1. Peter Barker – Does the Digital Plan of Work mean the end for BIM managers?
Following the launch of the BIM Toolkit, Peter Barker, managing director at the BIM Academy, asked where it left BIM in terms of leadership. Read more…
2. CSCS shelves plan to move to simplify scheme with single ‘smart’ card
The board of the Construction Skills Certification Scheme decided in April to shelve plans to introduce a single ‘smart’ card that would replace its current 13 colour-coded cards, citing industry confusion over the plan. Read more…
3. Denmark’s MT Højgaard: It’s BIM, but not as we know it
BIM+ visited Copenhagen to meet the BIM/VDC team from Danish contractor MT Højgaard, where BIM is called “virtual design and construction”. Read more…
4. @thephilpster is the most influential BIM commentator on Twitter
In March Construction Manager and BIM+ set out to identify the most influential, interesting and informative BIM tweeters, and David Philp FCIOB of the government’s BIM Task Group came out top of the table. Read more…
5. Warning of crisis for NHS estates funding after PF2 Pathfinder goes ‘adrift’
Carillion’s position as sole bidder on the £350m Midland Metropolitan hospital raised doubts about the viability of the PF2 private finance option, according to Simon Kydd, head of healthcare at WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff. Read more…
6. Affordable Arckit model-making kit launched for the classroom
A model-building kit that allows users to build of building designs and is already in use in 50 schools and universities is about to be launched as a new affordable version, potentially bringing it to a far wider audience. Read more…
7. Industry’s Paul Bogle reaches final four in MasterChef
The industry’s new food hero, the NFB’s policy and research manager Paul Bogle, triumphed reached the semi-final of TV’s MasterChef, which was eventually won by data manager Simon Wood. Read more…
8. ONS records output decline, CPA forecasts growth
Construction output in February fell by 0.9% compared to January, the Office for National Statistics revealed on Friday, putting the industry on the verge of a “technical recession” of two successive quarters of negative growth. Read more…
9. Bechtel licensed to fly drones over US sites
Bechtel was granted permission for the commercial use of drones by the US Federal Aviation Administration, allowing the engineering contractor to integrate drones – known as “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” – into its projects. Read more…
10. Has timber hit new heights in Hackney?
The UK’s tallest timber tower, in Hackney, London, is a hybrid of cross-laminated timber and steel. But are the gains balanced by sustainability trade-offs? Read more…
Top in BIM case studies
Fulham Football Club’s riverside expansion
In 2011 Fulham Football Club approached KSS to carry out a feasibility study with the aim of increasing the club’s capacity at its stadium, Craven Cottage, from 25,000 to 30,000. Read more…
Top in Management
Disallowed Costs v Defined Costs in NEC contracts
Robert Gerrard, NEC Users’ Group secretary, addresses widespread misconceptions on what a “cost-based” contract, and therefore the concept of Disallowed Cost, entails. Read more…
Top in Comment
Can we make FFI work better for the construction industry?
Alex Green, chief executive of online H&S app www.handshq.com, argues that the industry doesn’t have access to the full picture on the HSE’s Fees for Intervention scheme. Read more…
Top in International
UAE labourers set fire to car after worker suicide
Labourers in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the eastern emirates of the UAE, have set fire to their construction site and other property after a colleague fell to his death. Read more…
