The new CITB-ConstructionSkills video: Green Deal Connection Roadshow video is now live on the ConstructionSkills website. The footage, taken at the Peterborough roadshow on Wednesday 19 October 2011, features representatives from DECC, CITB-ConstructionSkills, Asset Skills and SummitSkills discussing the skills and training SMEs and installers will need in order to be ready for Continue Reading
Minister calls for 25-year self build mortgages
Lenders ought to provide people planning self-build projects fixed rate mortgages of as long as 25 years. This is according to housing minister Grant Shapps, who told the Building Societies Association in London that deals like this are common in countries such as Scandinavia and Germany. “It would be a Continue Reading
Call for Green Deal qualifications improvement
IMPROVEMENTS to the Green Deal installer qualifications specification could make it easier and cheaper for construction firms to take part in the Green Deal. That was the call of CITB-ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council and Industry Training Board, and the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), in response to the consultation Continue Reading
Universities take off after procurement pilot
Three major UK universities will be the first in the country to implement a new system that allows single-click access between the UK’s largest register of pre-qualified construction businesses and a major e-procurement provider. The London School of Economics (LSE), University of Greenwich and King’s College London will now be Continue Reading
Statement from CITB-ConstructionSkills on the Energy Act and the Green Deal
CITB-ConstructionSkills has welcomed the announcement from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) that the Energy Act has become law, setting in stone the legal framework for the Green Deal. But the Sector Skills Council and Construction Industry Training Board called on industry to act now to prepare for Continue Reading
New factory to include recreation area for families
A company has promised that it will create a recreation area for families alongside a new factory and homes for the facility’s workers. Architects and consultants hired by Wilkin & Sons revealed the plans for the £15 million development in Tiptree, which includes 250 homes and community facilities. Local newspaper Continue Reading
Pylon Design Winner Revealed
Bystrup’s innovative T-Pylon design has been unanimously agreed by the judging panel as the winner of the Pylon Design competition run by the Department of Energy & Climate Change, National Grid, and the Royal Institute of British Architects. National Grid will now work with Bystrup to develop their T-Pylon design Continue Reading
Builders Brokers Busted
Four linked companies that claimed to provide a consumer protection service to the public by offering a free database of trusted builders and tradesmen have been ordered into liquidation by the High Court following an investigation by Company Investigations of the Insolvency Service. The Building Trades Database Ltd, Quality Build Continue Reading
THE EVER EXPANDING WORLD OF EPS INSULATION
THE EVER EXPANDING WORLD OF EPS INSULATION What’s the first material that comes to mind when considering insulation materials? Rock wool? Mineral wool? Polyurethane? How about expanded polystyrene? If you’re not aware of the latter, then the article that follows is perfect for you. As part of the wider energy Continue Reading
Architects are top performers
High-end architects led the top financial performers of 2011, as consultants’ staffing levels, salaries and fee incomes all edged up. Architecture practice RTKL – a US-based subsidiary of Arcadis – was the top financial performer in Building’s top 200 consultants league tables this year, raking in £190,000 per UK employee. Continue Reading