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In this issue

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | FEBRUARY 2018 CONTENTS

Prelims04 Carillion collapse: what now?05 PFI prospects post Carillion06 Chris Blythe on retentions09 CM readers on Carillion10 CIOB conduct code relaunch11 Measuring social value 12 Aecom works with startups13 Laing O’Rourke revamps IT

Insight • Onsite16 AI and construction’s future22 BAM’s Coal Drops Yard roof28 Concrete: Precast’s progress 32 Concrete: BIM and formwork33 Concrete: The rebar robot34 Concrete: One Blackfriars36 CPD: Aerial data capture 58 Portakabin’s Global Academy

Experts42 Using statutory demands43 Lessons from contract failure44 Litigation warning signs45 Open book procurement46 Be ready for the GDPR

Community48 Modern slavery workshop 50 Studentchallengefinal56 Me and my project

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Switchboard+44 (0)20 7490 5595EditorWill Mann020 3865 [email protected] editorJames Kenny020 3865 [email protected] editorSarah CutforthArt editorHeather RugeleyCommunity editorNicky RogerRedesign art directorMark BerginAdvertising managerDave Smith0203 865 1029Key account managerTom Peardon0203 865 1030Credit controlEva RugeleyManaging directorStephen Quirke

Circulation Net average 30,699Audit period: July 2016 to June 2017SubscriptionsTo subscribe or forenquiries, please contact:Subscription teamTel: 020 7490 5595Or go online at:https://constructionmanager.isubscribe.co.ukOr write to us at the address below:Construction ManagerPublished for the CharteredInstitute of Building byAtom Publishing, 3 Waterhouse Square, 138 Holborn, London EC1N 2SWTel: +44 (0)20 7490 5595

[email protected]

Editorial advisory boardMark Beard FCIOB, Ann Bentley, Ian Eggers, Peter Caplehorn, Harvey Francis, Professor Jacqui Glass FCIOB, Paul Morrell, James Pellatt, Nick Raynsford, Richard Saxon, Andy von Bradsky, Phil Wade

Construction Manager is published monthly by Atom Publishing. The contents of this magazine are copyright. Reproduction in part or in full is forbidden without permission of the editor. The opinions expressed by writers of signed articles (even with pseudonyms) and letters appearing in the magazine are those of their respective authors, and neither the CIOB, Atom Publishing nor Construction Manager is responsible for these opinions or statements. The editor will give careful consideration to material submitted – articles, photographs, drawings and so on – but does not undertake responsibility for damage or their safe return. Printed by The Wyndeham Group. All rights in the magazine, including copyright, content and design, are owned by CIOB and/or Atom Publishing. ISSN 1360 3566

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THE LATEST NEWS, PEOPLE AND COMMENT

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Prelims 06 CHRIS BLYTHE ON RETENTIONS 09 FEEDBACK: READERS ON CARILLION 10 CODE OF CONDUCT REVAMP 11 SOCIAL IMPACT OF CONSTRUCTION 12 AECOM TECH START-UPS LINK 13 LAING O'ROURKE CLOUD MOVE

PRELIMS FEBRUARY 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

‘A disaster with consequences for years to come’CARILLION’S LIQUIDATION COULD HAVE A SIGNIFICANT LONG-TERM IMPACT ON CONSTRUCTION. CM SPOKE TO SEVERAL LEADING INDUSTRY FIGURES ABOUT THE LIKELY FALL-OUT FROM AN ALMOST UNPRECEDENTED CORPORATE COLLAPSE. BY WILL MANN.

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Where will it end? The shock collapse of Carillion last month is already causing widespread pain among the company’s staff and its embattled suppliers, but the likelihood is the consequences will extend far beyond that: retentions opponents are demanding an end to late payment practices once and for all, the private sector’s ability to manage risk on big public sector contracts is under fire, and the government is promising it will investigate the actions of the board of directors.

CM spoke to a range of leading industry figures about the potential fall-out from Carillion’s liquidation, which once again presents an unfavourable image of construc-tion in the court of public opinion.

“The challenges of Brexit and the Grenfell disaster were more than enough for construction, but Carillion’s demise reminds us that never mind how difficult the current circumstances, there will always be something else around the corner,” says Peter Caplehorn, deputy chief executive and policy director

of the Construction Products Association.Phil Wade, operations director at developer

First Base, describes it as “a disaster which will have consequences for the industry for some time to come”.

Like many, he is heavily critical of the contractor’s payment policy. “It was pretty well known in the industry that Carillion’s payment terms for its subcontractors were extremely onerous,” says Wade. “We would not use them as a contractor as we felt their terms verged on the unethical. It seemed to us that while subcontractors suffered, the corporate part of the business did everything they could to push up margins to appease shareholders.

“For sub-contractors owed between three to four months of payments, the future looks very bleak. A lot of people are going to lose their jobs and in the current market, this could lead to some long term unemployment and loss of skilled labour from the industry. Other contractors just don’t have the pipeline to mop

The storm clouds had been gathering over Carillion for months, possibly years, before the firm's collapse last month.

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Will Carillion collapse and NAO report end PFI?

Despite what you may have heard, January’s National Audit Office (NAO) report on PFI and PF2 doesn’t actually form a view on the value for

money of PFI, or make suggestions on how it might be improved.

However, the demise of Carillion, a major PFI investor, constructor and operator, has been a gift to those who oppose privately-financed public infrastructure.

The government has rightly initiated investigations into the Carillion collapse, but so far has remained largely silent on PFI – and PF2, its ‘reformed’ version. The reason for this is that it is a useful procurement process for the government. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority has identified the need for more than £300bn of investment in the five years to 2020-21. Some of this will come from tax receipts and state borrowing but a significant proportion will be privately financed.

Opponents of PFI argue that no risk is transferred to the private sector. Well, the £375m Carillion had to write down on recent PFI projects looks like a fairly major risk transfer to the company’s shareholders. The failure of another PFI specialist Jarvis was also partly due to it underestimating the risk involved.

So despite its flaws, PFI does work from a government perspective. The bigger question now is whether the industry still has the enthusiasm for it. Without guarantees from the construction and FM companies that underpin the whole project finance structure, and provide the upfront investment, PFI schemes won’t get off the ground.

Nobody starts off with the intention of replicating Carillion’s mistakes, but can those signing off PFI bids really be sure that all the risks are well understood and properly priced? Anyway, how do you price in risk to cover a potential loss of £375m?

In the past, there has always been at least one company prepared to take a short-term view on risk. But with the lessons from Carillion fresh in the mind, many contractors may adopt a more cautious approach. John Tibbitts was managing director of Kier Project Finance and is now an independent consultant.

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | FEBRUARY 2018 PRELIMS

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up additional subcontractor relationships.“We have to ask why the government felt

it appropriate to award contracts to a main contractor who treats its subcontractors so badly.”

Richard Saxon, a former partner with BDP and now independent consultant, says “the inequitable and dysfunctional relationship between main and specialist sub-contractors” is the issue which stands out from Carillion’s collapse.

“A generation ago, main contractors held most of their trade capacity in house; now they often add less than 10% of the value on site,” he says. “Professionals, specialists and product suppliers do the bulk of the work but have no standing with the client and are exposed financially to the risk of contractor default.

“We need to change the business model so that the supply chain pulls together, with the client’s interest at heart. Integrated project delivery must be the way forward, with all suppliers recognised as stakeholders.”

Campaigners for better safeguarding of subcontractor payments may now feel their time has come.

“In the medium to longer term, changes to protect the supply chain would be welcome, and many have mentioned project bank accounts which fit with the digital agenda as well,” says Caplehorn.

Ann Bentley, global director and chairman of Rider Levett Bucknall, notes that project bank accounts have been mandated by the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Executive on centrally-procured projects

For daily updates on Carillion developments, go to constructionmanagermagazine.com

over a certain value, with the Welsh Assembly planning to follow suit in 2018, while in England the guidelines are to use them on public sector contracts unless there are ‘compelling reasons’ not to.

“If, as I suspect, many of Carillion’s public sector contracts did not use project bank accounts, then what were the ‘compelling reasons’ not to?” she asks. “In the light of Carillion’s collapse are they now being instituted on all public sector contracts?”

Bentley believes that “the continual drive for lowest price – at whatever cost – has undoubtedly contributed to Carillion’s collapse”.

She says: “To my mind, a significant part of the procurement process should be about ‘fit’; can the client and contractor form a positive relationship, does the contractor have the competence and capacity to carry out the work, is the price for the work realistic, and where does risk sit?

Unsustainable margins“The typical margins of almost all of the major UK contractors are less than 2%. Everyone in the industry has known that this was unsustainable for years; sadly Carillion has just proved this.

“Hopefully, one good thing that comes out of the Carillion mess is the final realisation that risk has to be managed, it cannot simply be transferred,” she adds.

In future, it is inconceivable that any main contractor will take on any more long-term, lump-sum, fixed price contracts without an enormous risk premium and this will move to a major shake-up of contracts.”

Carillion’s business model comes in for criticism from Professor Jacqui Glass, chair in architecture and sustainable construction at Loughborough University.

“While the balance of Carillion’s business did not appear overly reliant on public sector contracts, my concern is that its mix of traditional construction delivery as well

DOUBLE BLOW COULD CHANGE ATTITUDES TO PFI PROJECTS. JOHN TIBBITTS EXPLAINS.

“We would not use Carillion as we felt their terms for subcontractors verged on the unethical.”

Phil Wade, operations director, First Base



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as service contracts made for a disparate portfolio that was effectively impossible to govern,” she says.

Glass thinks the collapse will see other major firms with comparable FM service offerings enter an urgent structural review to iden-tify their own risks. Likening the situation to living in an area with the constant threat of earthquakes, she asks: “I wonder how many companies know where the fault lines are in their businesses?”

Chris BlytheChief executive CIOB

WITH HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OWED TO SUBCONTRACTORS, THE CONSULTATION ON LATE PAYMENT IS TIMELY.

Carillion collapse means little guys lose out again

Comment

Until Carillion entered liquidation last month, the big focus in 2018 apart from Grenfell was likely to be on productivity. The issue of productivity has been a constant refrain from the Treasury in recent years, and the need to improve it, particularly in the SME sector, does vex the government.

But for the many thousands of SMEs who worked for Carillion, productivity is likely to be the last thing on their minds at present. They will be thinking mainly about survival.

In the construction industry there is a paradox. Low margins don’t necessarily equate to a low return on capital employed. Shareholders’ capital invested in construction is quite low because, by and large, construction operates using other people’s money, either through advanced payments from customers, late payments to subcontractors or that other little honeypot, retentions.

Carillion’s collapse has put late payments to suppliers in sharp focus. With hundreds of millions owed to subcontractors of what was the UK’s second biggest construction group, the effect on these mostly small companies is likely to be damaging. It is timely therefore that BEIS has been consulting the industry on changes to retention payments over the last three months. Retentions, so the theory goes, are supposed to improve productivity although in practice that does not seem to be the case.

Of course the outcome of the consultation – and hopefully the outlawing of retentions – will come too late for many firms, including those who worked for Carillion. As the consultation estimates, £229m of retentions are lost each year to the supply chain through upstream insolvency. With retentions being approximately 5% of contract value it does not take much to work out that it means profit is being lost on about £8bn of turnover, assuming a 3% margin.

Nick Raynsford, former minister for housing, planning and construction in the last Labour government, is vexed by the “inadequate corporate governance”.

He says: “The collapse of Carillion – with dire consequences for its employees, its supply chain, the public dependent on its services and the public purse – will hopefully prompt others to question the readiness of the industry to enter into diverse, complex, long-term contractual commitments on wafer-thin

“The continual drive for lowest price, at whatever cost, has undoubtedly contributed to

Carillion’s collapse.”Ann Bentley, global director and chairman, Rider Levett Bucknall

The impact of protecting retentions and putting them out of reach of the current retention holders would increase the borrowing requirement of those using the money by an estimated £2.1bn. To be able to borrow £2.1bn extra, the industry needs considerably more equity than they have at the moment, perhaps an additional £10bn when you factor in the risk.

Having to put an additional £10bn into capital can drastically reduce the return on capital employed. So it is understandable to see the reluctance to give up retentions, because retentions are another form of cheap and profitable business finance.

Late or non-payment of retentions is common. Again as the consultation points out, many lower tier subcontractors eventually give up any expectation of receiving the retentions, be it through not wanting to alienate their customer, having to meet obligations on a non-connected contract, or through delay and procrastination tactics designed to wear them out.

The consequences can be devastating. The FMB in a recent survey reported that 5% of members have had to withhold paying wages due to late or non-payment. This is exploitation. It’s no good those at the top saying small firms obviously don’t have enough working capital in their business when it is clear it is being appropriated by those up the supply chain either through retentions or long payment terms.

In the current business model, it is the case that risk is shifted from those that should be taking and managing it to those that are powerless to do either. During the months leading up to Carillion’s collapse, it is clear that those with clout, like the government clients, have done ok. Those with no clout – the long line of subcontractors – have ended up being the losers as usual.


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Feedback

A selection of readers’ comments about news and issues in the industry from www.constructionmanagermagazine.com

As a founder and managing director of an SME, Carillion’s collapse makes working for the ‘big’ contractors frightening.

I know a supplier who refused to quote for Carillion because their payment terms are 120 days. I also have a friend who joined them in December and this week was made redundant.

This year we saw the passing of Sir Brian Hill. All the old family businesses have just about gone and now we see conglomerates chasing the stock market, led by the government. The personality and pride has gone out of the industry which is why quality is suffering and training is poor.Mike Smith, managing director, Corniche Builders (Member of CM reader panel)

The win contracts “at all cost” mentality leads to an outcome that is to everyone’s cost.Jeff Edgar

Recent events such as Grenfell Tower and now the Carillion collapse highlight that private sector outsourcing is not working, either in value for money or quality. Tony Butcher

My company was in Carillion’s supply chain for 15 years before deciding to stop working for them in 2010. At that time they were insisting on payment terms of 90 days plus, but they never made payment in less than 120 days.

