 |
|
|
|
CIC CascadeCascade 21 December 2004
1. Quantity Surveying
Practice N/SVQS are updated An important development in the field of qualifications for Quantity Surveying Practice in the UK is about to enter its consultation phase. This qualification is designed for those working on a consultancy basis as a quantity surveyor, either in private practice or local or central government in the Construction Industry and reflects the role as client advisor on financial and contractual matters and may be those:
CIC has been overseeing the development work in conjunction with industry experts. The occupational standards – the building blocks of N/SVQs – have been modernised and simplified. The new structure allows candidates to build N/SVQs around common competences, to suit their own individual personal development. The consultation will take place during January and February 2005. Click here for full details of the consultation together with the draft qualifications. 2. Liability Briefing – Net Contribution Clauses It is sometimes said that a consultant (contractor or subcontractor) might be only 30% responsible for a claimant’s loss and yet have to pay 100% of the damages. Does this really happen? If so, can anything be done about it? This Liability Briefing from CIC provides the answers. Nine teams of young professionals took part in Teambuild 2004 at the end of November. Over 48 hours they worked on a complex city regeneration project in a simulation of the design and construction process for the development of a real site. The weekend started with a master plan proposal and finished with the construction stage of a development, solving a number of ‘real life’ problems along the way. The winning teams were Overall winner: ThinQ:Tank. (Julia Thomas, James
Watts, Simon Jesson, Michael Stone and Tariq Pando) Contract Strategy Stage winner: ThinQ:tank. Detailed Design Stage winner: AA Team (James Berlumi,
Alistair Law, James Ward, Michael Dodds and David Wilson) Read the comments from the team of judges 4. CIC North West Construction Challenge The third annual CIC North West construction challenge took place at Bar 38 Manchester on 30th November. Twelve teams from across the region competed in this year’s challenge which was to design and build a cantilever structure which would carry an increasing ‘load’ of 125mm nails positioned 450mm from the base of the structure. Available materials included plant sticks, string, elastic bands, wire and card. JM Architects (winners of last years challenge) were runaway winners with 46 nails. A three way tie for second place on 25 nails meant that there had to be a further test and the eventual runners up were David McLean Group with Faithful & Gould a close third and Mouchel Parkman fourth. Manchester branch of ICE were awarded the booby prize for a graceful but totally inadequate structure which only held 2 nails and the test bucket but gave great amusement to the audience. Other teams included AMEC, Buro Happold, Faber Maunsell, UMIST and Scott Wilson. Over 60 people attended the event. View photo of the winning team. 5. Towards Sustainable Housing A group of senior experts from Government, industry and the non-governmental sector will rise to the challenge of making buildings more sustainable Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced today. The group will develop a new Code for Sustainable Buildings to achieve higher levels of environmental performance than those stipulated by regulation. The Government pledged earlier this year to make buildings more environmentally friendly through the development of a new Code. Announcing the steering group Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said:
Richard McCarthy Director General of Sustainable Communities at ODPM will chair the steering group. He said:
The initial focus of the Code will be on new housing. There will be a number of demonstration projects; including one in a Market Renewal Pathfinder project and another in the Thames Gateway growth area. A full economic assessment will be carried out as part of the demonstration process. Robert Napier CEO WWF-UK said:
The Code will be a key element of the Deputy Prime Minister's £38 billion Sustainable Communities Plan. Thus strong linkages will be made to issues wider than building resources. The Steering Group will consult partners including CABE, English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation to ensure high quality design and affordability are being achieved. Membership of the steering group is as follows: Richard McCarthy, Sustainable Communities Director General at ODPM A web page, on the DTI Website at www.dti.gov.uk, has been established to enable stakeholders to contribute to, and be kept informed of, the development of the Code. On 29 November, the DTI Technology Programme (http://www.dti.gov.uk/technologyprogramme/ ) announced calls for proposals in 9 high-priority technology areas including an indicative amount of £10m to support collaborative R&D projects on Waste Management and Minimisation – the R&D element of the BREW programme. (The BREW Programme covers England . The Devolved Administrations are responsible in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales . However, collaborative proposals that include an organisation from a Devolved Administration will be considered on a case-by-case basis.) Areas include:
The call's actual paper can be accessed via the DTI website at: http://www.dti.gov.uk/technologyprogramme/pdfs/wastemanagement.pdf Project details Industry-led proposals that address the above technology application areas are sought for collaborative R&D projects that involve science-to-business and business-to-business interactions. Projects can range from small, highly focused basic research projects, aimed at establishing technical feasibility, through to applied research and then to experimental development projects configured to produce technology demonstrators. In particular projects are sought that can demonstrate benefits to a number of business sectors and address strategic approaches to waste management. Projects must have strong waste producer representation and a clear exploitation route for the technologies. Timetable: 13 January 2005 (am) – Workshop at DTI Conference Centre,
1 Victoria Street London. Key Contacts: For advice on the application process: For technical advice on the call: 7. Does Construction Lack Substance on Sustainability? We’ve all heard the one about the construction industry becoming sustainable haven’t we? But did we really understand the message - and if so what are we doing about it? Britain's commitment to reduce 60% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 saw Tony Blair declare that tackling global warming is 'unquestionably' an environmental priority and one that needs to be addressed at an international level. The Government has recently admitted that by 2010 the UK would only achieve a 14% cut in carbon dioxide emissions from 1990 levels, instead of the planned reduction of 20%. So where does the UK construction industry fit into all of this. 50% of the UK problem can be apportioned directly to the buildings we live and work in. In very broad terms, there is a need to reduce (new build) CO2 by a factor of four. The current (existing) stock will need to be refurbished to use around one third of what is currently the norm. This is a huge challenge. The current public sector spend will result in buildings that are much better in terms of fossil fuel dependency but still fall short of what is really needed. We are effectively building projects that will need twice their ‘carbon ration’ by the year 2050. Yet surely we hope that today’s new builds will last for at least 100 years. Dave Hampton CIOB sustainability spokesman, Chair of CIC’s Sustainable Development Committee and director of ABS Consulting said, “Figures from The Alliance for Building Sustainability (TABS) show that £15bn a year is being spent on new construction - but will these new buildings deliver value - for hundreds of years? If we focus unduly on initial costs then the design team will be prevented from creating the sort of ‘legacy’ development that will best serve the organisation’s purpose, and become a source of increasing pride, and asset value, into the longer term.” “Buildings are far more central to the sustainability case than most people think. We are judged on our buildings, or at least perceived that the building we occupy provides to our values and beliefs. “However green or not our buildings are, at the moment this performance is invisible. We cannot see performance, just as we cannot see carbon dioxide emissions. We need credible labels to make performance visible. These are coming fast, and the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive will improve things enormously, but we do not need to wait for the EPBD before we proudly declare the CO2 of our own buildings.” Fast Facts The UK is 1% of the world's population and yet we produce 2.3%
of the world's C02 Further information from the Chartered Institute of Building Read more about CIC’s Sustainable Development Committee 8. Merry Christmas from all at the Construction Industry Council CIC is supporting the CRASH Christmas Card Campaign again this year. Click here to see our electronic Christmas Card The events page of the CIC website is frequently updated visit the events page for details. Events recently added include: 19 January 2005 , Lean Construction, the next generation, the SCRI
Forum, University of Salford |
|
| For general information please contact CIC | ||
| What is CIC
| Activities | Services
| Regions | News
and Events | Links | Search
| Site Map | Accessibility | Terms and conditions | Home |
© 2010 Construction Industry Council. Company Registration No. 2388396 A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales |