1. Auto-procurement predicted in BIM 2050 report
A new report from the Construction Industry Council’s BIM 2050 group suggests that younger professionals in the industry today will eventually work in a world that features advanced technologies such as “auto-procurement”, self-assembling structures and self-healing materials. Read more…
2. Eco school to be partly demolished amid £7m claim
After only four years of use, part of Dartington Primary School, near Totnes, Devon, one of the UK’s first zero-carbon eco-schools, will be demolished and rebuilt amid a £7m legal row over extensive roof leaks. Read more…
3. Paul Morrell backs ‘dreamy’ garden bridge with ever-increasing price tag
The government’s former chief construction adviser Paul Morrell is backing the controversial proposal to build a £175m “garden bridge” across the Thames, in his role as vice chair of the charity behind the project. Read more…
4. Where next for Balfour Beatty? Comment, analysis and ‘kitchen sinking’
After Balfour Beatty revealed that its own management processes had identified a further £75m profit overstatement, commentators have suggested that the forthcoming site-by-site analysis by accountant KPMG is likely to uncover yet further losses. Read more…
5. RIBA offshoot wins £1m contract to develop BIM checking tool
NBS, owned by RIBA Enterprises, has been awarded the £1m contract to develop an online checking system that will verify whether BIM models contain the right level of data that clients will need at each phase of the project. Read more…
6. Skanska USA in legal row over $117m modular tower
Skanska USA and its development partner Forest City Ratner Companies are suing each other over allegations of technical and management shortcomings on a groundbreaking New York modular residential tower project. Read more…
7. 10 tips for attracting and retaining staff
Flexibility, nurturing, employee ‘branding’… Hays Construction’s Duncan Bullimore clearly hit on a popular theme with his article on building a happy workforce. Read more…
8. Particle physicist and engineers build BIM model
Arup has put a BIM model at the heart of a five-year project to plan a new circular “atom smasher” four times the size of Switzerland’s Large Hadron Collider, giving us further insight into the Higgs boson, dark matter and the origins of the universe. Read more…
9. Scotland needs certainty on new devolution deal, business leaders say
After Scottish voters rejected independence from the UK, the business and construction communities called for greater certainty on a new political settlement for Scotland as a platform to build business opportunities and economic growth. Read more…
10. ARB fines architect £5,000 after eco-house went £50k over budget
The Architects Registration Board has issued Dundee architect Gerard Young of Aim Architecture a £5,000 penalty order after finding him guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and serious professional incompetence. Read more…
Top in Agenda
Circular economy: the world keeps turning
The idea of a circular economy, where everything is built with re-use in mind and endlessly recycled, is gaining traction. As Katie Puckett reports, it presents a massive challenge for the industry – but also the opportunity to change the way we live. Read more…
Top in Management
Be vigilant to stop construction’s silent killer
Mike Slater, president of the British Occupational Hygiene Society, discusses a silent killer, construction dust, and how it puts workers at greater risk of ill health. Read more…
Top in International
The Electrification of Africa
A special report from CM’s sister title Global Construction Review into the surge of power construction that will transform the continent over the next six years. Read more…
Top in Comment
Is NBS becoming the Google of BIM?
John Eynon FCIOB welcomes three new BIM initiatives from NBS, but warns that we will need the stimulus of competition. Read more…