To work with Carillion on one of their frameworks required significant investment and we spent thousands of pounds annually to retain access to that opportunity – but despite always meeting ever- shortening tender periods and submitting fully compliant bids, we were frequently passed over for one of the top five consultancies. We decided they were a poor client, and it is no surprise that ‘over trading’ and the disconnect between executive and operational management has led to their demise. The only real surprise is that this didn’t occur earlier. Brian Impey, director of the Acorn Multi Academy Trust (Member of CM reader panel)

It is devastating for the many SMEs caught up in this. The building industry is riddled with these collapses, though not on this scale, and suppliers are caught up in company failures due to the payment mechanism employed by the main contractors.

Clients need to become accountable for the supply chain they employ both directly and indirectly, including more transparent and prompt payment. Duncan Town, director, Alexander Consulting (Member of CM reader panel)

Procurement professionals have concentrated on bundling work into larger packages for longer periods that effectively exclude most smaller businesses. This has allowed the likes of Carillion to dominate the market, and now led to this catastrophic collapse.Brian Jukes

CM 01/18Carillion collapse dominates readers' comments

For more comments and updates on issues and events in the industry, updated daily with the latest news, go to www.constructionmanagermagazine.com

Late payment and the legal options for suppliers P42-43

margins, with hopelessly inadequate risk management arrangements.

“The inevitable consequence will be to rein-force public cynicism about the competence and ethics of the industry’s leadership and call into question its ability to provide cost-effective and sound responses to the country’s huge need for more and better buildings and infrastructure.”

Certainly, it seems the role of Carillion’s directors in the company’s collapse will be the subject of close scrutiny – which may lead to other boardrooms feeling the heat.

“I can’t help but think this will have an impact for directors, whose statutory duty, let’s remember, is to their creditors first and foremost,” says Wade. “This clearly has not been done in Carillion's case.”

Bentley feels “there will be questions about whether the Carillion board did what they were supposed to do”.

She says: “I think there are wider issues about how the situation could have deterio-rated so quickly – from a first profit warning in July to a collapse only six months later, and whether this information was made available to clients and consultants who were carrying out checks on Carillion’s finances prior to award of contracts.”

The Carillion collapse is undoubtedly going to cast a further shadow over the industry, as it wrestles with a probable post-Brexit skills shortfall and the ongoing investigations into the Grenfell fire. As Caplehorn warns: “It is only going to reinforce the need for the sector to step up and change for the better.” ●

“The inevitable consequence will be to reinforce public cynicism about the competence and ethics of the

industry’s leadership.”Nick Raynsford, former minister for housing,planning and construction


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Lords criticise housebuilding ‘oligopoly’ for new home qualityA housebuilding “oligopoly” is affecting both the volume of new homes built and their quality, a House of Lords debate has concluded.

Crossbench Lord Best, a former National Housing Federation chief executive, moved a motion on the performance of the UK’s major house-builders, suggesting they were “not going to achieve either the quantity or the quality” of new homes needed.

He noted that “8% of all new homes are built by private sector housebuilders and didn’t expect output to dramatically increase as it was not in the interests of the industry to end the scarcity of homes that had driven up house prices”.

Best said there were now half as many SME builders as 10 years ago and the industry was now dominated by fewer than a dozen major

housebuilders who were responsible for 70% of the nation’s new housing.

“There is a danger of the market being controlled by a small, powerful oligopoly,” he said.

Best criticised the quality of new homes and the selling of homes on a leasehold basis. Alternative providers needed to be supported, he said.

Labour spokesperson for work and pensions Lord McKenzie of

Luton said a greater role for local authorities and housing associations should be “a catalyst for supporting new and smaller firms into the housebuilding sector”.

Liberal Democrat Lord Stunell said there was a role for the big 10 housebuilders, but they should “use their scale to innovate and build off-site” as well as to support training.

The motion was agreed.

REVAMPED CODE SHAPED BY RECENT ETHICAL CONCERNS IN THE INDUSTRY

CIOB relaunches code of conduct after review

“People value professionals because they can rely on that person to have a certain level of knowledge and experience and to behave ethically,” Nash said. “Fundamentally ethics is about doing what is right and by definition that means making choices that will benefit the many and not the few.”

Last year the CIOB Academy launched an online course on Construction Ethics & Compliance. So far it has attracted more than 5,000 people from over 100 countries.

“The success of the online course demonstrates that this is an issue which matters to many people working in our industry today, people who are concerned about the reputation of our industry and want to work to improve it both by their actions and in the quality of the buildings and infrastructure that they help to create,” said Nash.

The CIOB is also at the forefront of raising awareness of issues such as modern slavery, mental health and quality.l The CIOB relaunched its process for achieving FCIOB status last year and will shortly be hosting a series of workshop on how to become a fellow. The entry criteria and process involves demonstrating significant strategic responsibilities for people and organisations, and contributions to the wider industry or general public. For further information visit: www.ciob.org/fellowship-fciob

The Chartered Institute of Building has relaunched its code of conduct. Past president Paul Nash has led a review of the code, which has been shaped by members’ feedback and concerns about ethical issues that have recently surfaced in the industry.

“At the moment, construction is under a great deal of scrutiny over the ethics of its operations,” said Nash. “That scrutiny includes the quality of the

new-build homes we deliver, how we refurbish social housing, and our attitudes to worker welfare in the supply chain. There are also concerns about the impact of late payment, which have been highlighted by the Carillion collapse.

“Now, the vast majority of the industry’s professionals undoubtedly work to high ethical standards, but a few recent events suggest there may be some areas of concern.”

Nash, a former Turner & Townsend director who now runs his own consultancy, set up a working group to rewrite the code when he became CIOB president in 2016.

“I wanted it to be easy to read and understand, and be relevant to our members, the industry and the wider public interest,” he said. “We were overwhelmed by the response from our member consultation, which highlighted how important our members thought this issue was.”

He continued: “CIOB members have a key role to play in creating a modern, progressive construction industry and setting standards by behaving in a way that is both ethical and sustainable. This is what it means to be a professional.”

In 2015 the CIOB published a report entitled Understanding the value of professionals and professional bodies, based on a survey of MPs and members of the public, which highlighted the role that professional bodies play in engendering trust.

Nash: Industry “under scrutiny”

The core principles of the code of conduct

As a member of the Institute, I shall at all times:l Act with integrity, honesty and trustworthinessl Treat others with respect, fairness and equality l Discharge their duties with complete

fidelity and probity

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WITH A MEASUREMENT METRIC NOW ABLE TO CALCULATE A DEVELOPMENT’S SOCIAL VALUE, CONTRACTORS MUST BE SURE THEY ARE CONTRIBUTING POSITIVELY TO A COMMUNITY. ONE WAY IS TO WORK WITH LOCAL SMES, ARGUES KEVIN O’CONNOR

Social value metric means contractors have to change

Social value is becoming an increasingly important consideration for contractors, especially those seeking to work with the public sector. Since the introduction of the Social Value Act of 2013, more and more local authorities are asking potential partners and suppliers to demonstrate how they’ll deliver social value.

In fact, a recent review of the act by Chris White MP praised the growing numbers of local authorities with social value policies in place. This has filtered through to procure-ment, where a typical tender places as much as a 10% to 20% weighting on social value.

But when operating in this new landscape, how does the forward-thinking developer prove its worth? Put simply, developments need to work harder to show how they address not only a housing need but a social need too.

Some in development and construction have set the ball rolling on making their projects go further. There are great examples of large contractors, like Willmott Dixon and Morgan Sindall, setting up foundations and socially conscious programmes to boost social value, but unfortunately they can be something of a rarity.

While positive steps are being taken, there is more companies could be doing. My sugges-tion? Look to SMEs for inspiration. Armed with expert local knowledge, SMEs are ideally situated to respond to the changing demands of local authorities and housing associations.

This is in part due to a smaller sphere of operation and less cumbersome size; SMEs are well placed to forge strong relationships with communities and voluntary and community social organisations (VCSOs). Project teams may also be in a better position to identify specific need and have enough clout to do something about it.

But monitoring is key. Being able to offer tangible results from social value initiatives can be instrumental in securing new business, particularly partnering with local authorities or housing associations. Switched-on contrac-tors have recognised this and are looking to provide evidence of how their developments give back, not just now but in the future too.

Kevin O’ConnorDurkan

Many have turned to the social value meas-urement metric formulated by the Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust (HACT). It allows developers to calculate a monetary value to social value delivery – something that procurement processes increasingly require.

For example, on a project Durkan delivered before HACT’s metric, we took on 13 appren-tices who stayed with us through to full-time employment. While we could identify how much it cost us to do this, we had no way of monetising the long-term value it offered to our recruits and their community. Today we’d be able to demonstrate that our efforts would generate around £150,000 in additional value.

Benchmarking developers’ workIt’s perhaps clear then why many SMEs have signed up to use the metric. It not only gives developers a way to benchmark the work, but it allows the public sector to measure just how much value is being put back into communities.

For companies large and small, social value can no longer be a footnote, especially if they want to work with the public sector of 2018 and beyond. Money is tight, and looks set to get even tighter. Local authorities will need more to show for the developments within their boundaries.

They will require partners with a proven track record of successful social value delivery. For those yet to take steps to embrace the changing sector, there’s no time like the present. Kevin O’Connor is head of social responsibility and inclusion at Durkan.

“Armed with expert local knowledge, SMEs are well placed

to forge strong relationships with communities”

Chidi Nnebe became YBUK Young Builder of the Year 2016 after joining Durkan as a local apprentice

10_11.CMFeb18.prelims_sc.indd 11 23/01/2018 15:18

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‘A new way of thinking’

Aecom’s push into digital technology includes growing use of drones, and the consultant now has a dedicated team based out of Nottingham, headed by senior operations manager and SUAS (small unmanned aerial systems) technical lead Ross Manship.

“As well as managing the SUAS team, my role is to engage with the company’s drone operators worldwide, looking at different applications and modes of operation, and bringing new innovations and best practice to the UK,” he explains.

CONSULTANT INTERESTED IN FRENCH FIRM MIMESYS OVER USING VR/AR TECHNOLOGY, REPORTS JAMES KENNY

Aecom to connect with tech startups

ROSS MANSHIP, LEAD DRONE PILOT AT AECOM, EXPLAINS HIS ROLE TO JAMES KENNY

Aecom is planning to work with technical startups as it accelerate the use of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) during 2018.

Chris Thorn, principal technology and process consultant at Aecom, told CM he believes “some of the most interesting and dynamic ideas are coming from technical startups” and they offer huge opportunities for the construction industry.

Thorn said the consultant is in talks with French company Mimesys, which specialises in creating holographic representations of humans using VR/AR headsets, allowing virtual meetings involving people from anywhere in the world.

“Construction professionals can use immersive technology for client or design meetings where the participants are in remote locations, but can interact, review plans and discuss projects,” he said.

Thorn also sees immersive technology adding value to Aecom’s interaction with

the public during stakeholder engagement processes.

“For example, if there was a wind turbine being built and the public were unhappy with its location or queried the work being done, we could use AR headsets to explain the project and how the construction work will be organised,” he explained.

Thorn added that use of immersive technology is likely to increase this year as the cost of the hardware has come down.

Aecom organised CityHack18 at the end of January, a two-day event which brought together 80 creative thinkers and innovators to develop solutions to real-life construction problems using digital technology. These included the development of a smart tool that can aid Transport for London with its infrastructure mapping and reducing road congestion, plus work for other Aecom clients including the Greater London Authority and the Environment Agency.

Manship, a physics graduate, has developed his career as a drone expert after taking an early interest in aerodynamics, remote controlled machines and helicopter technology.

His team’s work includes surveying of major structures and civil engineering assets. Projects have included the HS2 Old Oak Common depot and the decommissioning of the coal station at Eggborough power plant in North Yorkshire.

The team is also assigned to carry out photogrammetric mapping, the science of making exact measurements of surface points from

aerial photographs, and the outputs of this work feed into BIM workflows, Manship says.

“Our photogrammetric models are accurate to less than 2cm, and often less than 1cm,” he says.

The drone team is also involved in commercial work, collecting photos and videos of sites for proposed developments, which are used in public consultations. “We have the capability in-house to add 3D visualisations of proposed developments and the ‘eye in the sky view’ from a drone adds a picture people can grasp more easily,” he explains.

Safety is a key part of Manship’s role and he acknowledges that considerable work lies ahead persuading the public, asset owners and legislators of the positive role drones can play.

“Infrastructure operators can get hung up about the possibility of a drone falling out of the sky,” he says. “But this is a very small risk, and actually drones can play an important safety role – for example, carrying out surveys of asset conditions on live railways without having to stop the trains.

“I still have to convince people that drones are a new way of thinking when they gather information at the start of a project.”

Thorn: “Some of the most dynamic ideas are coming from startups”

Rise of the drones CPD, see p36

Aecom uses drones on major infrastructure projects

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40th anniversary CMYA opens for entries

The eye has itEgypt’s Mehmet Yasa has won this year’s Art of Building prize for his entry, ‘Eye of the Tower’, taken in Verona, Italy. “The staircase and the bell looks like an eye; architecture can fascinate us in many ways,” said Yasa of the photograph. He wins a £3,500 cash prize.

Laing O’Rourke has overhauled its data management system ahead of the looming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which come into effect in May.

The regulation will have a significant impact on the construction industry, affecting “everything from BIM models to supply chain databases”, according to Assad Maqbool, a partner at law firm Trowers & Hamlins.

“Data is a core asset to any construction industry provider, but it must be managed and protected to the required standard under the new regulatory obligations,” he said. “Breaches will attract fines of up to 4% of annual worldwide turnover, or €20m (£17.6m), whichever is highest. The GDPR represents a very significant commercial risk and should be treated accordingly.” (GDPR explained, p46.)

“GDPR is a big challenge, as we need to know where our data is at all times,” said infrastructure development lead Paul Petty, at Laing O’Rourke. “Implementing Commvault

Margaret Conway (centre) with Rebecca Thompson and Steph McGovern at CMYA 2017

The CIOB’s coveted Construction Manager of the Year Awards are now open for entries for 2018, the year in which the event is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The awards celebrate the excellence of individual construction managers in various project categories, and by recognising people rather than companies, the awards inspire other emerging talent in the industry.

