1. Official Level 2 website to be unveiled by British Standards Institution on 4 April
The official online home of Level 2 BIM is to be a new website hosted by the British Standards Institution that is set to go live on 4 April, the official start date of the central government BIM mandate. Read more…
2. Japanese firm snaps up BDP for £102m to gain ‘technical edge’ in BIM
Japan’s largest engineering consultancy Nippon Koei surprised the industry by buying architect and multi-disciplinary design consultant BDP for £102m – a deal the Japanese firm says was motivated by the desire to acquire BIM expertise ahead of a Japanese government BIM mandate. Read more…
3. Google inspires new BIM app platform ‘Jenca’ from Bristol start-up
A Bristol-based start-up hopes that its new platform for BIM apps – now available in Beta at jenca.org – will mark the arrival of today’s modern web technology in the BIM world, offering industry professionals the user-friendly, intuitive interface associated with Google apps. Read more…
4. Quinn says Balfour Beatty still on track despite £199m loss linked to historic projects
Balfour Beatty’s chief executive Leo Quinn remained confident about the group’s prospects as well as the potential for work in the UK construction industry, despite announcing a pretax loss of £199m in its latest 2015 annual results. Read more…
5. Arup trials ‘Internet of Things’ desk controlled by smartphones
Arup announced it was about to go public on a research project it has been running for the past 18 months, intended to empower office workers to control their working environment using smartphones. Read more…
6. Osborne’s budget for the next generation: what you might have missed
From BIM Level 3 to the academisation of our schools to the apprenticeship levy, the latest Budget contained many changes affecting construction. CM offered a round-up of the most important. Read more…
7. Didcot tragedy could lead to CDM rethink, says demolition sector chief
The catastrophic collapse of a building at Didcot Power Station as it was being prepared for demolition in February, resulting in the loss of four lives, could drive changes in the health and safety regulations for demolition, one leading figure in the sector told Construction Manager. Read more…
8. ‘CDM Differently’ agenda borrowed from Australia gains ground in ICE, RIBA, CIC
Members of the Health and Safety panels of the ICE, RIBA and Construction Industry Council (CIC) are exploring a concept called “CDM Differently”, based on the thinking behind Safety Differently, a book by Australian academic Sidney Dekker. Read more…
9. The reality gap in buildings’ operational performance
The new Building Performance Evaluation review from Innovate UK reveals how low-carbon buildings are still falling dramatically short on their energy-efficiency promises. Elaine Knutt asks how the industry can address the problem. Read more…
10. Doubts increase over Hinkley Point, but economists say benefit only ‘pencilled in’
The resignation of French energy company EDF’s finance director on the grounds that he could not sanction its current plans to progress with the Hinkley Point C project once again raised doubts over the project’s future. Read more…
Top in BIM case studies
BIM shows its bottle at Chiswick Bridge
When BAM Nuttall sized up the job of repairing parts of Chiswick Bridge without making any changes at all to their appearance as part of an “early contractor involvement” process agreed with Transport for London, it found that the bridge as built did not quite measure up to the drawings that had survived from the original construction process. Read more…
Top in International
Vienna is the world’s nicest city
Vienna has once more been named the city with the best quality of life for business professionals by Mercer Consulting, the world’s biggest human resources company. Read more…
Top in Comment
It’s time for the built environment to start thinking about air quality
Peter Hansford, former chief construction adviser to the government and ICE president, on air quality and poor health and the industry’s contribution to air pollution. Read more…
Top in Management
Miles apart, yet Hong Kong and the UK share the same skills gap crisis
Ashley Wheaton, principal at the University College of Estate Management, which recently opened a new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong, on the built environment skills gap in the region, parallels with the UK, and what they can learn from each other. Read more…
