Building News is an information portal for all professional building specifiers. Here you can find all of the latest construction news from around the UK and the rest of the world.

VIDEO: 5 of the most amazing examples of construction equipment

Last week saw a giant 157m long, 22m wide, 1,500-tonne machine bridge building machine begin work on Mersey Gateway Bridge.

Described as looking like a giant Meccano structure, Trinity is a movable scaffolding system that will attach to the bridge piers and enable the elevated approach viaducts to be built over the Mersey estuary.

In the wake of such an impressive machine roaring into existence, we wanted to share with you 5 other examples of extraordinary equipment. Watch the video below to see them in action!

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Builders bear the brunt of building site crime

Power tools are the most stolen item from building sites and workers in the construction trade, with small traders suffering most from crime in the industry.

A national security equipment installation and servicing company has found that smaller, easy-to-fence items are more likely to be stolen, but there are still significant numbers of thefts of large plant and machinery.

The Yorkshire-based CCTV.co.uk company says that while site and contractor van security has improved greatly in recent years, the “inside job” is still one of the major risks to any building site.

CCTV.co.uk surveyed 75 building firms, from large companies down to sole traders, and found that the ten most stolen items in 2015 were:

  1. Power tools
  2. Bags of cement
  3. Ladders
  4. Plant machinery
  5. Wheelbarrows
  6. Building materials and other supplies
  7. Cable
  8. Metals
  9. Personal items – radios, phones, cash
  10. Hand tools

Ratcliffe notes that power tools are far and away the most vulnerable item because they have a high resale value, and they’re usually very portable. Such is the specialised nature of the stolen goods, they can only be resold to rogue traders looking to equip themselves cheaply and with little care to the crime victims in their own profession.

“A determined gang of thieves can steal thousands of pounds worth of decent quality gear from a single trader and put him out of a job for months,” he says. “Even taking every precaution to safeguard your property, it only takes a minute with your guard down for your livelihood to be taken away.

“Buying stolen professional tools on the quiet isn’t a victimless crime.”

While targeted theft from contractors is a major problem, the biggest proportion of construction industry crime comes from theft of supplies, materials and plant from building sites. Unfortunately, no site manager can rule out the risk of the “inside job”, CCTV.co.uk says.

“Only a proportion of this kind of activity is ‘dead of night’ thieving,” Ratcliffe says, “Instead building sites haemorrhage material through petty theft and stealing-to-order.”

These stories from victims of construction industry crime speak volumes:

“Like the sign on the van, I never keep tools in there overnight, and they’re always well secured at other times. Instead, someone broke into the van when I parked up at the supermarket on the way home. £3,000 lost in 20 minutes, we couldn’t have a holiday because I had to buy new gear.” – Barry, sole trader

“We always have to budget in a little bit of theft of materials, because you can’t stop the odd opportunist thief. But one job was losing metals, cable and supplies hand-over-fist, almost like they had a shopping list. That probably means somewhere there’s a house built out of our profits.” – Terry, company manager

“I hate it when the small stuff goes missing, like your radio or mobile phone. That means you are working with a thief, and I don’t like that. It happens too much.” – Pavel, bricklayer

Ratcliffe says that sometimes extreme measures have to be taken to protect property. One study in 2011 found that painting plant and equipment pink deters thieves, as it makes it harder to sell on.

“Of course, if everybody painted their gear pink, we’d all be back to square one, which is why technology such as smart water is so effective,” he says. Scaffolding companies know this to be the case, with each local company using a different colour, meaning that stolen equipment is easily identified.

“Construction sites can be chaotic places, which make the ideal for the criminal,” says Ratcliffe. “All it takes is equating crime just as high as safety, and we can save both personal livelihoods and company profits.”

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UK construction set for growth – with 230,000 jobs to be created

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is calling for more apprentices as it releases new figures today which forecast annual average growth of 2.5% for the next five years – and a massive 232,000 jobs to be created.

CITB’s Construction Skills Network (CSN) report – the industry’s most comprehensive and up-to-date – predicts sustained growth from 2016-2020, driven by infrastructure and private housing.

Steve Radley, Policy Director at the CITB, says,“All types of training, and especially apprenticeships, will be vital to delivering this pipeline of work. This positive forecast should inspire more people to start apprenticeships, and more firms to take them on.”