Last year’s winner Margaret Conway (pictured with CIOB president Rebecca Thompson and BBC presenter Steph McGovern), a project manager with McAleer & Rushe, was the first female project manager to scoop the honour.

I f yo u w o r k w i t h , o r e m p l o y, someone that you think is deserving of a CMYA award, you can register your interest for 2018 at www.cmya.co.uk/register-your-interest

Laing O’Rourke revamps IT as industry prepares for new data regs

REGULATIONS WILL IMPACT BIM MODELS AND SUPPLY CHAIN DATABASES, WARNS LAW FIRM

has given us tighter control over our data, an understanding of where our data is and whether it complies with GDPR. ”

Laing O’Rourke last month implemented the Commvault Data Platform to centralise and control all its data management in Europe.

The contractor has 350TB of active data, and previously managed the physical transportation and archiving of data from more than 90 remote locations back to centralised data centres, which used multiple backup systems. It has now moved to a tapeless backup system which replicates data and applications to public cloud infrastructure.

The CIOB has been reviewing how it manages its data with legal specialists, and has ensured its procedures comply with the new regulations, a spokesman said.

“We want to ensure that members, and other stakeholders, are confident that when data is passed to us it we manage it responsibly and we take great care with it,” he explained.

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST FOR THIS YEAR’S AWARDS

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INSIGHT•ONSITE FEBRUARY 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

TAKING AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT CURRENT ISSUES AND PROJECTS

16-39

Insight•onsite 22 BAM AT KING’S CROSS 28 CONCRETE: RISE OF PRECAST 32 CONCRETE: BIM FORMWORK 33 CONCRETE: THE REBAR ROBOT 34 CONCRETE: ONE BLACKFRIARS 36 CPD: AERIAL DATA CAPTURE

THE RISE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS ALREADY LEADING SOME FORECASTERS TO PREDICT A STARTLING VISION OF CONSTRUCTION IN A GENERATION’S TIME – WHERE ROLES TRADITIONALLY CARRIED OUT BY HUMAN BEINGS ARE INSTEAD PERFORMED BY ROBOTS. DENISE CHEVIN EXAMINES WHICH AREAS OF THE INDUSTRY WILL BE MOST AFFECTED

HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WILL TRANSFORM CONSTRUCTION

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is the great story of our time. Those who have delved online to find out “Will a robot take my job?” might take comfort that design and construction professions such as architects, quantity surveyors or construction managers are low on the list of professions likely to be replaced by machines, compiled by scientists from the Oxford Martin School at Oxford University in 2015.

But that belies the profound impact experts say artificial intelligence and machine learning will have on the roles of both trades and professionals in the built environment. It’s early days, but we’re already seeing a plethora of proto-types providing glimpses of how design and construction activity might change.

There’s software that crunches building codes to generate different design variations, software that helps construction firms to spot safety fail-ures, and the development of self-driving excavators guided by drones. It won’t happen overnight, but AI is seen as a key ingredient to help the industry boost productivity and potentially provide an answer to the skills gap.

A report from construction firm Mace, based on the Oxford University statistics, forecasts that 600,000 trades jobs will disappear by 2040 as the industry heads to the so-called fourth technological revolution, which includes AI and the Internet of Things (CM, January 2018).

The overriding belief of members of the CIOB’s Digital Technologies & Asset Management special interest group, chaired by Aecom global BIM/MIC consultancy director David Philp, is that momentum is definitely building.

“Although there is a lot of misdefini-tion and hype around AI we believe it will ultimately have a profound effect on the built environment landscape,” Philp believes. “AI will allow us to take real meaning from our data – both new and legacy – supporting the smart and self-adapting building agenda. AI could also help solve adversarial issues which we believe will enable new forms of outcome-based transactional contracts.”

Learning from exampleAI, of which machine learning is a major branch, represents a fundamentally different approach to software. The machine learns from examples, rather than being explicitly programmed for a particular outcome. It might not be obvious, but it’s already found a place in everyday life, from searching for images on smartphones purely by typing in the subject to the emergence of intelligent digital assistants such as Siri and Alexa – now capable of holding conversations with humans.

In the past AI has been touted as the next big thing, but the confluence of greater connectivity and availability of huge amounts of data emanating

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from processes like BIM and sensors, coupled with computing power to recognise patterns in that data, has created a fertile environment in which research and development in AI can thrive, explains Tatjana Dzambazova, AI strategist with Autodesk.

Its first publicly available machine learning-powered tool focused on construction is BIM360 IQ, which uses machine learning to predict issues such as subcontractor risk. “It can advise the superintendent [manager] of the performance grades of subcontractors and their historic data in order to make sure he/she picks the right teams. All this is possible thanks to historic data of over 27 million documented issues from ten years of BIM field data that were used to ‘train’ the system,” she says

No one can say for sure just how smart machines might become, but in the medium term futurologists developing the technology suggest that construc-tion professionals should look to artifi-cial intelligence not to take their jobs, but to augment their skills – to provide them with superpowers, as it were.

“I think history shows that when machines took parts of jobs over they created high-level jobs in return,” says Ákos Pfemeter, vice president of marketing at Graphisoft. The developer has embedded AI into ArchiCAD 21, the latest version of its BIM model-ling software. This includes predictive technology to automate stair design, a complex aspect of projects which has to take on board hundreds of design codes.

Pfemeter highlights the potential of AI in the sector: “There are definitely three areas in construction where we can see the most potential. These are building design and analysis, construction tech-nologies, and lastly building operation – arguably the most advanced area of

How AI and computational design is changing the role of the designer

The race is on for the design community to adapt its skills

Using computers to automate repetitive aspects of design is already used in engineering and to a lesser degree architecture, and is “already having an impact on the way we structure teams and use manpower”, says Carolina Bartram, an associate director at Arup.

As software packages automate designs of components like beams and floor slabs, fewer junior engineers are needed to do the traditional detailed design work and more time is spent looking at iterations and improving the design, she adds.

Bartram says that the front end and concept design will continue to be done manually – for example, looking at the overall design of the structure, deciding whether the structure will have load-bearing walls and similar decisions.

“Machines might generate different options, but humans are still needed to make the choice of which to use and it’s likely to remain that way for the future. With engineering there is never

just one answer – there are always multiple answers,” she reasons.

Phil Langley, director of integrated design and operations consultancy Bryden Wood, agrees.

“AI/automation significantly changes the role of the designer from the ‘author of the outcome’, to the ‘author of the system’ that generates the outcome. This is obviously a new approach and the conventional skills will become less relevant – the race will be on for the existing design community to develop the necessary skills to respond to this technological challenge,” he says.

“AI/automation will mean fewer people doing traditional design tasks – and focusing human knowledge and expertise in the areas where they can add value.”

Graphisoft’s Ákos Pfemeter thinks similarly. “Machines won’t take over from architects any time soon in terms of aesthetics. Someone still needs to make decisions and only humans can do that.”

“History shows

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The addition of artificial intelligence and machine learning to robots and image recognition software will be increasingly harnessed to improve processes and productivity.

Graphics hardware giant Nvidia has teamed up with a number of construction firms to supply its chip with AI capabilities. One is Komatsu, Japan’s largest maker of construction machinery, which is aiming to create a generation of products with embedded AI, as a step towards unmanned equipment.

Nvidia will also supply AI chips that allow Komatsu machinery to “see” the site and react to developments as they take place. They will be complemented by drones equipped with similar graphics processors.

Rian Whitton, an analyst with consultant ABI Research, highlights the potential of smart drones to affect surveying, monitoring and inspection in construction.

“For the most part, UAVs collect data from a site, upload it to a cloud, after which bespoke software garners insights from the data. Having on-device machine-learning capability could provide that service in real time, allowing managers and operators to understand and react immediately to developments on the ground.”

He adds: “Expand that to multiple platforms that fly, land, dock and recharge autonomously, and you have a much more comprehensive understanding of the project.”

This will allow better allocation of resources, and help identify efficient routes to move material through the

site, he adds. Beyond maintenance, having real-time analysis of a site will help contractors at the surveying, estimating and planning phases.

So how far are we down this road? “Not very,” says Whitton. “Commercial drone opportunities have only begun to gain momentum in construction, and with them comes a range of AI/ML solutions. I would suggest some of the technologies being talked about will reach maturity within three years.”

The development of robots equipped with machine learning is seen as having huge potential. Where traditional robots had to be programmed to do a limited number of tasks in a specified environment, the new generation is not as rigid, says Autodesk’s Tatjana Dzambazova.

Training the robot“In our robotic lab in San Francisco, we are currently piloting a construction site robot that can install glass facade panels from the interior of a building, a task that is usually quite laborious and dangerous, especially when installing on upper floors,” she explains. “We initially train the robot by having a human guide its movements via a virtual reality set. Through this training the robot learns the nature of the task to find a glass panel in a certain area, to lift it in a certain way and place it in a recognisable location.”

Smart robots are springing up to do tasks from installing rebar (see p33) to bricklaying. One, called Hadrian, can lay 1,000 bricks an hour, day and

night, and could theoretically build 150 homes a year. But there is also debate as to where their future lies.

Nick Leach, strategic BIM manager with Sir Robert McAlpine, thinks it may take a generation before robotics on site are an industry norm.

“The real immediate potential I see taking an effect on construction in the short term is around the automation with computing/machine learning – where utilisation of data to analyse not just design but site-based tasks and management activities will improve how projects are delivered, raising the bar further in the quality and safety of our construction sites.” He cites image recognition systems with multiple uses as an example of technology that will gain momentum.

“I would say its an exciting time. Companies are starting to realise the potential, but with developments happening on so many fronts it can be a minefield for organisations in deciding on the right way to go.”

Graphisoft’s Ákos Pfemeter also believes that the future is more about developing smart factory-based machines. “The size of bricks has not changed for 500 years; they are optimised for human labour. It doesn’t make any sense to introduce a machine to replace directly how a human would do it,” he says.

Paul Cook, head of technology at ISG Technology Solutions, thinks AI will continue to refine the technology used. “But I don’t believe these advancements will lead to huge strides in the design and performance of buildings and the construction process, unless we fundamentally change the very design approach that is used – a shift from designing and procuring in silos to implementation via a master systems architect. Without this radical transition, technology such as AI, VR and AR will not reach its optimum potential, because the platforms and ecosystems they use are not seamlessly integrated.”

How robots could make construction more productive

Machines that can learn tasks will be a familiar sight on site

New York company Construction Robotics created the first commercial bricklaying robot, called SAM or semi-automated mason

Brick laying robot

It’s a tie:Meet the rebar robot on p33


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the three.” In the following pages, we look at recent developments in those sectors in more detail.

But as AI is picked up on the sector’s radar, expect it to generate more than a few ripples. “Yes, automation technologies exist and are being used – particularly with regard to parametric design [a process based on algorithms] – but they are not widespread,” says

“The industry has not yet

confronted the shockwaves

that would be produced by the adoption

of AI”Phil Langley

Bryden Wood

How AI can boost site safety

Photo-tagging software highlights site dangers

In another application of Nvidia chip technology, US company Smartvid.io has developed software that uses AI to help spot health and safety breaches on site. It is being trialled by a number of contractors in the USA, including Skanska. Josh Kanner, founder of the Boston-based firm, says he is also in talks with a number of major contractors in the UK.

Smartvid.io automatically tags files showing people, hard hats, ladders and now gloves, and other things related to safety. It is then easy to search across projects for relevant tags to review already-curated photos and videos and mark any potential risks.

Pictures can be uploaded from any source and auto-sync with software such as Procore and Autodesk’s BIM 360 Field, which Skanska is using in its pilot schemes. Skanska says that it plans to use the software more widely to “help teams get broader safety coverage of its projects”.

The product aims to supplement the work of the site safety team, not replace it. Says Kanner: “Safety teams are spread too thinly to be proactive on all sites and it’s not uncommon to have one safety manager on five to ten active projects. I think it’s a common theme to equate AI with the replacement of people. But what we’re doing augments what workers to do by giving them ‘superpowers’. Without this technology it would take too long and it just wouldn’t happen.”

Another Smartvid.io development is the analysis of site activity to spot defects. UK engineer Arup has been using the technology in tunnels.

Phil Langley, director at Bryden Wood. “AI has not yet ‘landed’ in the design

and construction industry, not just because of the technological maturity, or the skills gap that clearly exists, but also because the industry has not yet confronted the consequences – in terms of skills, labour, business models – or the shockwaves that would be produced by the widespread adoption of AI.” ●

Data is used to optimise environmental conditions

How ‘learning’ building controls boost energy efficiency

The most advanced area of the built environment sector in terms of adoption of AI is the software involved in controlling the performance of a building, particularly heating and lighting to boost energy performance.

The Nest intelligent thermostat is well established in the domestic market, but similar controls that learn how buildings behave and then adjust conditions accordingly are not widespread outside the home.

One example at the cutting edge of this work is at the Victoria & Albert Museum (pictured above right), where Arup has worked for a number of years.

Arup’s associate director Carolina Bartram explains the process: “We developed a method for improving existing HVAC controls, using what is known as model predictive control (MPC) and machine learning techniques,

to reduce energy consumption and improve internal environmental conditions in the closely controlled gallery environment.

“For the European Galleries project – the first on which we which we have implemented the MPC project – we gathered one year’s worth of data (60+ variables at one-minute intervals) on which to base the predictive control models. Rather than being reactive to current conditions in the space, the controls look at how we know the building behaves, based on data, and optimises the systems (air intake, temperature and humidity of air etc) to control the future conditions.”

Although this project specifically focuses on galleries and maintaining environmental conditions for artefacts, the approach is transferable, she says.

“This approach will also support Arup’s (and the industry’s) goal to deliver better buildings in operation, help close the industrywide recognised ‘performance gap’, and also ensure the learning feeds back into our future designs,” she says.

