1. Balfour Beatty and Carillion shock the industry
A week ago, Carillion and troubled Balfour Beatty sent shockwaves through the industry with the news that the two businesses were in detailed talks over a possible merger. Read more…
2. The little robot with big ambitions to insulate 6 million pre-1919 homes
Thousands of pre-1919 homes owned by the Peabody Trust, Westminster’s CityWest Homes and Camden Council could be the first to trial a new robotic system that sprays insulation underneath wooden floorboards. Read more…
3. Safe on our streets – take the survey
CM is conducting an online survey into the industry’s views on road risk, and how much progress the sector is making in eliminating the issues that have led to a catalogue of fatalities and serious accidents among cyclists and pedestrians. It’s an ongoing problem that threatens to undermine the industry’s improving reputation in other areas of health and safety. Read more…
4. Construction innovation: seven wonders of the world
There’s a big world out there, and a big world wide web to go with it. CM presented a brief selection of innovative construction ideas from collated from websites around the world. Read more…
5. Drones to help Welsh in zero waste to landfill drive
A trial set up to help the Welsh government to identify ways of meeting its target of zero waste to landfill by 2025 will utilise a drone to capture images of sites and BIM models to analyse how design changes can affect reductions in waste. Read more…
6. Chinese firm unveils world’s largest 3D printer
The Chinese 3D printing revolution continued as yet another firm – Qingdao Unique Products Develop Co – unveiled a machine that can print whole houses. Read more…
7. Is there a brick crisis, or isn’t there?
Confusion reigned as producer Wienerberger announced that it was ramping up UK production by 200 million bricks this year, while smaller producer Michelmersh proclaimed that prices had risen 12.8% in the first quarter of 2014 compared to Q1 2013, and that stockpiles were “at their lowest level in living memory”. Read more…
8. House built by after school club tops out in London playground
Students at a west London academy completed the structural shell of a single-story timber-framed house in the school playground, in a £250,000 project it’s hoped could become a template for other schools. Read more…
9. Israeli develops ‘smart’ bricks to cut costs
An Israeli entrepreneur has developed a smart building block that has the potential to revolutionise the construction industry, reducing building and running costs for new homes. Read more…
10. Born to build campaign targets 14-19-year-olds
A slick new social media campaign and website aimed at maximising the reach of the industry’s message on career opportunities has been launched by the UK Contractors’ Group with the support of the CITB and the CIOB. Read more…
Top in Agenda
How can we solve the housing crisis?
UK housing’s outlook continues to look gloomy with demand far outstripping supply. But Laing O’Rourke, Willmott Dixon, Kier and Carillion have shown how creative thinking can go some way to solving the problem. Read more…
Top in Management
New deal for consumers, new rules for contractors
Liz Male, chairman of TrustMark, explains what contractors working for homeowners need to know about new consumer protection regulations. Read more…
Top in International
Wall-climbing mini bots to 3D print buildings
Researchers in Spain have re-imagined the 3D printing of buildings by proposing wall-climbing mini-bots instead of a huge gantry to support a computerised print head. Read more…
Top in Comment
Better recruitment and retention of women is vital to our economic success
TPS Schal director Joan Murray, who heads Carillion’s construction compliance, surveying and project management division, on the importance of supporting the recruitment and retention of women in construction and related fields. Read more…
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