New nuclear power stations at Hinkley Point, Somerset, and Wylfa, Anglesey, alongside rail projects such as Crossrail and HS2, will drive year-on-year infrastructure growth of 6.1%. The commercial construction sector will experience growth of 3.4% per annum, while private housebuilding will also experience sustained growth across the forecast period. Output in the housebuilding is expected return to pre-recession levels by the end of the forecast period, reaching £26bn by 2020.

UK construction growth is set to be fourth in Europe up to 2017, with British builders outstripping those in Germany, France and Spain.

Annual growth is predicted in all the UK’s regions and nations up to 2020, with Wales faring best with year-on-year growth of 7.1%, followed by the South West (4.4%), London (3.5%), and the North West (2.6%).

In response to the ongoing skills challenge, the CITB is in 2016 launching a series of new partnerships with local and regional training providers to make sure the right training takes place where it is needed most.

It is also continuing to work closely with the construction industry to further develop Go Construct, an industry-led web portal, to showcase the opportunities in the industry and encourage more people to join the sector. This should help construction firms recruit the talent they need to grow, and help workers learn about all of the great career opportunities available.

Steve Radley, Director of Policy at the Construction Industry Training Board, said “We can’t build the Britain we want without growing apprenticeships – and the careers they lead onto. That’s why it is vital that these new statistics, showing solid, sustained growth, inspire more people join the construction industry.

“We also want to attract workers who have left the industry to return, and upskill those currently in the sector, so we can deliver major projects and new housing faster and better.”

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Fall in workloads for small builders

Workloads for small builders across the country took a downward turn towards the end of last year, the Federation of Master Builders’ (FMB) latest State of Trade Survey has revealed, amid worries over wider economic uncertainty.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said “The building industry remains confident of continued growth but the slowdown we saw in the last quarter is a cause for concern. Undoubtedly, the adverse weather experienced in large parts of the country has played its part, by causing projects to overrun and costs to spiral. However, the fact that both current and expected construction workloads are down in every region is worrying given some of the gloomy predictions being made about the wider economy.”

“Most concerning is that the last three months of 2015 represent the first quarter in nearly three years in which private sector SME housebuilding showed a negative balance. Even if this is a temporary blip, it comes at a time when merely managing to tread water would be inadequate in tackling the housing crisis. We need firms of all sizes firing on all cylinders if we’re going to address the chronic under-supply of housing but, unfortunately, a complex set of problems continue to constrain smaller developers. A concerted effort to tackle ongoing issues around access to finance, availability of suitable small sites and shortages of skilled labour is vital. The survey findings underline the latter point, showing 52% of our members reporting difficulty in finding carpenters and joiners, and 50% continue to have trouble hiring quality bricklayers.”

“We still expect to see growth in our sector continue throughout 2016 and we are optimistic that businesses can bounce back from what appears to have been a disappointing end to the year. However, the coming 12 months still hold in store considerable headwinds, not least the fears over the wider economy slowing down. If 2016 starts in anything less than a positive fashion, we could see growing fears that the hard-earned gains made by the construction industry over the past two or three years are indeed under threat.”

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VIDEO: Giant bridge building machine begins work on Mersey Gateway Bridge

A 157m long, 22m wide, 1,500-tonne machine called Trinity has begun work on the Mersey Gateway crossing.

Described as looking like a giant Meccano structure, Trinity is a movable scaffolding system that will attach to the bridge piers and enable the elevated approach viaducts to be built over the Mersey estuary.

The machine will act as a giant concrete mould for the deck of the approach viaducts, which will be constructed in sections (known as ‘spans’) of approx 70m in length. It will take up to two weeks to build each span.

Trinity started construction work in Widnes on Thursday with a concrete pour for the first deck section of the northern approach viaduct, which will lead to the new bridge. The first pour lasted 24 hours and consumed an impressive 160 truckloads of concrete, poured into the 1,170 m3 formwork mould.

It took three months to assemble her on site from 1,200 component parts held together by more than 60,000 bolts. She will now be on site for the next 14 months.

General Manager of the Merseylink contracting joint venture, Hugh O’Connor said “This is a hugely exciting time for our construction teams. An enormous amount of effort has gone into preparing and testing Trinity ahead of today’s concrete pour. We are delighted to achieve this important milestone and get this next phase of the project underway.”

Once the bridge is complete, the equipment is set to be dismantled and recycled. Making it an innovative and sustainable one of a kind!

See how the machine works in the below video:

Watch the full version of the 3D fly-through of the plans for the Mersey Gateway Project below. This includes a look at the route, the main crossing and the construction methods.