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Smartvid.io’s software automatically tags elements such as hard hats and ladders to focus attention on potential breaches of safety protocol

Bartram: Helping to close the performance gap


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HEATHERWICK STUDIO’S COAL DROPS YARD SCHEME FEATURES A SPECTACULAR, SWEEPING STEEL ROOF STRUCTURE, WHICH CROWNS THIS NEW RETAIL CENTRE AT KING’S CROSS. WILL MANN FINDS OUT FROM THE ARCHITECT AND CONTRACTOR BAM HOW THE PROJECT IS TAKING SHAPE

BAM RAISES THE ROOF ON HEATHERWICK’S KING’S CROSS WONDER


A slogan on the site hoardings describes Coal Drops Yard as “Victorian engi-neering with modern architecture”. In reality though, as BAM project manager David Packham puts it: “There’s plenty of modern engineering going into this project too.”

He is referring chief ly to the centrepiece of the 10,000 sq m retail scheme, arguably the most ambitious architecture yet on Argent’s King’s Cross

Heatherwick Studio’s design links the two Victorian coal depot buildings by a steel roof that creates a sense of visual drama

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railway lands development: a twisting, arcing steel roof, connecting two former coal depots with a 25m-high “kissing point” between the buildings, and in the process adding a new upper storey.

“The idea was to create a conver-sation between the two buildings,” explains Tamsin Green, project leader with Heatherwick Studio, which created the concept design for Coal Drops Yard. “The roofs of the two depots rise up and are pulled together, providing a focal point for the devel-opment, while beneath the new upper floor, the double-height space provides a sense of theatre, which can be used for concerts and events.”

Heatherwick’s involvement with Coal Drops Yard started in 2014, working alongside engineer Arup. BAM Construct, one of Argent’s three framework contractors at King’s Cross, was appointed to the £91.9m construction contract, and BAM Design appointed to carry out the detailed design from RIBA stage 3 onwards.

The build programme commenced in February 2016, but was preceded by a two-year pre-construction phase to carry out demolition work and survey the condition of the Victorian era depots, built in the 1850s for rail “coal drops” from the north of England. The two-storey cast iron and brick structures were used for light industry and storage when the coal era ended, but a fire damaged one section of the eastern building and they fell into disuse in the 1990s.

On plan, the two buildings splay apart from each other, with the 150m-long eastern building separated from its 120m-long western neighbour by a 15m gap at the northern end of the site, which widens to 75m at the southern end, next to Regent’s Canal.

says Packham. “We also fitted 171 individual monitoring points, which were monitored weekly with Arup, though only 25-30mm movement maximum was recorded.”

Much of the original timber and cast iron structure in the depot buildings is being retained, restored and strengthened, of which more later, while a new internal steel frame has been constructed which will provide support for the roof structure.

To construct the piled foundations for the steelwork, BAM removed the existing ground floor slab, reduced the ground level by 900mm in the eastern building and 400mm in the western building during an earthworks phase, and then installed the piling mat.

The piling itself was complicated by restricted headroom of 2.2m – excluding the burnt-out section – inside the 61 arches which will eventually become the retail units. “We worked with our subcontractor Berry Piling to identify a mini piling rig which would fit inside the arches,” explains Packham.

Some 354 mini piles, 450mm in diameter, were driven to depths up to 25m beneath the two buildings. The piles were set out in groups of six with a pile cap fitted on top of each. Additionally 1,000m of underpinning was installed across both Victorian buildings.

“Once the pile caps were fitted we constructed the floor slabs, which gave us a decent working base for the steelwork phase,” says Packham.

Including both the internal steelwork and the kissing roof, steel contractor Severfield has installed 1,350 tonnes of steel on the project.

“As the floors had been taken out, we were able to drop the internal steel beams in from above using the tower crane,” explains Packham.

ProjectCoal Drops Yard, King’s CrossClient ArgentConcept architect Heatherwick Studio

Main contractor BAM ConstructDetail design BAM DesignEngineer ArupValue £91.9m

Programme February 2016 to August 2018Key specialist contractors:Piling Berry Piling

Steelwork SeverfieldScaffolding Lyndon Joinery and carpentry Atlantic Contracts

Brickwork Pyramid Roofing AttleysDemolition and recycling ScudderGlazing Frener & Reifer

“As the floors had been taken out we were able to drop the internal steel beams in from above using the tower crane”David Packham, BAM

A viaduct between the two buildings was demolished during the precon-struction stage, creating more space for the sunken piazza area in the heart of the new development, which will sit 3m below the level of neighbouring Granary Square.

The original brick arches of the buildings are being restored and will house retail units in the completed development. Some 300,000 imperial bricks are being used across the project, 250,000 of them reclaimed from the demolition work. The interiors are being partially reconfigured, and some floors removed and reinstated as mezzanine levels to accommodate services corridors.

“When we took out these floors, this meant the walls were freestanding, so as a precaution, we installed around 50 temporary soldier shores, each one 8m high, on every elevation,”

The two roofs meet at a 25m high “kissing point”

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which are connected with 508 CHSs, and 219 CHSs for braces.

To lift these sections, Severfield used a 500-tonne mobile crane. First though, 12 trestle towers had to be erected, to support loads from the giraffe and ribbon trusses and the central node ranging from 280kN up to 700kN. A forest of scaffolding – comprising 44,000m of tube, 26,000 fittings, 4,700 3.9m-long boards and 1,720m of modular beams – completes the temporary works structure for the kissing point steelwork, cleverly designed with an access tunnel through the middle for site deliveries.

“The trusses were then oriented correctly before being lifted into posi-tion,” says Packham. “Two watchmen suspended from the tower crane in a man rider monitored this process, with the trusses adjusted remotely using air jacks to the correct orientation.

BIM has been key to developing and implementing Heatherwick’s design.

“At the end of stage two, a point cloud survey of the buildings was created, and this formed the basis of our BIM model,” explains Tamsin Green. “However, at that point much of the demolition had not been completed, so it was difficult to envisage how the old and new elements of the design would come together.”

Coal Drops Yard is the first project where Heatherwick Studio has used a

Using BIM to link old and new

BIM environment, and Green says it was difficult to create the complex curves of the roof structure using BIM.

“We primarily design in Rhino, but when working with more detailed drawings and coordinating with other disciplines, the BIM environment becomes really useful, as it has on the project,” explains Green.

“BAM has encouraged use of Autodesk’s 360 Glue, which is cloud-based and allows all the project team to login and look at the BIM model, and that has been very helpful.”

“The vertical columns, mostly 400mm thick, sit 600mm inside the inside face of the building, which meant the existing timber beams were not an obstruction.”

The internal floor beams were also installed at this point, and the permanent support for the existing walls was taken off the new steel members.

The internal steelwork phase, up to the eaves level of the existing buildings, was completed around January 2017. At this point, work began on the kissing roof structure.

The roof structure is approximately 75m long on the east side and 65m long on the other, and rises up in the middle to a maximum height of 25m.

It comprises two “giraffe necks”, which face each other between the two buildings, and “ribbon” trusses which twist upwards and inwards from the depot buildings to join the tops of the giraffes in a central node at the “kissing point”. Each of the two ribbons is formed from 20 sections bolted into four trusses on site, with the purlins also fitted.

The giraffes, which together with the central node weigh 330 tonnes, comprise box girders 1,000mm deep, 600mm wide with 40mm flanges, spanning 50m in total and tied together with a single plated tie. The ribbons are 610mm diameter CHSs,

“Each lift only took about two hours maximum, but with considerable preparation at ground level. None of the components had to be taken back to ground once we’d oriented them and lifted them up.

“The connections with the roof support structure are on a 25 bolt ‘clock face’, which were plotted at Severfield’s factory to a tolerance of just 2mm.”

With the steelwork in position, in June the temporary propping towers were removed. “The first deflection of the structure was comfortably within the predicted tolerances of 35mm,” says Packham.

In August, BAM installed the suspended upper floor slab, which is supported by the arcing roof structure and also joins on to the internal steel structure. The floor slab is 15m long at the kissing point, and this space will be part of the anchor tenant’s retail store.

While the steelwork was erected, the timber roof structure of the existing buildings was undergoing extensive restoration. The structure comprises “king post” trusses, a central portal frame and wrought iron strengthening plates at the node points. Each truss was surveyed to assess any decay and the overall condition.

“The structure had to be strength-ened because of the weight of the

Above: Trestle towers were erected to support the central node and trusses Below: New stone flooring echoes the original cobbles

A forest of scaffolding – comprising 44,000m of tube, 26,000 fittings, 4,700 3.9m-long boards and 1,720m of modular beams – has been used in the temporary works44,000m

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www.autodesk.co.uk@AutodeskAEC @Autodesk_UK #eraofconnectionCall us at: +44 (0)203 893 2902

The Future of the Construction ManagerThe lives of construction managers across the UK are rapidly changing as technology transforms how buildings and infrastructure are designed and built. We call this the Era of Connection. Find out how the trends will affect you in a new video made in conjunction with CIOB, and discover how you can stay ahead of the curve.

Watch the video at www.autodesk.co.uk/campaigns/eoc-video-study

Autodesk is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or a liates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifi cations and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2017 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

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new slates,” explains Packham. “Where required, new rafters were bolted to each side of the existing rafters and all trusses had a new steel plate added on each side, bolted to the truss at the rafter and collar joint. Decayed trusses were replaced where possible by reusing existing elements from those trusses not being retained.”

In the eastern depot, only three of the 30 trusses had to be removed, with 20 retained in their original position, and the remainder moved to new positions. In the western building, only five of the 32 rafters were retained, these were also strengthened and the wrought iron bottom chords of each truss were replaced.

The roof build-up comprised 18mm thick plywood, with purlins at 350mm centres, plus insulation.

“Because of the deflection of the structure, we have used furrings so that the line of the slates follows the curve of the roof as intended by the design,” explains Packham.

Some 80,000 Welsh slates are being used, of which 25,000 had to be hand cut by contractor Attleys for the curved sections. The roof will be finished with a copper edge on the external sides of the buildings.

As BAM progresses towards the contract’s completion in the summer,

Heatherwick Studio is famous for its projects all round the world, but Coal Drops Yard is less than a mile from its London office in King’s Cross

The practice began work on the project in 2014 and led the design up until the end of RIBA stage 3.

“Detail designer BAM Design worked with us from early in stage 3, and then we worked alongside them through stage 4 – we didn’t want a handover, we wanted a more transitional approach,” explains Tamsin Green, Heatherwick Studio’s project leader on Coal Drops Yard. But the practice’s involvement will continue through to completion.

“We are the concept architect but we take an interest in the detail, in how the materials are made and crafted, which you can’t really do at stage 3, so we like to be involved in the later stages too,” she explains.

Heatherwick has a 9.30am walk around the site with BAM and Argent, plus a weekly workshop, a fortnightly design meeting, and frequent ad hoc meetings.

The practice also works closely with key subcontractors. “We visited Severfield’s factory twice to see the fabrication of the ribbon

trusses, and also because the central node in the kissing point is the one part of the roof structure where the steelwork will be visible,” says Green. “We wanted to check the quality of welding because it would be exposed.”

Heatherwick will also put forward names for key packages, such as facade contractor Frener & Reifer. “That said, BAM has an established supply chain at King’s Cross – for example the masonry contractor Pyramid,” Green adds.

There have been “adjustments” to the design after stage 3, as Green puts it, due to a “better understanding of the existing buildings” once demolition was completed. “We’d had to make assumptions about tolerances at earlier design stages, so in some cases adjustments were made where new elements were meeting the existing fabric.” There have been 170 variations across the project.

The mock up and sample schedule of materials was initially

126 items – rationalised to 31. The desired specification has not always been possible due to unavailability. The roof slates, for instance, were to be 300mm wide, but as the quarry seam was not deep enough, were revised to 250mm.

Granite paving was specified for the public space between the buildings – to recapture the atmosphere of the original, cobbled yard – at stage 4. However the Stirling stone from Scotland, which comes in red and grey, also did not come out of the quarry as expected.

“We wanted a percentage of red stones, to help warm up the tone of the bricks,” says Green, explaining that most of the material coming in was grey, so “we have had to leave holes in the paving for the moment”, to be filled with red stone later on.

“Generally, the standard of the work is very high,” she says, adding that the project team welcomes working together, and the weekly site visits and design meetings help identify and resolve issues quickly.

How Heatherwick worked with the team

the site workforce will rise to a peak of 220. The next big activity for Packham’s team is installation of the silicon-bonded glazing on the upper storey.

“Each of these glass units are bespoke as they slope up towards the kissing point,” he explains. “The largest is 8m tall by 2m wide.”

The building services plant is being housed in a shed behind the eastern

building, and in a plant room in the centre of the western building, though the heating and hot water is served through underground utility pipes from Argent’s central energy centre on the King’s Cross development.

BAM is due to complete its contract in August, with fit-out of the retail units following, ahead of the new shopping centre’s opening in time for Christmas.

“The roofs of the two depots rise up and are pulled together,

providing a focal point for the development”

Tamsin Green,Heatherwick Studio

Scaffolding in the temporary works incorporates an access tunnel

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WITH GROWING MOMENTUM BEHIND THE USE OF OFFSITE MANUFACTURING, PRECAST CONCRETE FIRMS SEE THEIR EXPERIENCE AND THE SECTOR’S TIGHT REGULATION AS AN IMPORTANT USP. WILL MANN REPORTS

PRECAST IN PRIME POSITION

INSIGHT•ONSITE/CONCRETE FEBRUARY 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Prime mover advantage is important in any new or growing market. And it could be a significant advantage for precast concrete, now that offsite manufacturing is back in vogue, with the government promising to favour the technology on public projects from 2019 and the Greater London Assembly proposing an offsite providers framework.

“Precast concrete has been around a long time, and most of the construction

how robust they are during transport and assembly on site, how they perform in fire, whether they are compatible with the foundations.”

Those concerns are not present with precast, Minson reasons. “For example, precast structural elements can be designed and constructed seamlessly with insitu concrete foundation,” he says. “In the precast sector there are long-established skills, processes, design codes and standards – and these are continuously evolving and being updated.”

Minson points to the newly updated BS 8297, which covers precast cladding (see box p30), and also the new code of practice for safe installation of precast concrete flooring and associated components, published in November.

