Euro enable greater buying power. London, New York and Geneva are more expensive than cities like Cape Town, Deli and Shenzhen. Why pay more if you can pay less?

Workload Flexibility:

Managing people is challenging, expensive and stressful. Outsourcing services provide for more flexibility. Workload troughs and peaks can be ironed out by outsourcing less or more work, thus providing greater stability and resilience to internal resources.

Build a Core Team:

Making people redundant are de-motivating; legally risky and very expensive. Combining people and company resources improve the companies overall resource dynamics. There are many advantages to building a core team.

Build a core team. (I was recently introduced to dynamic company http://www.project-resourceblog.co.uk/).

Does your company outsource any services relevant to the Building industry? What are the pros & cons? I would be interested to learn about your experiences. What types of services do you outsource, and why?

Converting existing building stock into classrooms – a guide on technical consideration for compliance with the Building Regulations

2011-06-04T09:26:00.003+01:00

Introduction

(ref cc Butler & Young)

This brief guide is intended for design professionals, schools and contractors to give an overview of the Building Regulations involved in converting existing buildings into classrooms and other educational uses.

It is anticipated that this route to gain classroom space will become more common in the UK. In America there have been many transformations from supermarkets, shopping malls and offices to school property and is a regular occurrence, the same can be said for Sweden with examples as unusual as military barracks, factories and in one case an observatory to classroom space.

Building Regulations Applications

Generally on conversions of buildings to classroom space / schools, a Building Regulation application would be required as it is a material change of use of the building as it has changed to public building where previously it was not.

Building Regulations and Allied Legislation Involved

The following Building Regulations are applicable to the whole building (if the whole building is being used for education), to ensure that the building complies with the applicable requirements.

If the education area of a building is only a part of the building, then the area concerned with education should be in compliance with the Building Regulations as listed for the areas affected by the education.

A1 to A3 – Structure

Consideration and if necessary the use of structural calculations to ensure the building can take the new applied loadings safely and effectively, as it is a change of use to a school this also includes justifying the structure to prevent disproportionate collapse, where if an accident occurs in the building it will not result in the collapse of the building.

B1 – Means of Warning and Escape; B2 – Internal Fire Spread – Structure; B3 – Internal Fire Spread – Structure; B4 – External Fire Spread – Roofs; B5 – Access and Facilities for Fire service

Schools are a special building type, so compliance with allied legislation Building Bulliten 100 – Design for fire safety in schools will typically satisfy the requirements of Approved Document B. This covers every aspect of designing education use buildings with items such as the principles of fire behaviour and statistics, fire protection systems, fire detection and alarm systems, sprinklers, fire doors and fire resistance and compartmentation, means of escape and travel distances, escape horizontally and vertically, wall and ceiling linings, concealed spaces and fire-stopping, external fire spread and access and facilities for the Fire and Rescue Service.

A consultation will be necessary with the Fire Authority by the Building Control body and a fire risk assessment will be needed at the end of the project for the building users.

C2 – Interstitial and surface condensation

Consideration should be given to ensure the structure of the education areas do not have surface condensation or interstitial condensation, with the necessary preventive measures put into place.

E1 to E4 – Resistance to the passage of sound

Approved Document E4 covers acoustic performance in schools (generally not 6^th form or further education areas).   The guidance is in allied legislation under Building Bulletin 93 and will cover and guide on areas for;

a)         Indoor ambient noise levels in unoccupied spaces
b)         Airborne sound between spaces

c) Impact sound insulation to floors

d) Reverberation in teaching and study space

e) Sound absorption in circulation spaces

f) Adequate speech intelligibility in open spaces

Other areas with ancillary use are covered by the guidance if the areas affect the teaching spaces. BB93 recommends the classrooms be sound tested to ensure that the rooms meet the as expected design performance.

F1 – Ventilation

Ventilation will need to be provided to the classrooms and ancillary rooms to ensure adequate ventilation is provided to the occupants, in the case of classrooms it is usual for mechanical and electrical engineers to be used to calculate the ventilation needed, taking into account Building Bulletin 101. All the systems should be commissioned and tested accordingly.

G1 – Sanitary Conveniences and Washing Facilities

This Part ensures that wholesome and safe hot and cold water supply is provided, along with having adequate sanitary arrangements and provisions.

H1 – Foul Water Drainage

Any new drainage being installed should be in compliance with Approved Document H1, covering and safety and hygiene of SVP’s and wastepipes sizes, traps and gradients and all associated foul water drainage systems.

H6 – Solid Waste Storage

Consideration will be needed to the provision for storage and solid waste, location, amount of, hygiene and if it becomes a fire hazard along with the methods of waste storage.