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Report shows surge in energy efficiency projects

A surge in the number of energy efficiency projects commissioned has been reported in the latest UK Energy Efficiency Trends report published by EEVS energy analysts and Bloomberg New Energy Finance today.

Over 80% of those responding to the survey confirmed they had authorised new programmes in Q3 of 2015. This is the highest proportion of new projects recorded in a single quarter since the survey began in 2012. It also shows a significant uptick in commissioning, exceeding the long term trend of 70%.

Consumer technologies

Of the technologies being used, lighting continues to outperform other energy saving technologies (Figure 11, below). The specification and use of lighting controls grew, with a noticeable increase during Q3. Boiler controls also experienced growth, perhaps due to seasonal influences, as did projects that included efficiency measures to a building’s fabric. There was a fall in the number of measures specified for heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems.

Click here to download this graph: EET Jan 2016 Figure 11

Consumer finance

Survey responses showed that the capital cost profile of energy efficiency projects remained volatile. Q3 saw a strong volume of smaller scale projects (up to £50k) and large projects (over £500k), but the core mid-range (£50 – 500k) was down, accounting for only one in five projects.

Financing arrangements remained stable, but a trend that has emerged throughout 2015 has been the use of combination funding (a mix of in-house and external finance).

Financial payback periods returned to the long term trend of between three and four years, driven by a growth in longer five to 10-year payback projects.

Supplier landscape

Energy efficiency suppliers reporting rising national orders dropped to an all-time low in Q3, whilst overseas orders picked up for 28% of respondents. Supplier demand however remained the biggest single sectoral concern at 31%. When combined, however, 35% of suppliers were concerned about government impacts on performance, with regulation (14%) and subsidy/policy uncertainty (21%).

Corroborating these findings, Jason Thackray, Head of Energy Services at Bellrock FM, said: “In the last six months there has been significantly more interest in energy reduction technologies across the supply chain. This is a really encouraging sign that organisations are focusing on energy and therefore carbon reduction. Bellrock works closely with the supply chain to ensure our clients get the best possible return on investment.”

David Lewis, marketing manager, energy efficiency, Schneider Electric said “It is clear from this report that uncertainty around subsidies and policies exists and this remains a key challenge for the energy efficiency industry. More than this, however, it supports the argument for greater education of existing personnel within organisations, and improved optimisation of existing energy assets, alongside capital investment in technologies and services. In order to successfully fuel continued growth in energy efficiency projects, suppliers must enable greater use of information across their products and services, ensuring that businesses are equipped to make better decisions of an investment or operational nature when it comes to energy consumption.”

Commenting on the findings, Ian Jeffries, Head of Performance Management at EEVS, said “This set of quarterly market results points to something of a ‘a tale of two sectors’.

“On the one hand we have bullish consumers reporting an upbeat set of results and, in particular, an 82% commissioning rate for new energy saving products and services.”

“On the other hand, this buoyancy has not trickled down to our supplier respondents that posted a largely downbeat set of results driven by flat domestic sales and continued concerns over future demand, alongside what is increasingly felt to be an unsupportive policy and regulatory landscape.”

“Taken together – and bearing in mind the wider macro-economic picture and major global uncertainties that will also influence respondents – it is clear that there is a raft of business uncertainties to deal with. Now could be a good time to be on the consumer side of the tracks.”

Of the consumer opportunity, Michael Rudd, co-head of the International Energy Management Team at Bird & Bird LLP, said “The private sector in the UK is pioneering the delivery of energy management solutions. Funders are creating multiple, increasingly sophisticated funding products – there is good, available money in the energy efficiency space. Together with progress in creating bankable project income streams, bespoke insurance products and commoditisation of contractual documents, we are creating a very accessible energy management industry.”

Compiled from the results of a confidential, quarterly industry survey, the UK Energy Efficiency Trends Report clearly evidences industry trends and has become one of the sector’s leading sources of market intelligence. The report covers both energy suppliers and consumers, providing differentiated results for each market sector.

The report is delivered by a research partnership between EEVS and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and supported by Bird & Bird, Bellrock and Schneider Electric.

Download the full report here.

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Green Gas plant to inject £60 million into local economy

Britain’s leading green energy company, Ecotricity, has submitted a planning application for a Green Gas Mill at Sparsholt College – a partnership that will inject £60 million into the local economy.

