Author name: Natasha Solomon

Advanced training and certification, guidelines for stronger building codes and a community of professionals dedicated to creating a safer, more sustainable built environment More than half the world’s population (55 per cent) lives in cities and other urban centers, and the United Nations predicts that percentage will increase to 60 per cent by 2030 and […]

The government has been urged to introduce five-year budgets for England’s local road maintenance in the upcoming Spending Review. Four trade bodies wrote to chancellor Rachel Reeves calling for the reform to “maximise efficiency, drive innovation and provide long-term certainty for the industry”. The call came from the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), Mineral

Public safety could be put at risk because Network Rail does not fully understand its own structures such as bridges, a regulator has warned. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said it would bring in a consultant to investigate how the infrastructure operator assesses certain physical assets, as it was “not satisfied with progress

A council has acknowledged that it broke procurement law in a power-station demolition tender. Brown and Mason Group Limited brought the claim over multiple breaches of public procurement law and unfair treatment from Cardiff Council over the award of a contract to demolish the former Aberthaw Power Station. The contract, valued at approximately £30m, was

The value of construction projects starting on site has plummeted by almost a fifth this winter, according to new data. Industry-intelligence specialist Glenigan said 19 per cent less work got underway in the three months to 31 January than in the same period a year earlier. The research showed ground was broken on little over

Construction was the worst-hit sector for insolvencies in the year to December 2024, new Insolvency Service figures show. Some 4,032 building businesses become insolvent, accounting for 17 per cent of all such cases in England and Wales. The next worst-affected sectors were wholesale and retail (3,572), and accommodation and foodservice (3,464). Kelly Boorman, head of

A council in the West Midlands is on the lookout for contractors specialising in modern methods of construction (MMC). Staffordshire County Council launched a search for contractors to join a framework to complete MMC work to the tune of £45m over three years. Jobs will be on an ad hoc basis and will typically consist

Cladding and fire-safety issues are pushing up the cost of construction-related professional indemnity claims, according to new research from a law firm. A report from CMS found that 12 of the 13 highest-value requests made since 2022 related to cladding and fire-safety concerns, which have been in the spotlight since the Grenfell Tower fire in

Administrators for collapsed civils contractor O’Keefe Construction expect the firm’s creditors to come away almost empty-handed. Two-and-a-half years after O’Keefe collapsed, administrators from RSM Restructuring warned that they expected the firm’s supply chain and subcontractors to get a small fraction of the millions owed to them. Unsecured creditors, which are owed £35.1m, are set to