J1 to J3 – Combustion Appliances

Any new heat producing appliances that are being installed should be in compliance with the manufacturers instructions / installing bodies such as Corgi and the Building Regulations, installed by a competent person and commissioned accordingly.

L1 – Conservation of Fuel and Power

Provision should be made for the conservation of fuel and power in the building by limiting the heat gains and losses from the structure / fabric and the services of the building. Also providing fixed building services that are energy efficient, effective control mechanisms and commissioned and tested accordingly. Other factors that will need to be considered are:

a)            Requirement relating to thermal elements and expected U values etc
b)            Carbon dioxide emission calculations, consequential improvements and Energy Performance Certificates.
c)            Potential air pressure testing.

M1 – Access and Use

Provision should be made so that access and amenities are made available to everyone using the building, an access statement should be provided. Areas that are often highlighted on classroom conversions are external access into the school and parking facilities. Internally sanitary accommodation, handrails and ramps, staircase treads and riser size, corridor widths and opening door location and widths should be considered. Along with induction loops and aids in communication for the hard of hearing.

General

The above is a brief overview of the areas to consider when undertaking classroom conversion projects. Butler & Young Approved Inspectors, the leading private building control provider will be able to assist with the interpretation of the Building Regulations with our excellent knowledge and experience in the education sector, we have worked on over 1500 education sector projects, from academies, new schools, further education establishments, nurseries, school extensions and BSF programmes.

In addition Butler & Young have expertise in associated guidance, such as ‘Guidance on Achieving Low Carbon School Buildings’. We have the ability to offer and provide free CPD and training events to our clients on a range of upcoming legislation changes and topical legislation.

Common Problems for designers and feasibility

Some common design problems faced with classroom conversions that may be worth considering at feasibility stage are:

1 Lack of sound insulation to the external walls to prevent excessive sounds from nearby road traffic etc.

2 Low ceiling heights, restricting mechanical and electrical installations.

3 Lack of natural light to the classrooms, along with potential problems with over heating.

4 Lack of additional amenities such as sports fields and play grounds, although some designers have overcome this with rooftop open areas.

5 Means of escape in case of fire with corridor and staircase widths not being suitable and not enough means of escape staircases.

6 Security of the premises and ensuring that the classrooms remain a safe environment for the pupils.

#tCnTop100 - Top tweeters in UK Built Environment

2011-06-03T12:59:00.002+01:00

tCn's initiative to identify and promote the most influential tweeters in the UK Built Environment

Related location: United Kingdom

BIM - NBS

2011-04-11T15:17:00.001+01:00

There is little doubt that more and more people are looking towards BIM to move this Industry to the next level. We recently corresponded with Robert Eason (Riba Enterprises Ltd), who directed us towards their latest BIM report!
http://www.thenbs.com/pdfs/bimResearchReport_2011-03.pdf

(extract from NBS – Riba Enterprises Ltd)

“Richard Waterhouse, Chief Executive of RIBA Enterprises, introduces the Building Information Modelling Report March 2011. This in-depth research was conducted by NBS to discover the extent to which BIM is already used within the UK construction industry, what people think of it, and its future development and use.”

“This is the first 'NBS BIM Report' in what will be a series of reports on the adoption of what we currently call 'BIM' or Building Information Modelling. These reports will track changes in attitudes towards BIM as well as implementation within the industry. They will act as a reference point for the industry to share success and to highlight areas of developmental need. Ultimately, they will also strip away much of the hype and hysteria around BIM to provide detailed answers to important issues including Return on Investment.”

“Searching for a definition of BIM, it is clear that there are many views as to what BIM is. Incorrectly seen as a technological solution to CAD integration, BIM places the effective use and exchange of 'Information' at its heart. As a result, BIM will have an impact on most areas of business management and operation. It will revolutionise methods of working and fundamentally redefine the relationships between construction professionals. It will challenge current thinking on contracts and insurance and most importantly, it will support the integration of the design and construction teams.”

More on their website…
http://www.thenbs.com/topics/BIM/articles/puttingTheIintoBIM.asp

Construction: About.com

2011-02-09T20:16:00.005+00:00

Juan Rodriguez (Construction Manager and Collaborator Guide at About.com, United States) joined the Building Industry group recently and shared some information about http://construction.about.com/ with me.

About.com receives more than 10 millions visits per year. It is ranked among the top 20 websites and its rivals are http://www.wisegeek.com/ , http://ask.com/ and http://www.wikipedia.org/. About is visited form all over the world and it forms part of The New York Times.