As part of the unique partnership, Ecotricity will finance and build the Green Gas Mill, with an initial £10 million investment, and will also help fund the development of a renewable energy centre, where the college can train the workforce necessary to support the green gas revolution coming to Britain.

Ecotricity introduced the concept of making green gas from grass in Britain early last year[i], and if the company’s application to Winchester City Council is accepted, the Green Gas Mill will pump £3 million into the local economy every year for the twenty years of its operation.

Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder, said: “We have to stop burning fossil fuels, and green gas will play a big part in helping us to achieve that in Britain – it’s good for our economy, because we’ll no longer need to import those expensive fossil fuels; it’s good for the environment, because it’s carbon neutral and creates new wildlife habitats; and it’s good for farmers, because it allows them to diversify, rely less on farming livestock, and build a more sustainable future.

“The world signed up to the limiting temperature rise to well below 2 degrees C at the Paris Climate Conference last year – that included a long term goal of being carbon neutral after 2050 and eventually carbon negative, which means taking more carbon out of the atmosphere than we put in. They’re big ambitions – and green gas is essential to that vision.

“Sparsholt is one of the first Green Gas Mills we’re looking to build in Britain – one of the first in what will be a green gas revolution in this country. And what’s particularly special is that, together with Sparsholt, we’ll be helping to train the green gas engineers Britain will need.”

The Sparsholt College Green Gas Mill, fuelled by locally harvested grass, could produce enough clean gas to power the equivalent of 4,000 homes every year.

Tim Jackson, Sparsholt College principal, said: “We’ve carried out public consultation over the past four months with local councils, farmers and residents – and the feedback has been a mix of those who are very positive to those with concerns about the impact on local roads and the visual landscape.

“I am pleased to say that we were able to provide facts and explanations to address most of the concerns and look forward to responding to more of those as these arise.

“The Green Gas Mill is the next step on the journey towards Sparsholt College developing our status as a ‘Centre for the Demonstration of Environmental Technologies’, which is being supported by Ecotricity and through a grant from the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership.

“Creating our own green gas on site will massively cut our environmental impact and reduce our energy bills – which have made up an increasing portion of our budget over the past few years, money that could be better spent on educating our students.

“However, the fact we can share the financial and environmental benefits of this project with the local farming community is a massively positive outcome for the college.”

Up to eight specialist professional jobs will be created to run the Green Gas Mill, while the new supply contracts with farmers – providing the grass and rye feedstock required to supply the anaerobic digestion process – will also reinforce existing jobs.

Feedback from local residents has most frequently focused on concerns about extra traffic and the routes chosen to transport feedstock.

Tim continued: “We have addressed residents concerns in the planning application and can reassure people that the Green Gas Mill will only receive normal farm traffic such as tractors and trailers which are typical of the countryside.

“We will ensure deliveries don’t happen during peak traffic times, tractors stick to main roads wherever possible, do not go through Sparsholt village, and in fact even at the busiest times of year during harvest, feedstock movements would represent a very small proportion of existing college traffic and be well within the capacity of the highway network.

“The Green Gas Mill will be a key component in the College’s development of a Centre of Excellence that will produce specialist professionals to work for the green gas industry, training engineers, plant managers and technicians in what is a growth area across the agriculture, energy, waste, water and food processing sectors.”

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Stephen Fry to join the building & construction industry at Ecobuild 2016

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Stephen Fry has been announced as the special guest at Ecobuild 2016, the UK’s largest show dedicated to construction and energy.

The erudite writer, actor and campaigner joins a lineup of industry visionaries, leaders and experts.

Stephen will be interviewed by broadcaster Will Gompertz at the culmination of the day’s conference programme on Wednesday 9th March.

The audience can expect to hear Fry’s forthright and entertaining views and insights around issues close to his heart – areas that will resonate with the Ecobuild audience. The session will afford audience members a rare opportunity to ask questions in a Q&A session.

Martin Hurn, Director of Ecobuild, said: “Stephen personifies the spirit of Ecobuild to inform, entertain and inspire the industry. He is the most exciting speaker we have welcomed in Ecobuild’s history of thought leadership. We couldn’t have hoped for a better conclusion to what promises to be a fascinating day on the Ecobuild Arena.”

After the discussion, Fry will go on to host the prestigious BD Architect of the Year Awards dinner held at ExCeL that evening. Recognising excellence across 13 categories, the awards celebrate the very best practices currently operating in the UK.

For further information about Ecobuild 2016 which takes place from 8th to 10th March at London’s ExCeL, visit www.ecobuild.co.uk.