“This code of practice is not a sales piece, it’s vital information for industry professionals, which the Precast Flooring Federation (part of British Precast) has worked on with the Health & Safety Executive (HSE),” says Minson. “The HSE sees this as an important directive, because so much precast flooring installation involves working at height with heavy plant.

“It’s the fourth version of this code of practice, and it takes into account the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 – which shows how prompt the precast

industry understands how it works,” says Andrew Minson, executive director at The Concrete Centre and British Precast.

“But with many other offsite products, there is a degree of risk because they are new. Project team members may be wary of being early adopters of new technology and being exposed to new suppliers.

“There are questions over the long-term performance of these products,

“The long-term goal is to digitise how we feed

information into the factory and move towards more

automated manufacturing”Ian Brogan,

Creagh Concrete

Above: Precast has long-established codes of practice and standards

28_30.CMFeb18.Creagh concrete_sc.indd 28 23/01/2018 17:04

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | FEBRUARY 2018 INSIGHT•ONSITE/CONCRETE

sector is at responding to changes in other industry regulations.”

With a positive mood pervading the precast sector, many of Minson’s m e m b e r s a r e f i n d i n g c l i e n t s increasingly keen to work with them and move more of the onsite construction processes into the factory.

One of these is Creagh Concrete, headquartered in Antrim, Northern Ireland, and with locations in Edinburgh and Nottingham. One of its biggest clients is developer Dandara, which has taken a “far sighted” view on the potential benefits of precast, explains Creagh director Ian Brogan.

“Dandara is leading the housebuilding market in use of precast,” he says. “They have taken a view that it can offer improved speed and quality in delivery compared to traditional construction.”

The developer decided three years ago to use one of its projects, the 276-apartment Stoneywood scheme in Aberdeen, as a trial to test the benefits of precast, Brogan explains.

Creagh was appointed to design, manufacture and assemble the precast elements of the project on site, using its Rapidres fast-track building method.

“Dandara regarded the Aberdeen project as a learning curve for themselves, with the aim of continuous improvement from project to project,” says Brogan. “Their philosophy is to maximise use of offsite construction across all elements of the project, and achieve quality of 100%. This obviously saves on any alteration work on site.

“There was no principal contractor on Stoneywood. We supplied and installed all the precast components, and Dandara managed construction of the foundations, f it out and building services.”

in just 50 weeks. “This was obviously a major benefit to Dandara, who would likely have run into weather-related problems using bricklayers and scaffolding in Aberdeen during the winter,” says Brogan.

Creagh has now moved on to another Dandara project, the Arena Central scheme in Birmingham, where it is again using the Rapidres system.

Brogan believes one of the firm’s biggest selling points is its “turnkey” solution. “We design projects in-house, and employ 180 professionals including estimators, engineers, planners and project managers,” he says. Creagh’s total staff numbers over 600 including the manufacturing plant.

Brogan expects digital technology to play an increasing role. “We work with Revit and use 3D modelling,” he says. “Our more experienced draughtsmen will design the main structure of the building, and then as we develop the model, individual elements are extracted and designed in Revit.

“In Creagh’s academy, we will start providing training on BIM in-house next year. The long-term goal is to digitise how we feed information into the factory and move towards a more automated manufacturing process.”

Another Northern Ireland firm expanding rapidly is FP McCann, the UK’s biggest manufacturer and supplier of precast products, which has its head office in County Londonderry. The firm, which raised eyebrows a year ago when it bought Laing O’Rourke subsidiary Bison’s Uddingston factory, is investing £12m in four of its dozen manufacturing plants, according to marketing manager Kieran Fields.

Like Creagh, FP McCann is also investing in BIM. It won a Tekla UK BIM Award for its “development dock”,

At Stoneywood, Creagh supplied the complete frame, comprising precast cross walls and hollowcore flooring, plus an external facade of acid-etched and brick-faced sandwich panels, all manufactured in its factory. Telecoms and electrics were cast into the precast panels, plus ducting, vents and openings for mechanical services.

The site programme was completed

Above: Creagh's Rapidres system has been deployed by developer Dandara

Below: FP McCann has a £5m precast package at the Lansdowne, Birmingham

The 276-apartment Stoneywood job was completed in just 50 weeks with precast50


30


Raising the standard for precast cladding

The revised BS 8297 modernises guidance on design, manufacture and installation of concrete cladding

where parametric control is used for the detailing of precast components. “We are now seeing projects where all the key precast components are designed in BIM,” Fields says.

One of FP McCann’s biggest current projects is a £26m development in Birmingham, The Lansdowne, a 16-storey, 206-unit residential apartment building, where Interserve is main contractor. FP McCann has to date supplied and installed over 1,500 precast units to form the structural frame, floors and lower to middle level decorative cladding envelope.

The supporting structure comprises external sandwich panels and internal precast concrete walls, with the facade panels accommodating two-storey high windows, plus columns and beams which support the steel framework for the fixing of precast hollowcore planks.

“All vertical precast wall sections have been designed for ease of build, linking together with hidden tie rods,” says Fields, adding that joints are finished with a high-strength non-shrink grout, which meets building regulations.

“Both the structural and architectural facade teams at FP McCann worked closely with designers SRC and architects Building Design Group to ensure the manufacturing of the components met the specification standard.”

The planks were supplied from FP McCann’s Weston Underwood production facility near Derby while the facade panels were manufactured at its architectural precast facility in Byley, Cheshire. Fields says a nationwide network of plants is not only important for servicing regional markets, “it also helps with sustainability because transport distances are reduced”.

This environmental credential is important, believes Minson. “Precast concrete is a local product,” he says. “The majority of precast used in the UK is made in the UK. This also reduces the risk from exchange rate fluctuation, transport problems, communication problems and difficulties in inspecting products prior to leaving the factory.

“Our members provide responsibly sourced products, accredited by the BRE BES 6001 scheme and the British Precast charter for sustainability,” he adds. ●

BS 8297, the standard which covers the design, manufacture and installation of architectural precast concrete cladding, has been updated and the new version was published in October 2017.

“It has been revised to account for changes in manufacturing techniques and product ranges introduced over the last 20 years,” says Luke Smerdon-White, technical director at Thorp Precast, who worked on the committee which carried out the revision.

“The last update was some 17 years ago and reflected some practices, details and materials that are no longer used within the industry. The Eurocode BS EN 1992 was issued in 2004, which superseded previous codes referenced within BS 8297.”

New precast facade classifications, types and finishes have been introduced, meaning that a wider range of products can be specified and manufactured to a relevant British Standard. These include cladding, linear elements, precast sculptures and other aesthetic features.

One recommendation of the new BS 8297 is early engagement of the precast concrete specialist.

“This is paramount for the project team’s understanding of the building’s movement and tolerances,” says Smerdon-White.

”Only with an early and clear understanding of these can the technical requirements and visual aspirations be assessed.”

Quality is another key part of the revised standard. “One section details the performance testing requirements of the panels when applied in a building envelope, and the minimum standards to be met,” says Smerdon-White. “Additionally, there are recommendations for panel inspections and viewing distances.

“BS 8297 also addresses the materials used to face precast panels, such as brick, stone and tiles. As an example of this, there are methods for testing the durability of brick slips and tiles with minimum ‘pull-off’ values to be met.”

The standard is intended to be used in conjunction with the precast common rules standard, BS EN 13369, and the execution of concrete structures standard, EN 13670. BS 8297 is also compatible with the Eurocode suite of design standards.

Members of British Precast Architectural and Structural who worked on the update include Andrew Tyrrell, managing director at Decomo, and Tom Salmon, preconstruction manager at Techrete. Facade consultants FMDC and Wintech also contributed, along with the NHBC and Charles Goodchild, principal structural engineer at The Concrete Centre.

“Precast concrete is a local product. The majority of precast used in the UK

is made in the UK”Andrew Minson,

The Concrete Centre

FP McCann's precast panels in its factory and (below) its installation team on site at the Lansdowne

“There are methods for testing the

durability of brick slips and tiles with minimum ‘pull-off’ values to be met”Luke Smerdon-White,

Thorp Precast


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RMD KWIKFORM HAS DEVELOPED IN-HOUSE MODELLING CAPABILITY WHICH ALLOWS FORMWORK AND TEMPORARY WORKS TO BE DESIGNED AND MANAGED IN A BIM ENVIRONMENT. SIMON DOWD EXPLAINS

HOW BIM CAN SHAPE FORMWORK


that we can apply these same practices to any size of project.

Some of the feedback we’ve had is around the responsiveness of the models and how easy they are to interrogate. More importantly, we’ve seen the positive impact this has had in allowing main contractors to visualise the overall management, buildability and planning of the site. Any construction site needs to be flexible – it is the nature of the job.

With BIM-compliant models, and through LocusEye, our customers are able to see the impact changes will have on a site. How does this change affect planned phasing? How does it impact delivery of equipment? Customers are able to manipulate processes, change phasing and target specific elements of any model. This puts control in the main contractor’s hands.

With BIM-compliant packages, and the added advantage of LocusEye, customers can use their own knowledge to look at practicalities for delivery, erection and dismantling of kit, where access and egress can be placed, and how the temporary works solution accommodates other works on site. It’s all about the better management of the site in order to ensure even safer working practices, and ultimately reduce time and costs. ●Simon Dowd is major projects manager at RMD Kwikform.

The UK is making multi-billion-pound investments in infrastructure. With a host of requirements to reduce overall construction costs, programme time and its carbon footprint, the industry is looking at new ways of working.

In recent years, we’ve seen the roles of suppliers change, as client and main contractors require greater visibility and more data from their sites. With the added requirements of BIM and the adoption of digital processes, it is no longer our role, as a formwork and shoring provider, to simply “provide products and a solution”. It is now our responsibility to interact with the entire supply chain to support the design and processes of construction.

At RMD Kwikform we recognised some years back that the industry is moving away from 2D drawings. This has been a slow trend, but as we work with customers’ major UK

“With BIM-compliant packages, customers can use their own knowledge to look at practicalities

for delivery, erection and dismantling of kit”

infrastructure projects, it’s clear that 3D drawings, at least, should now be standard practice.

We have been able to use these 3D designs to automate highly realistic rendered 3D models, using our in-house developed visualisation tool, LocusEye. These can be viewed on a PC, iPad or mobile phone, allowing us to demonstrate on site a very realistic-looking model. This allows ideas to be discussed, changes made and then re-examined.

Planning construction phasingI n re s p o n s e to t h e i n d u s t r y ’s requirements for smart technology and the growing adoption of BIM, our customers are now demanding IFC BIM-compliant models of our temporary works. In response to customer needs, we’re now building, automating and converting 3D AutoCAD models into IFC BIM-compliant Revit models. Through this system, onsite clashes can be detected and data can be captured to better manage equipment and plan construction phasing.

LocusEye has already been used to help our customers on national and international projects including the Mersey Gateway and University College London Hospital. IFC BIM models have also been supplied to UK infrastructure projects. The benefit of having developed in-house tools is

RMD’s in-house tool LocusEye

allows the effect of potential changes

to be predicted

Data relating to individual items can be tracked to better manage equipment

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | FEBRUARY 2018 INSIGHT•ONSITE/CONCRETE

US ENTREPRENEUR STEPHEN MUCK HAS DEVELOPED A REBAR-TYING ROBOT – WHICH COULD SLASH THE TIME SPENT ON ONE OF CONSTRUCTION’S MOST LABORIOUS TASKS. THE CEO OF ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION ROBOTICS TALKS TO CM

MEET THE REBAR ROBOT

Few jobs on a construction site are more painstaking, monotonous and back-breaking than tying rebar. But a US entrepreneur may have found a time-saving alternative: a rebar-tying robot.

The TyBot, as it is called, was created by Stephen Muck, founder and CEO of Pennsylvania-based Advanced Construction Robotics. “It can tie rebar at the speed of a team of about six to eight site workers, with only one worker required to supervise,” he says.

The robot has been trialled on bridge construction projects, and was deployed on a scheme in western Pennsylvania in late 2017. “We tied the bottom mat of rebar on a bridge deck and it went so well we were requested to go back and do the top mat the next week,” says Muck.

The TyBot uses a motorised frame that can expand to a width of up to 42m, according to how wide the bridge deck is.

A robotic arm moves across the frame, hovering over each rebar intersection, then ties the reinforcement bar together. The frame moves across the bridge repeating this process.

Muck, who is also the CEO of contractor Brayman Construction, says that he devised the robot after becoming frustrated by labour shortages for rebar-tying work, which could slow down or delay a project. He reckons that when Brayman built the Hulton Bridge in Oakmont, Pennsylvania in 2015, it took a crew of eight to 10 workers about 7,400 man-hours over six months to lay over 10,000 sq m of rebar and tie more than two million intersections.

“The TyBot both speeds up the work and reduces the number of people to do it,” Muck says. “There is also a health and safety benefit to the robot as it eliminates injuries caused by workers stepping between the rebar and bending over to tie the intersections.”

The TyBot can be used at night or when site workers are occupied with other work, a further time-saving benefit.“This is the construction industry using robotics for a solution to a business problem,” says Muck.

Advanced Construction Robotics is now working with a financing company to fund the project and Muck expects to begin selling TyBots in the spring. ●

“It can tie rebar at the speed of a team of about six to eight

site workers, with only one worker required to supervise”

Stephen Muck, Advanced Construction Robotics

The TyBot’s robotic arm moves across the width of the frame to tie the bar together

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ONE BLACKFRIARS, KNOWN AS “THE VASE”, REQUIRED A HIGH-STRENGTH CONCRETE MIX FOR ITS SUBSTRUCTURE, SUPPLIED BY MATERIALS FIRM TARMAC. JAMES KENNY REPORTS

SUPPORTING THE VASE


The 50-storey One Blackfriars tower, rising to 170m high, will be one of the tallest residential buildings in Europe when it completes this summer. As well as 274 luxury apartments, the devel-opment includes a hotel, spa facilities, retail units and a new public plaza.

Berkeley Group subsidiary St George’s asymmetrical tower, which looks out over the Thames in central London, is now in fit-out stage. Finished in a

double-envelope facade of transparent glass and cladding, it will have 57,000 tonnes of concrete in its structure.