Juan Rodriguez, PE wrote:

“Construction.about.com is a relatively new source of information for all construction related professionals. From manufacturers, builders, contractors, engineers, surveyors, architects, estimators, and owners, my site is dedicated to bring you with the tools and news necessary for you to achieve a better performance. Our industry was lacking an innovative source of information in addition to blogs, forums and other web publications, sometimes influenced by advertisements and offering miss-leading information.
http://construction.about.com/ provides a blog where recent news are published, including new product releases, conventions, call for papers, bids opportunities, request for proposals, meetings, new standards being introduced and significant findings and news from the construction industry in a world-wide scale. “

Our main purpose is to share our knowledge and to create a database of new information, from the different areas covering a construction project, including economic, legal, compliance, regulations, standards, new products, old products, disciplines, type of projects, materials, professionals, even a section with interesting information from historical projects and new projects that are making the difference in the industry. “

Jaun also want to hear from you. What are your needs? Would you like to highlight your products or servcies? Want to have a review of your product? Everything is included on the website.

He said they are open to suggestion if you need any information.

http://construction.about.com/bio/Juan-Rodriguez-82501.htm

BRE Innovation

2011-01-26T17:09:00.008+00:00

I recently corresponded with Martin Watson, Development Director at BRE, who sent me some background information about BRE that I would like to share with you. The BRE Group consists of a group of companies (BRE Global. Training & Ventures), wholly owned by the BRE Trust. The Trust is a charitable organisation that represent interests across the building industry and the built environment. Under the heading of Innovation, I provided additional information under BRE Ventures, as Innovation is much debated and needed in our industry.

BRE GLOBAL:

Specialists in fire, security, sustainability and electronic testing, accredited and notified for a range of schemes, regulations and directives under its internationally renowned LPCB, BREEAM and BRE Global brands. Listings of approved products and services can be found on www.redbooklive.com and www.greenbooklive.com.

BRE TRAINING:

As a leading and high-quality training provider and assessment centre for programmes leading to national vocational qualifications, with CPD and other courses that focus on energy, sustainability, fire regulation/ legislation, security, innovation, health and safety, intelligent buildings, specification and design. www.bre.co.uk/training.

BRE VENTURES:

BRE Ventures uses the group’s expertise to take to the market new ideas that need development, testing or certification and to generate income for investors and those involved in the commercialisation process. www.bre.co.uk/innovationden.

The Innovation Den is an open innovation and IP trading environment for all ideas related to the Building Industry, but also relevant to other areas that may directly, or indirectly impact on the built environment (transportation, aviation, computing, communications, power generation, energy and waste reduction and many others).

http://buildingindustry.blogspot.com/2011/01/bre-innovation.html

The purpose of the Innovation Den is to bring together, in a structured, safe and supportive environment, innovators and end markets to create value from new ideas and to improve the UK's built environment for the benefit of all. The den is just one part of BRE Ventures initiatives that are highly focused on the most difficult part of innovation; “successful commercialisation”.

The Innovation Den is underpinned by BRE's independence and impartiality and leverages BRE's networks, contacts and technical understanding developed over 80 years of research and development to generate a value chain for all stakeholders. The Den brings appropriate IP (intellectual property) advisors, technical due diligence and corporate and financial support if required.

The BRE say whilst they can't guarantee that your invention will be successful, they believe that the range and reputation of the commercial partners that will be browsing and searching through the ideas will give innovators the very best chance of success available.

You can register as an Inventor regardless of whether you are an individual or a company.

Once you have logged your invention under your profile the basic details of your invention will appear on the corporate members page where they can be browsed both by BRE, the Innovation Den Supporters and by our Corporate members.

If you have an idea for which you have not yet obtained patent protection, the Innovation Den offers a confidential postal submission service as an alternative to submitting your idea online. Using this service, your invention will be reviewed in confidence by the Innovation Den who will then attempt to match your invention with the known needs of its commercial partners.

Once a potential match has been identified the BRE will contact you to discuss an initial meeting (under terms of confidence) with the interested party to discover whether an opportunity exists for collaboration.

If you are a company that is looking for new ideas or solutions to your problems then the Innovation Den might be an ideal place to visit?

I am interested to hear if anyone in the group is currently working, developing or aware any form of “Innovation” in their part of the industry?

The Next Boom?

2011-01-17T22:15:00.007+00:00

Please vote and let us know when you think the next boom will start in the UK?

Final results! (400+ votes!)

in less than 5 years from now? - 54%
5 years from now? - 25%
10 years from now? - 12%
15 years from now? - 3%
more than 15 years from now? - 6%

Wonders & blunders with Gilbert Gerber

2010-12-18T19:31:00.005+00:00

As a frequent traveller, I have always been very familiar with airports: they are fascinating places with high volumes of constant people movement, but there are wonders and blunders among them as much as in any building type.