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Government tax avoidance measures could cost development industry £660m a year

Government plans to clamp down on tax avoidance could have the unintended consequence of causing the UK to lose out on as much as £660m development a year – the equivalent to the construction of Westfield London every year, and approximately 9,000 construction jobs.

The British Property Federation (BPF) has warned that Government proposals to restrict the tax deductibility of interest – which will essentially increase the price of debt – could have a disproportionate effect on debt-reliant industries such as real estate and infrastructure.

The Government has been consulting on recommendations made by the OECD to combat multi-nationals ‘shifting’ profits between different jurisdictions in order to take advantage of the lowest tax rate. It is proposing to restrict the tax deductibility of interest to within 10-30% of a company’s earnings. Interest costs are currently wholly deductible for tax purposes, subject to certain anti-avoidance conditions being met.

The BPF supports the aims of this initiative but is concerned that the proposals go beyond what is necessary to combat tax avoidance and will actually harm investment in UK towns and cities.

In its response to the consultation, the BPF has warned that increasing the overall cost to real estate borrowers will likely lead to a decrease in investment in real estate – a sector which contributes 5.4% of the UK’s Gross Value Added, and which is responsible for building new homes and turning around struggling town centres. It notes that the measures could also affect the UK’s global competitiveness as an investment location and argues that pensioners – who collectively own swathes of real estate through their pension funds – will end up with lower returns as a result of the proposals.

The BPF recommends that interest payments to unrelated parties be given full tax relief, as they pose a very low risk of tax avoidance. The Government should also wait to see how other OECD countries implement the measures so as to not end up out of line and lose competitiveness. Finally, the BPF argues it makes no sense for tax exempt investors such as REITs to be subject to the proposals.

Ion Fletcher, director of policy (finance) at the British Property Federation, commented “While we are wholly supportive of the Government’s plans to clamp down on tax avoidance, the current proposals go much further than is necessary and are particularly punitive for capital intensive industries like real estate. Almost a million jobs around the country rely on sustained investment in commercial and residential property and the proposals put these at risk.

“By making sure the proposals work with – rather than against – the grain of capital intensive industries, the Government could clamp down on tax avoidance without damaging the prospects of regeneration projects throughout the country. We hope that by working with Government, we can come up with a framework that tackles tax avoidance without damaging investment.”

Bill Hughes, head of real assets at Legal & General Investment Management, said “At a time where the private sector’s investment in the totality of the built environment needs to increase, there is a risk that the BEPS initiative acts as a material disincentive. It is critical that the regime is shaped in such a way as to avoid acting as a brake on long-term institutional investment in regeneration and infrastructure, the vast majority of which is for the public benefit.”

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Wet weather adds to construction’s woes

New construction activity contracted by 14% during the final quarter of 2015 on a year earlier, according to figures released today (14th January) by industry analysts Glenigan.

The value of new work starting on site fell across the residential, non-residential and civil engineering sectors of the industry. Over 2015 as a whole, starts were down 4%, with both non-residential and civil engineering sectors having declined. This is the first annual decline recorded by Glenigan since 2009, and follows growth of 10% in 2014.

In fact only a handful of sectors saw rises in project starts during 2015. These were the private housing, industrial, education and utilities sectors.

Glenigan’s monthly index of project starts had already fallen into negative territory during the three months to November, but the extreme weather conditions in December have brought a starker pace of decline.

Commenting on this month’s figures, Allan Wilén, Glenigan’s Economics Director, said: “The wettest December on record has added to the industry’s woes. Moreover sites will stay waterlogged for some time, hindering starts in the new year.”

“We expect the upcoming output figures to reveal another quarterly decline in construction activity. The lack of new projects starting in 2015 will cause a New Year hangover for growth in early 2016.”

Glenigan’s data suggests a lack of confidence among the construction industry’s clients. The value of work receiving detailed planning approval* increased by 15% in 2015, but this has failed to translate into workers on site.

Mr. Wilén concluded: “There is a significant pipeline in place to fuel construction growth in 2016. However clients are currently not pressing ahead with planned schemes at the same rate we witnessed during 2014.”

The Midlands and Northern regions of England fared best during 2015. The East Midlands, East of England and North East of England were the only three parts of the UK to record growth over the year, though declines across the other Northern and Midlands regions were modest. In London, Southern England and Scotland the decline in new work has been more stark. The value of starts fell by 11% in the Capital in 2015.

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