Concrete provider Tarmac was brought on board for the significant challenge of creating a high-strength mix for the substructure – working with main contractor Brookfield Multiplex, engineer WSP, concrete frame contractor Byrne Bros and Laing O’Rourke ground engineering subsidiary Expanded.

“It was vital that a low-heat solution was designed to address the potential risk of thermal cracking, and it obviously needed to be strong enough to support the weight of the structure above,” says Tarmac business manager Steve Hyde.

To supply the enormous amount of concrete needed, Tarmac dedicated two twin-batching plants at King’s Cross and Silvertown to the job. It also installed a new Microsilica dispensing system at its factory in King’s Cross.

This system was created specifically for One Blackfriars, with Tarmac working closely with Multiplex at development stage, testing the concrete to ensure the designed strength was reached. Full-size mockups of the structures were tested to ensure the right mix of concrete was found.

“The early engagement, laboratory trials and mockups meant we could be sure we brought to site the right product,” says Hyde.

The project broke ground in late 2013 with the excavation of an 18m-deep basement. The substructure work was carried out by Expanded and, due to the project’s complexity, techniques included a secant pile wall, temporary mini piled wall, rotary piles as well as large-diameter bentonite piles.

The raft slab had to be constructed in one sitting, with some 35 trucks making more than 400 deliveries in a 24-hour

period. With 3,200 cu m of concrete, it was Expanded’s largest single pour.

This filled the 18m deep excavation, creating a slab up to 4.5m thick. This had to carry the weight of the concrete superstructure, distributing the weight across 36 large-diameter bearing piles. “A Topflow concrete mix was selected as it is capable of reaching strengths of 50N/mm2,” explains Hyde.

The next major task was to create 15 9m-tall ground level structural columns, which had to reach strengths of 95N/mm2 to support the 50 storeys above ground. After trials that focused on strength, colour and finish, a Topflow mix using 10mm limestone with a limestone powder was selected.

Hyde says: “Each column was poured using a tremie pipe process. The tremie pipe was lowered inside the heavily congested 40mm reinforcement bar framework of each column and slowly lifted up with each pour.” A new column was poured every three days, requiring 22 cu m for each one.

The geometry of the building was a significant challenge, says Aret Garip, technical director at engineer WSP, which used 3D modelling software to study numerous framing configurations.

“We specified high-strength concrete including stiffness testing criteria to ensure the building’s performance matched the engineering design.” ●

“The early engagement, laboratory trials and mockups

meant we could be sure we brought to site the right

product”Steve Hyde, Tarmac

Below and right: The 9m structural concrete columns had to reach strengths of 95N/mm to support 50 storeys above

One Blackfriars will be 170m high

TON

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34.CMFeb18.Onsite.blackfriars_sc.indd 34 23/01/2018 17:38

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INSIGHT•ONSITE/CPD FEBRUARY 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Rise of the dronesAerial data capture

WITH THE GROWING USE OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES IN CONSTRUCTION, MANAGERS CAN GET THE MOST FROM THE TECHNOLOGY BY KEEPING UP TO DATE WITH THE REGULATIONS THAT GOVERN THEIR USE, SAYS ROY AMOS

Aerial data capture by drones using onboard sensors, coupled with sophisticated, modern software for data processing, now present an opportunity to change for the better the management of all phases of the lifecycle of construction projects.

Construction firms and their clients are becoming better educated about how drones may benefit them, and more imaginative in their application. Drone use was once limited to aerial still photography or video, used to

monitor progress on sites or for marketing. Now drones are being used in a wider arena during pre- and post-contract phases. Their uses include design and 3D modelling, thermal imaging, defect inspections and asset condition surveys, to name but a few.

The growth in drone use, in construction and other industries, has the potential to bring benefit to business operations and workflows. But does the proliferation of the technology bring challenges with it? Almost certainly.

This CPD will look into some of the more important factors that those managing projects will need to consider to successfully procure and facilitate safe, regulatory compliant and effective aerial data capture using drones.

Regulation and complianceThe UK has a well-established regulatory framework governing the use and commercial operation of unmanned aircraft. While the vast majority of commercial operators of drones comply strictly with these regulations, some may fall short or act in breach of the minimum requirements and standards.

This poses a challenge for those managing construction projects where drones are to be used. To what extent should construction professionals be aware of the regulations governing drone use on their sites, so as to be equipped to intervene and prevent their illegal operation, if required?

The answer to this important question should be considered in the context of how regulatory compliance may be in conflict with drone operators’ commercial and financial interests. For example, it is not unheard of for some drone operators to undertake work in breach of the minimum distances to be maintained from congested areas without having the appropriate Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) exemptions in place – all so as not to miss the opportunity for paid work in a competitive marketplace.

With this in mind, it necessarily follows that those managing construction projects where drones will be operated should take time to gain a basic understanding of the regulations which govern their use.

Current regulations – the basics No drone may be operated commercially (for any form of consideration, monetary or otherwise) in the UK without the operator holding an appropriate permission issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, a Permission for Commercial Operations (PfCO).

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | FEBRUARY 2018 INSIGHT•ONSITE/CPD

Drones are currently classified by weight and by whether they are carrying a sensor that can be used to collect data. Weight categories are: 0-7kg, 7-20kg, and 20kg and over, while classification by sensor uses the categories of small unmanned aircraft (SUA) or small unmanned surveillance aircraft (SUSA).

A small unmanned surveillance aircraft weighing 0-7kg may be operated under a standard permission within a congested area (a significant proportion of commercially operated drones fall into this weight category). However, the drone must not be brought within 50m of any person, vessel, vehicle or structure that is not under the control of the drone operator, save during landing and take-off when this distance is reduced to 30m.

Larger drones in the 7-20kg weight category may not fly over or within 150m of a congested area. A congested area in relation to a city, town or settlement is defined as any area which is substantially used for residential, industrial, commercial or recreational purposes.

A standard CAA permission requires that a drone is operated:l Within visual line of sight (VLOS). This is recognised as being 500m and visible with the naked eye (unaided sight).l At a height not exceeding 122m (400ft) above the take-off point.

A commercial operator must operate in full compliance with all current regulations, his permission and operations manual, unless he seeks appropriate exemptions from the CAA.All commercial drone operators are required to hold and maintain insurance which meets the requirements of EC Regulation No 785/2004. An operator should only fly a drone if he is satisfied that the flight can safely be made.

Future regulationThe spread of drone technology is likely to lead to further regulation governing drones and their use in the UK. It is advisable that all who may procure the services of a commercial drone operator keep up to date

Left and below right: Drones can collect data from sites at up to 122m above ground level

“The drone must not be

brought within 50m of any

person, vessel, vehicle or

structure that is not under the control

of the drone operator”

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INSIGHT•ONSITE/CPD FEBRUARY 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

with the unfolding and developing regulatory landscape governing the operation of drones.

In the United States, it is already federal law that all drones over 250g are registered with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It is likely that the UK will follow suit this year by establishing a similar system for drone identification and registration.

Drone pilots are required to undergo formal training and qualification before they are allowed to operate commercially, but a flight safety test may soon also be mandatory for hobbyist drone pilots.

In addition to regulation, the UK may also see increased police powers to deal with those that operate their drone illegally.

Sourcing drone operatorsOther than standard regulatory compliance, those managing construction sites and seeking to secure a commercial drone operator to perform aerial work, should also consider the following:l Has the operator undertaken work on construction sites or similar environments in the past? If so, what is the extent of this experience? It is prudent to check that the operator is competent to safely and effectively plan and manage the work in the environment in which it is to be completed.l Does the operator have knowledge of and experience in collecting the type or types of data you require of them? l Does the operator possess suitable drone and sensor equipment to safely and effectively acquire the data you need?

Failure to address these questions may be at the expense of flight safety and the effectiveness of the planned aerial work.

Be clear about the briefThere can be much complaint about the failure of drone operators to secure the types and quality of data that clients expect. While this may be the consequence of using an inexperienced or inappropriately equipped

operator, the problem may also rest with a client having failed to deliver a clear brief.If the client is not suitably prescriptive as to what data he requires and how he intends to use it, an operator may stand little chance of meeting his needs.

Be clear who owns the dataThe value in completed aerial work is not in the drone but in the data which it collects. It is important to reach a common understanding with the operator in relation to the following:l In what output format is the data required to be delivered by the drone operator?l Who will own the collected data?l If use of the data is given under licence by the operator, are there any restrictions imposed as to how the data may be used?l Is the drone operator permitted to use the collected data for his own purposes, in any manner he sees fit? If yes, is this acceptable to you – and, if applicable, your client?

High achievers

Photogrammetry and LiDARPhotogrammetry is the process of collecting overlapping still aerial images of land, land features and/or buildings to create a detailed and dimensionally accurate 3D model or 2D aerial map.

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a form of airborne laser scanning, which can be used to generate similar outputs to those produced from photogrammetry. Its principal advantage is that level information can be gained from beneath vegetation cover and tree canopies.Usesl Topographical surveyingl Informing design and design decisionsl Importing new design into a real-world contextl Quantification and measurement of lengths, areas and volumes (increasingly used for measurement and valuation of completed construction work)l Reconciling as-built data with the proposed or intended design

InspectionsThe use of drones to undertake high-level inspections, mitigating the need for costly access solutions and working at height.Usesl Asset condition surveysl Searching for building defects and / or defects in completed construction work

General aerial still photography and videoThe process of using drones equipped with gimbal stabilised still and video cameras to capture data from a unique aerial perspective.Usesl Progress photo-graphy and video l Marketing/showcasing projects

Thermal imagingThe process of equipping and using a drone with a thermal imaging camera to gain information relating to temperature and temperature differentials.Usesl Leak detection (often used to detect leaks in flat roofs)l Assessing the thermal performance of building envelopesl Searching for defects causing heat loss in completed construction work

The main uses for drones in construction

150mLarger drones in the 7-20kg weight category may not fly over or within 150m of a congested area

36_39.CM Feb18.CPD_sc.indd 38 23/01/2018 11:10

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | FEBRUARY 2018 INSIGHT•ONSITE/CPD

1. Can drones be operated in congested areas under a standard CAA permission?a) Yes, if flown by a qualified pilotb) No. Drones are not allowed inside congested areasc) Yes, if 7kg or under and operated by a qualified commercial operatord)Yes, if 7-20kg and operated by a qualified pilot

2. At what maximum height can a drone be operated under a standard CAA permission?a) 122m above ground levelb) 122m above mean sea levelc) 152m above ground leveld) 152m above take-off point

3. Why might it be beneficial to safety to fly at particular times?a) The air temperature

may be optimalb) Fewer people may be on the ground, reducing risk of injury in the event of failure c) The site manager may have more timed) There may be fewer other aircraft

4. Why might it not be safe to operate a drone on a site?a) Adverse weather conditionsb) The pilot is unwellc) The work is outside the scope of the operations manuald) All of the above

5. Are operators required to hold insurance under a CAA standard permission?a) Yes, any third-party liability insuranceb) No, neverc) Yes, always. It must comply with Regulation (EC) 785/2004d) It depends on the work, but it must comply with Regulation (EC) 785/2004

CPD: Aerial data capture

Visit www.constructionmanagermagazine.com/cpd-articles to test yourself on the questions below and see past CPD articles.

l Is there any sensitivity around the collected data regarding confidentiality? If so, how is this to be managed?

Working with the drone operator on siteHaving established your data needs, secured and briefed a suitably qualified, experienced and equipped operator who has worked with you to carefully plan the safe execution of the aerial work, the next step will be to carry out the drone flights on site.

Co-ordinating aerial work with construction operations can be complex. But some key things will enable the flight to run smoothly.l Make sure that you have received in-date copies of the following: the operator’s insurances; a flight planning pack including risk assessment; documents confirming the pilot’s qualifications; and the operator’s Permission for Commercial Operations.l See that the drone operator and his team are site inducted and allow the operator

to conduct his own survey of the site before any flights take place.l Confirm to the operator any particular site hazards which he should be aware of and which could compromise the health, safety and welfare of his team or impact the safe execution of the planned flights.l Discuss and agree with the operator the optimal timing and safe operating locations needed for the planned flights to take place, as well as the emergency procedures in the event of aircraft failure.l See that site operatives affected by the planned flights are informed when and where the flights will take place and, if appropriate, are placed under the control of the drone operator in order to protect their safety.l Allow the operator to confirm that he is satisfied that it is safe for the flights to take place. Do not place pressure on the operator to fly if he does not consider that it is safe to do so. Remain mindful of how your behaviour could affect the drone operator’s decision-making.l Do not distract the drone operator or his team, or allow others on the site to cause distraction. For example, talking to the drone operator during a flight could cause him to be distracted from maintaining control of the aircraft. This may compromise flight safety.l Consider the impact of the planned aerial data capture on privacy. If appropriate, undertake a privacy impact assessment (PIA) and implement any mitigating action.

In summaryIn time, drone operators will better understand the needs of their clients and become trained accordingly. Those procuring the services of commercial drone operators will continue to be better informed about how drone technology may benefit them. Education on both sides remains the key to growth in the safe and effective operation of the technology across the industry. lRoy Amos is managing director of Panodrone.

“Allow the drone operator to conduct his own survey of the

site before any flights take place”

Left: The drone operator must not be distracted during the flight; Below: Traditional ground-based total station survey combined with dimensionally accurate drone image

36_39.CM Feb18.CPD_sc.indd 39 23/01/2018 11:03

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KEEPING YOU IN THE KNOW ON LEGAL, TECHNICAL AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

42-46

Experts 44 FIVE INDICATORS OF LITIGATION 45 OPEN BOOK PROCUREMENT 46 ARE YOU READY FOR THE GDPR?

EXPERTS FEBRUARY 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

42

Debt recovery

Are statutory demands the solution to non-payment?FOR CONTRACTORS STRUGGLING TO GET PAID, STATUTORY DEMANDS ARE A COMMON RESORT – BUT ARE THEY THE BEST ROUTE TO SECURING PAYMENT? JAMES SARGEANT EXPLAINS

“Cash flow is the lifeblood of the building industry”. Lord Denning made this remark in a series of Court of Appeal decisions in 1971 and his statement remains as true today as it was then.