My wonder, Barajas airport, is an architectural masterpiece. My first reaction when I arrived there was “Wow!” I was amazed by the dynamic, wavelike geometry of the sculpted timber-clad roof and the ambience of the internal space. Hundreds of colourful, dynamically placed, engineered columns lifted my weary traveller’s spirits.

I felt surprisingly unrestricted there, with the floor opened to movement and making me feel directed, but never controlled. The layouts allow activity to take place without overcrowding, and while the spaces are vast, I never felt lost.

Its relationship to the runway is well-organised, too: the Boeing literally tucked in next to the main building. If airports can make people smile, we will have quite a few happy people on the planet. Perhaps not truly happy, but smiling at least.

http://www.building.co.uk/comment/wonders-and-blunders/wonders-and-blunders-with-gilbert-gerber/5010082.article

LinkedIn Networking

2010-11-30T20:47:00.012+00:00

The following 5 ideas will help you increase the buzz-levels around your profile whilst building a network and aligning these with your own ventures.

Update your profile

Recommendations will help boost the credibility of your profile. Think about your profile photograph. Networking sites thrive on the premise that people want to meet people. It will take you an hour to complete your profile properly, and remember to keep it up to date.

Join Groups

The world is a big place. Narrow down your efforts to groups and geographic locations that appeal to you. There are a number of Building Industry groups on LinkedIn. Many of these are specialised (BIM, Green, PM, Supply Chain, Property, Lean Construction, MEPH, Finance, Process, and Technical, Sector based, Consultants & Client side…etc).

Find your feet

Have respect. Find the balance, between being visible and contributing to discussions. Don’t flood the room with pointless posts, but be visible. Find conversations that appeal to you, and join in, people welcome that. Ignore “un-etiquette” remarks and be positive. Get comfortable and settle in. You would have met a few people by now already.

Grow your presence

Think of your internet presence as the top of the iceberg. You have to draw the crowds to the depth of wealth under the water. This might be your blog, website, or other resources. It is also about presentation. The content is great, but the cover looks a bit flaky. Don’t underestimate brand value in this game you are in.

Close the loop

You might be enjoying this so much; you can’t even remember why you started. Your network is growing, the buzz levels are high, but what now? You are the link between your internet profile, your venture and your network. Find creative ways to dissolve the barriers between these. Consciously align your internet presence, with your ventures. Give direction and align your internet achievements with your goals.

Don’t give up and good luck.

Lean Construction

2010-11-26T22:03:00.008+00:00

Further to my previous post regarding “The Future”, I was introduced to the Lean Construction Institute by Alan Mossman co-Editor at the Lean Construction Journal. Please visit the Lean Construction Institute website www.leanconstruction.org/ to learn more and to read the Lean Construction Journal. I was intrigued, by the wealth of information on the site. those of you in the UK can also go to http://www.leanconstruction.org.uk/ So what is Lean Construction? Lean Construction is a production management-based approach to project delivery. It can be seen as a new way to design and build a building, infrastructure or other facility. Applied to construction, Lean changes the way work is done throughout the design and delivery process. Maximize value and minimize waste.

As a result:

Positive iteration within the process is supported and negative iteration reduced.

Work is structured throughout the process to maximize value and to reduce waste at the project delivery level.

Efforts to manage and improve performance are aimed at improving overall project performance because it is more important than reducing the cost or increasing the speed of any activity (optimizing the piece sub-optimizes the whole).

"Control" is redefined from "monitoring results" to "making things happen." The performance of the planning and control systems are measured and improved.

The reliable release of work between specialists in design, supply and assembly assures value is delivered to the customer and waste is reduced. Lean Construction is particularly useful on complex, uncertain and quick projects. Interestingly it challenges the belief that there must always be a trade between time, cost, and quality. As Dr W.E. Deming showed with his 'quality chain reaction' if you improve quality, cost and time can fall.

The Future?

2010-11-21T20:42:00.010+00:00

The (UK) Building Industry, like many other industries are facing challenging times; budget cuts, credit restrictions, increased competition, unemployment and lots of uncertainty.

Mergers and takeovers happen daily, many people are working part time, supply chain partnerships are dissolving and sub-contracting and (near)outsourcing are increasing. And as a whole the Industry might appear to becoming more and more fragmented? Is that the case?

The number of start-up companies is increasing; established brands are rethinking their strategies, exploring new markets, seeking new partnerships and adapting to be more resilient.

Will being put through the fire produce any gold?

I would be interested to hear your views.