A key figure has called for an “industry-wide adoption” of conflict-avoidance processes (CAPs) after the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) introduced fresh measures to help construction firms avoid court battles. Len Bunton, chair of the Conflict Avoidance Coalition (CAC), hailed updated guidance from the RICS and contracts provider NEC…
A roofing contractor who was filmed on a doorbell camera illegally disposing of asbestos has been ordered to pay more than £3,500 in costs. Stephen Wilks, trading as S Wilks Roofing, of Fernley Road, Mile End, Stockport, pleaded guilty to breaching asbestos safety regulations at Ashton-under-Lyne Magistrates Court on 28…
A company and its director have been fined £18,000 after a man was injured when a wall collapse led to him bing buried during excavation work in West Sussex. JHE Construction and its director Jordan Hay-Ellis pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws following the incident on 23 February…
A developer is suing three Carey Group firms for £2.4m, saying it suffered losses due to a subsidiary’s role in the demolition bid-rigging scandal. Circadian, a subsidiary of Hong Kong property giant CK Asset Holdings, has lodged a claim with the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) for £2.4m in damages, plus…
Directors of construction firms hiring casual staff without checking their right to work could face jail terms under a government crackdown announced today. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced new laws and increased enforcement efforts to tackle illegal employment in the UK. Checks would be mandatory for zero-hours workers under the…
Technology is changing. And so is Construction News. Our editorial team has been using artificial intelligence (AI) behind the scenes for some time now to summarise long reports and data as part of our research process, as well as produce some illustrations. But we have not used it to produce…
Government proposals to open up “greybelt” land for new housing are a “Trojan horse” that could spell the end of the greenbelt, according to the opposition’s shadow housing secretary. Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Kevin Hollinrake’s comments came during the second reading of the government’s…
Immigration enforcement officers have arrested 35 men and a teenager suspected of working illegally on a construction site in Belfast. The Home Office said yesterday (24 March) that immigration enforcement officers carried out a “major co-ordinated operation” with Belfast Harbour Police at the city’s Titanic Quarter. Intelligence that “illegal workers”…
More than 8,300 bounce back loans issued to the construction sector during the pandemic are suspected to have been fraudulent, Construction News can reveal. The loans, issued from May 2020 as emergency relief of up to £50,000 for small companies, were backed by 100 per cent government guarantees. Data obtained…
Plant manufacturers and operators have raised concerns that a change in the law over the operational weight of mobile concrete mixers could have financial implications for the sector. But this Tuesday (18 March), a two-year government inquiry rejected their calls for the vehicles to be exempt from standard weight restrictions. An…
Construction News Read UK Construction Industry News, Analysis, Opinion and data