In recent months we have seen a steady increase in subcontractor clients coming to us because they haven’t been paid by a main contractor or an employer. These outstanding payments can accumulate to strangle firms and threaten their very existence.

Left: The collapse of Carillion has highlighted the problem of late payment in the supply chain

42_43.CM Feb18.experts opener_sc.indd 42 22/01/2018 16:29

As a result, we are drafting, serving and defending against an ever-increasing number of statutory demands for non- payment. But what is a statutory demand and how do they work?

In simple terms, if a company owes you more than £750, then you can serve it with a statutory demand, giving it 21 days to pay the debt. If it fails to pay the debt within 21 days, then the statutory demand can be used to support a winding up petition against it.

If used correctly, statutory demands can be a simple and cost-efficient way of “suggestively prompting” a company to pay you the money that it owes, through fear of being wound up. But if you do decide to go down this route there are several factors you should first consider.

First, if you intend to rely on the statutory demand in winding up proceedings you must be able to demonstrate to the court that the statutory demand was served correctly. This can only be done by leaving the statutory demand at the company’s registered office or by personally delivering it to a company director.

But the real difficulty is in deciding whether a statutory demand is the appropriate vehicle for the recovery of debt.

When to use a statutory demandIn simple terms you should only seek to use a statutory demand if you are absolutely certain of the following: that you are owed the debt; exactly how much is owed (including any interest pursuant to Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998); and that the company which owes you money will pay rather than run the risk of a winding up petition being presented.

The key risk with a statutory demand is that if payment is not made you are left deciding between either commencing winding up proceedings and potentially only receiving a proportion of what is owed under the insolvency process, or doing nothing and having the threat be shown to be empty.

Another important consideration, which is often overlooked, is that you will not be able to

“You will not be able to enforce a statutory demand if the other party disputes the debt or has a genuine

cross-claim or right of set-off”

Learning the lessons of failure Carillion’s collapse is at least partly down to contracts failing badly. But if firms were better at analysing why projects went wrong, it would be less likely to happen. By Sarah Fox

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | FEBRUARY 2018 EXPERTS

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The shock news of Carillion going into liquidation will have made January a more sober month than usual for the many staff and suppliers who worked for Britain’s second biggest construction group.

The full facts behind the failure will out in due course, but clearly several mitigating factors were the major contracts that were behind programme and haemorrhaging money. One obvious question that might be asked is – after the first project started going wrong, why were lessons not learnt?

Generally, people learn more when they fail than when they succeed – and that should be true of construction as well. Only they clearly don’t. Success is always celebrated and attributed to the right mindset, a great team or a clear plan, even if it is actually down to luck or good weather. But fail, and the project team will usually want to walk away as quickly as possible without analysing why.

After Carillion’s experiences, and ultimate collapse, not to mention the Grenfell tragedy last year – perhaps construction should be more willing to face up to failure and why it happens, rather than shy away from it.

Although our industry is delivering performance improvements and better client satisfaction, we can’t be complacent. In fact, the UK Industry Performance Report 2017 confirmed that for construction projects:l One-tenth resulted in poor client satisfaction;l One-fifth suffered defects which adversely affect the project quality (nearly half with housing projects);l One-third failed to meet their projected project costs (a quarter for housing);l One-third were completed late; and l Half were hampered by late design information.

So although projects fail quite frequently – by not meeting their aims – the industry seems reluctant to learn from its mistakes.

Contracts can be the tool by which we manage the relationship across the supply chain to encourage everyone to learn from, report, assess and embrace failure. A bit like the reinforced NEC4 early warning procedure. We should recognise the role of emotional intelligence: unless we start introducing processes to learn from failure, we won’t consistently create project success. Sarah Fox is a lawyer and founder of contracts business 500 Words.

enforce a statutory demand if the other party disputes the debt or has a genuine cross-claim or right of set-off. This was held by the court in the case of Wilson and Sharp Investments v Harbour View Developments [2015].

In this same case, the court also held that a statutory demand should not be issued when a party is claiming sums owed by virtue of either a missing payment notice or pay less notice. These disputes should be referred to adjudication.

Finally, it is also worth considering how serving a statutory demand may affect your relationship with the company in question, as it may destroy any relationship between the parties. They should arguably only be used as a final resort so as to avoid gaining a reputation as a serial “statutory demander”.

In conclusion, statutory demands are indeed simple, effective and cost-efficient and can be an invaluable tool in the never-ending fight to get paid. However, they are more complex than they first appear. Before you consider serving a statutory demand, you should identify whether it is the correct vehicle for recovery and should ensure that you follow the necessary rules for drafting and serving, particularly if you later intend to rely on the statutory demand in winding up proceedings.

And, of course, if you have been served with a statutory demand, it would be highly advisable to contact a suitable legal professional as soon as possible to reduce the risk to your company. l James Sargeant is an associate at Quigg Golden.

James Sargeant Quigg Golden

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Five warning signs that your project is heading for troubleCONFLICT ON A PROJECT IS COSTLY, TIME-CONSUMING AND COULD EVEN CAUSE REPUTATIONAL DAMAGE, BUT CAN IT BE AVOIDED? BOB MAYNARD CONSIDERS FIVE EARLY WARNING SIGNS THAT INDICATE A PROJECT IS HEADING FROM CONSTRUCTION SITE TO COURTROOM

Dispute prevention 1. Design issues: the fast track to conflictDesigners are often under pressure to complete a design rapidly so that the tender process can commence as soon as possible. The temptation to “fast track” projects often leads to an inadequate base design, directly increasing the likelihood of disputes. There are often inconsistencies between elements of the design, particularly at key interfaces.

Issues then arise over the scope of the original design and who has responsibility for its development or errors in the base design. Often a contractor is its own worst enemy. It wants to be seen as being helpful in keeping the project moving and ends up doing the designers’ job, correcting errors through the detailed design process rather than insisting that the designers resolve the problem.

This invariably results in arguments about whether it’s entitled to a change/variation order or has accepted responsibility for the problem and hence lost the right to claim time as money for its extra work. In an ideal world, many design issues could be avoided by carrying out a comprehensive early review of the design. All too often the adage “a stitch in time saves nine” is not followed and the project suffers.

2. Is the contract being administered properly?If your contract administrator is ineffective, the allocation of liability agreed between the parties will not function properly.

The contract administrator is responsible for coordinating the contractor and design team, managing documentation, and overseeing contractual mechanisms, such as notifications and assessment of contractor claims. If the administrator is either too bullish or too lax and not actively taking steps to resolve problems even-handedly and respecting the contractual risk allocation, they can develop into disputes.

To ensure your contract administrator is performing properly, there should be a system of monitoring, review and benchmarking. Employers cannot afford to be passive observers of their appointed contract administrators.

A good starting point is to compare the reported project progress with the history of payment applications, which can reveal whether applications reflect reality and, if so, focus attention on the cost increases to identify early potential claims issues.

4. Do you have a realistic and deliverable programme of works?The contract programme is a vital management tool outlining a contractor’s approach to completing a construction project. When a project becomes out of sync with the schedule, it is invariably a sign that all is not well. It might be that the contractor committed to an unrealistic programme to secure the contract, or has an ulterior motive to use programme updates to increase entitlements.

Robust early screening of contract bidders and interrogation of proposed baseline programmes and resourcing schedules can often prevent this problem: if a contractor is experienced, reputable and presenting a realistic programme of works for a reasonable price then problems are less likely.

5. Is the contract being followed?Contracts set out rights and responsibilities, but all too often parties stray from their agreement once a project is under way. If the contract is left to gather dust, a party could inadvertently limit its entitlement to recovery by, for example, failing to serve notices and follow processes as set out in the contract.

If other parties to the contract start using language such as “not getting contractual” or fail to issue notices and correspondence required by the contract, then alarm bells should be ringing. Similarly, if one party sends far too much correspondence to the other party, this can indicate a plan to obstruct the normal working of the contract. ●Bob Maynard is head of construction and engineering disputes at Berwin Leighton Paisner.

Bob Maynard Berwin Leighton Paisner

3. Are payment requests keeping step with progress?If the contractor’s payment applications persis-tently exceed the certified amount, it’s only a matter of time until the relationship becomes adversarial. Sometimes exaggerated payment claims are a deliberate strategy by low- bidding contractors to boost profits, but often the mismatch reveals an underlying problem: developing claims, disputed variations, or perhaps a supply chain management issue.

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | FEBRUARY 2018 EXPERTS

Everyone wins when open book is truly openWHEN ALL PARTIES PLAY FAIRLY, OPEN BOOK PROCUREMENT CAN BE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE FOR THE WHOLE PROJECT TEAM, AS CONSULTANT PELLINGS, ARCHITECT PRP AND CONTRACTOR BOUYGUES FOUND ON A RECENT HOUSING SCHEME IN KENT. BY JAMES GREEN

Procurement together with agreed preliminaries budgets and subcontractor packages in advance.

To incentivise the contractor to deliver to cost, a pain and gain contingency was added, where if the subcontractor package costs came in below budget the client and contractor would share in the bonus or contingency. If it was over, the contractor was penalised.

This route delivered value for money, allowed a collaborative approach and enabled the parties to manage risks, so that unexpected problems were resolved by all parties working together and reducing any cost over-runs.

Reviewing subcontractor packagesAll subcontractors were engaged on the basis that there was a break clause between phases so that the subcontractors could walk away if the commencement of phase two sat outside the time window. By the same token, the client could terminate subcontractor packages where performance was below the expected standard.

The client team as part of the open book method came together to review these packages and as a result of their performance decided that it would be beneficial to procure new brickwork, steelwork and drylining packages.

We were also required to change the phase two demolition contractor at the start of this phase, as the original subcontractor demanded a significant price increase. A quick decision meant a new subcontractor was engaged without impact to the programme.

As an additional bonus, taking the “open book” approach has helped to inform another similar extra-care project in nearby Tenterden, where experiences have been shared in workshops on ideal kitchens and bathrooms for elderly residents, for example.

The key word in “open book” is “open” where the contractual parties are totally open about the project procurement and work together to deliver what the client wants. Where this happens, there is more likelihood of a project being delivered on time and on budget. ●James Green is a partner at Pellings.

James GreenPellings

Open book procurement has its supporters and detractors, with the latter often claiming that contractors are up to no good, or manipulating the process. But if all parties play the game fairly, the experience should only be positive.

That has been the experience of Pellings, working as employer’s agent and cost consultant for Ashford Borough Council, with architect PRP and contractor Bouygues, on a £17m 104-unit “extra-care” housing scheme for older people at Farrow Court in Ashford, Kent. The scheme started in 2013 with a four-year programme.

Ashford had previously gone down the fixed-price procurement route on smaller, infill residential projects. With Farrow Court as a flagship scheme it wanted to ensure the best chance of a successful outcome and chose the “open book” route. The appeal was the desire to use a collaborative approach, where the council, Pellings and Bouygues would work as partners to reach mutual decisions at each stage.

Adopting a two-stage tender process, Bouygues was appointed at an early stage, even before planning consent was obtained, so

it could work with the client and the architect to bottom out what would work.

The advantage of this was to shorten the timespan between consent and starting on site. Invariably a planning consent is followed by many months of procuring the contract, but at Ashford, consent was forthcoming in May 2013 and construction work started in September.

As part of Pellings’ role, we discussed the right contractual route with the team and advised on the preferred approach. PPC 2000 was considered but, because of lack familiarity with it, we chose the Standard JCT Design & Build contract that included a mechanism bolted on to deal with the pain/gain open book process.

Construction with no surprisesThe ethos of this approach is that it creates open dialogue. As much as possible there are no surprises; the client understands the contractor’s challenges and the contractor is given time to understand the client’s objectives.

With this approach, Ashford was able to agree a ring-fenced margin for Bouygues,

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Why construction should worry about its data protectionTHE LOOMING GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION IS SET TO HAVE FAR‑REACHING IMPLICATIONS FOR FIRMS IN THE INDUSTRY, IMPACTING ON EVERYTHING FROM DESIGN MODELS TO SUPPLY CHAIN DATABASES. ASSAD MAQBOOL AND JACK EUSTICE EXPLAIN

Legislation

Data is a core asset to any construction industry provider. Everything from digital design models right through to supply chain databases need to be secured in order to protect the commercial value of these assets. In particular, personal data such as personal records attract regulatory obligations, so must be managed and protected to the required standard.

Recent high-profile attacks such as the WannaCry ransomware attacks in 2017 and data breaches which affected all of Yahoo’s three

you need to organise information storage in such a way that the response time can be achieved.

Some firms may find themselves acting as data processors (the person who actually deals with data) rather than data controllers (the person who determines what the data is used for). Previously, data processors were not automatically caught by the rules; now they are. Companies need to think about what personal data – particularly sensitive data – they handle, and whether they handle it in a secure way.

Regarding supply chain management, firms need to ensure there are provisions in their supply chain contracts requiring suppliers to adhere to a basic standard of data protec-tion. They need to be sure their supply chain is compliant with GDPR standards and that they can demonstrate this to clients.

Futureproof your businessFines for breach, coupled with reputational damage from being found not to have sufficiently protected personal data, should not be underestimated. However, the regulation has been drafted to apply to everyone and is not intended to be unduly burdensome; it may just be slight tweaks to processes, standard contracts, and terms and conditions that are required.

Security is only going to become more important as the proliferation of data grows: GDPR should give sufficient reason for an investment to be made now by companies in order to futureproof their businesses. ● Assad Maqbool is a partner and Jack Eustice is a solicitor at Trowers & Hamlins.

“Construction firms need to be sure their supply chain is compliant with GDPR standards and that they can demonstrate this to clients”

Assad MaqboolTrowers & Hamlins

Jack EusticeTrowers & Hamlins

billion customers show how devastatingly vulnerable a company’s data can be.

No surprises, then, that 20 years after the Data Protection Act 1998, a new piece of legislation is being introduced. On 25 May the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force. It is an EU regulation, but it will have direct effect in the UK from that date and is likely to be enacted by way of a Data Protection Act 2018. Post-Brexit, GDPR is here to stay.

So how will this affect construction? First, the potential penalties are significant. Breaches attract fines of up to 4% of annual worldwide turnover or €20m, whichever is the highest. GDPR represents a very significant commercial risk and should be treated accordingly.

Supporting evidenceThe law is updated on the principle of “privacy by design”. Data protection should be at the heart of decision-making within organisations, and compliance with GDPR will need to be supported by evidence: policies, procedures, technical measures, training.

If questioned on how data is protected by your business, would you be able to provide a solid response? This will likely be of immediate impact to any firms tendering for public sector work: public sector organisations will be under immediate scrutiny and are likely to require evidence of policies and safeguards from their suppliers as a part of any tender responses.

From a people perspective, construction companies will be required to be transparent with individuals as to how their data is to be used. Any interaction with individuals, including employees and business contacts, will need to be considered. Firms need to consider how they engage with people, and whether they have sufficient notices and terms and conditions to cover this.

Companies must be able to respond quickly to subject access requests (SARs). These are requests by individuals who want to see a copy of information held about them. SARs require a response within 30 days. This may mean that

46.CM.Feb18.experts_sc.indd 46 22/01/2018 16:14

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COMMUNITY FEBRUARY 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

48

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL BODY

48-57

Community 50 NOVUS BRIGHT FUTURES 51 IOD CHIEF GUEST SPEAKER 52 RECOGNITION OF ACHIEVEMENT 53 MEMBER GETS ON HIS BIKE 57 MEMBER BENEFITS

CPD

Modern slavery workshop offers knowledge and resourcesTACKLE TOUGH ISSUE WITH ONE-DAY PROGRAMME

A new workshop dealing with the issue of modern slavery in construction has been created as part of the CIOB initiative with Stronger Together.

The specialist, in-depth industry programme supporting construction companies in tackling modern slavery was launched in October 2017. It is developed by Stronger Together – a business-led multi-stakeholder initiative aiming to reduce modern

slavery by providing guidance, free resources and a network for employers, suppliers, subcontractors and labour providers – in partnership with the CIOB, and sponsors Multiplex, Saint-Gobain, Westfield and Willmott Dixon.

The one-day, interactive workshop entitled ‘Tackling Modern Slavery in the Construction Sector’ offers participants an overall understanding of how modern slavery occurs within the construction industry; the risks and impacts to their business and UK supply chains (including sub-contractors and labour providers); understanding the responsibilities and best practice associated with tackling it. Participants will leave confident in their next steps to deter, detect and deal with modern slavery and have the tools they need to share and implement what they’ve learnt.

Candidates receive free resources to inform and equip them with pragmatic advice: a toolkit, flyers and posters for workers.

View Concrete, a short awareness-raising film, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqfYqqCphmU&t=7s ●Places on the workshop cost £150+VAT, although free places are available for staff of and primary subcontractors to project sponsors. To book call 01276 919090 visit www.stronger2gether.org/training or email [email protected].

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CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | FEBRUARY 2018 COMMUNITY

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Community is edited by Nicky [email protected]

CPD

Academy courses to build BIM skills

TWO CIOB ACADEMY COURSES THIS MONTH OFFER TECHNICIAN AND MANAGEMENT QUALIFICATIONS

The CIOB Academy is staging two BIM skills courses in February.

Develop your ability to act as a BIM management professional, and qualify to apply for BIM management ce r t i f i ca t i o n t h ro u g h t h e B I M Management one day course on 23 February in London; or qualify for the title of BIM Technician on a course on 22 February also in London.

The CIOB BIM Management course focuses on the requirements and skills needed to qualify as a BIM management professional. You will learn about what BIM can achieve on a project, ensuring vision and strategy are aligned to projects, engaging external stakeholders, and collaborating with partners and internal teams. This will allow you to assess, plan and provide support to clients and internal stakeholders during the BIM process, and manage all the related documentation and information.

The Institute has signed a ‘memo-randum of understanding’ with the Suzhou Wudu Construction Investment Company, based near Shanghai, to work together on areas such as research, construction methodologies and training, with the aim of boosting conservation expertise in China.

The agreement will also allow for the exchange of heritage experts for seminars, workshops, conferences and site visits.

Rebecca Thompson CIOB President said: “The heritage sector provides unique challenges and opportunities for construction professionals and demands many specialist skills, and this agreement will help both the UK and China develop their conservation expertise.”

“It continues the development of the CIOB’s presence in China, where the institute has established a strong relationship with government and educational bodies, construction companies and trade associations.”

There are 52 UNESCO World Heritage sites in China, second only to Italy worldwide.

The agreement was signed for the CIOB by current president Rebecca Thompson, a conservation specialist who runs her own heritage consultancy.

The CIOB currently offers a building conservation certification scheme at three levels – registered, proficient, and certified – which links to the CIOB Academy course Understanding Building Conservation.

MoU

CIOB signs conservation agreement in China

Above: Signing the memorandum

The role of a BIM Technician is key within the context of a BIM project. This course will align you to the skills necessary to act as a technician and support BIM projects, and will also allow you to apply for BIM Technician certification.

To undertake the courses you must have at least one of the following:l A degree or qualification in a construction related professionl 3-5 years of experience working within the context of BIM regardless of the size or nature of the organisations you may have worked forl Practical experience of BIM Management/technician in your chosen field. l

Each course costs £295.00 + VAT. To book and to learn more about course details visit www.ciobacademy.org/product/bim-management/

Student seeks survey help

Survey

Women working in construction? Share your views

Are you a female working in the construction industry? Are you happy to share your insight to bolster academic research?If so please take a couple of minutes to complete this dissertation survey for Rutenda Nhari, a CIOB student member, studying at Bexley College @LondonSouthEastColleges using the following link:www.surveymonkey.com/r/DCVWHTJ

GET TOP TIPS ON IMPROVING YOUR LEADERSHIP SKILLSWondering how to drive your team towards higher levels of performance? Join the next CIOB in London and the South CPD 'Leading for High Performance' on 22 February at 6.30pm at the CIOB London office in Kingsway. Guest speaker, busiens psychologist Will Sambrook, will share the best tips on leading and managing teams. Register at events.ciob.org/ehome/200175530



50

Sign up now for CIOB sponsored event

Below: Last year's winners Safe Bet Construction from Mid Kent College saw off seven other teams to claim the top prize

EOIN

GAR

DIN

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Event

West Ireland hosts free construction conference

The CIOB is sponsoring the 8th International Construction Management Day Conference at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT).

Taking place on 6 March the free conference will include a mix of expert speakers and a series of technical break-out sessions. For details email [email protected] or [email protected]

Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology

Competition

Student showdown to find tomorrow's talent

TEAMS SET TO BATTLE IT OUT TO BE CROWNED 'NOVUS BRIGHT FUTURES CHAMPIONS' THIS MONTH IN THE ANNUAL STUDENT CHALLENGE

The Annual Bright Futures Student Challenge Final will take place on 28 February following regional heats on 7 February.

This fun and challenging competition offers students the chance to n e t w o r k w i t h to p i n d u s t r y professionals and other students from around London, Southern, and Eastern regions.

Novus invites teams of two to four

student members to represent their university or college in a two part competition in the heats. S t u d e n t s d e m o n s t r a t e t h e i r creativity, practical skills, industry knowledge, team-working ability, a n d p a s s i o n f o r t h e i n d u s t r y. The winning team will receive individual certif icates, a team trophy, prizes, and a place in the final to compete against other heat winners.

In the final, each of the winning teams from the regional heats will compete to be crowned 'Novus Bright Futures Champions 2018'. This part of the competition will take place on a construction site in London, and offers an opportunity to win further recognition for outstanding individuals to help kick start their careers.

The Challenge Final will take place on 28 February 2018 in London on an active building site. .

Final prizes will include vouchers to the winning team, work place-ment opportunities, trophies, and certificates.

Look out for a report on the final next month.

Follow @CIOBNorthern on Twitter for details of the Challenge heats in the north regions. ●



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Fundraising

Kent members’ fundraising raise smiles

MAIDSTONE HUB CHARITY PRESENTATION

Eddie Tuttle, the CIOB head of policy and external affairs, will be presenting to members in Manchester on 8 February, as part of a free ‘meet the CIOB’ event. Other speakers will also be taking part to discuss membership progression; the new Fellowship route; professional review; professional development programme; Chartered Membership Programme; how to get involved with HQ special groups;

DOUBLE DATES FOR DIARY IN MANCHESTER

Event

Two networking events to boost careers

Event

IoD chief set to speak at CIOB annual dinner in BelfastLocal hero is guest speaker

Following on from the extremely successful charity raffle held at the CIOB Maidstone annual dinner in September 2017, representatives from the Hub committee were delighted to present the proceeds to Little Buddies (a north Kent based Downs Syndrome Support Group), the chosen charity for 2017.

Kevin Hogwood FCIOB and Peter Smith FCIOB (chair and vice chair respectively) together with Beverley

The CIOB Annual Dinner in Belfast will take place on 23 February 2018 at the Hilton Hotel. The keynote speaker will be Stephen Martin FCIOB, director general of the Institute of Directors.

Belfast-born Martin holds one of the most influential positions in UK business. He had a tragedy-filled and difficult childhood but graduated from Ulster University with a BSc in Quantity Surveying and developed a successful career in construction. His first CEO role was at Barhale Construction in 2004 and he also held CEO position at Clugston Construction when he was featured on Channel 4’s Undercvoer Boss programme.

In 1996 he became chair of the Lincolnshire branch of the CIOB and achieved Fellowship in 2002.

With over 190 attendees at the last dinner, this event is set to attract a strong attendance. Corporate and individual bookings are welcome. Sponsorships opportunities are still available. To book a table visit www.ciob.org.

Lawrence (MSEC for the Hub) attended the Little Buddies Christmas party in December. A total of £4635 was donated to the charity all of which was raised from the raffle and individual donations at the dinner with all prizes donated by Kent based companies.

For further information about Little Buddies see www.homestartnwkent.org.uk ●

FELLOW HONOURED WITH OBESKILLS

Rhona Quinn FCIOB, president of the Construction Employers Federation in Northern Ireland, has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year’s Honours list. Quinn, who is also managing director at Northern Ireland-based contractor QMAC, received the honour for services to the Northern Ireland construction industry and the community.Quinn’s honour comes a year after CIOB chief executive Chris Blythe and CIOB trustee Mike Foy were recognised in the Queen’s 2017 New Year’s Honours.

Below: Little Buddies receive their cheque from Maidstone Hub following charity raffle

as well as individual membership advice opportunities. The event is at Hobs Studios at 6pm-9pm.

Also taking place in Manchester is the 'Collaborate NW – inter- professional early career profes-sionals social and networking' event on 2 March at the Black Dog Ballroom Roof Terrace (pictured) from 5.30pm. ●To register email [email protected]

Speakers will discuss membership progression; the

new Fellowship route; how to get involved with special

groups; and individual advice



52

CIOB Novus is helping students in London prepare for employment with a day workshop.

The free 'Emplyoment Ready Workshop' is aimed at students and graduates to give them the tools needed for today’s job market. Presentations from industry leaders and recent graduates

will offer interview tips, advice on how to prepare a CV and how to stand out from the crowd.

Attendees will then be given the chance to put into practice the tips and tricks they've learned in speed-dating style mock interviews.

For details email Brooke Grange at [email protected]

Below: New MCIOBs, FCIOBs and representatives of a new Chartered Building Company, a new Chartered Building Consultancy and Training Partnerships stand proud at the ceremony in London's Clothworkers' Hall

Event

New workshop to help students ready for world of workSign up for employment event in March

Ceremony

Recognition of Achievement Day

On 8 December 2017 four newly appointed Fellows, 55 Members, and their guests attended a Recognition of Achievement Day Ceremony at the Clothworkers’ Hall in London. Also in attendance were representatives from one Chartered Building Company, one Chartered Building Consultancy and three Training Partnerships who received their company certificates.

CONGRATULATIONS TO NEW FELLOWS, MEMBERS, CBCS AND TRAINING PARTNERSHIPS

The CIOB past president Professor Martin Chambers FCIOB and CIOB chief executive Chris Blythe OBE off iciated at the ceremony and presented the certificates. ●

New FellowsMohammed Jamal, Anthony Loftus, Craig MacWilliam, Stephen Turner

New MembersMoataz Abdelraouf, Ibiyemi Akoto, Michael Angus, Helen Arbuthnot, Andrew Baldwin, Steven Ball, Colin Barrett, James Beasley, Guy Blackshaw, Gemma Booth, Mark Brownlow, Adrian Clarke, Stephen Coby, John Cuthbertson, Colin Draper, Dominic Duerden, Shaun Dunn, Scott Finch, Matthew Fothergill, Carlton Gilbert, Paul Gregory, Lawrence Gweshe, Maria Hanrahan Williams, Andrew Hardy, Jonathan Harrison, Martyn Heraty, Sylvester Hilton, Paul Hurst, James Huxtable, Jeffrey Ive, Alwyn Jones, Conor Keating, Jaromir Kvetoun, Yaroslav Landyak, Victor Mellies, Sean Minchin, David Mulford, Dominic Murphy, Adebola Ojo, Chukwudi Ononogbu, Mark Parr, John Parry, David Peacey, Stuart Pendleton, Steven Rabson, Malcolm Sainsbury, Paul Simmons, Ian Spink, Geran Stubbs, Robert Sturgeon, Valerie Sylvester, Jason Taplin, Jason Thorne, Matthew Williams, Kevin Winfield

New Chartered Building CompanyIntech Property Services – Adam Powell MCIOB, Steve Clarke, Kirk Martin

New Chartered Building Consultancy & Training PartnershipAedis – Joseph Ayre MCIOB, David Barley MCIOB

New Training PartnershipBaxall Construction Ltd – Malcolm Clarke MCIOB, Stephen Turner FCIOB, Andrew Baldwin MCIOB, James Beasley MCIOB, Matthew Fothergill MCIOB, Ian Spink MCIOB3C Shared Services Building Control – Heather Jones FCIOBNick Kendall


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“These young people can

be a real benefit to

our society”

Congratulations on becoming chartered and also attaining your masters degree. Why construction? I grew up with the industry

surrounding me: my father started, and still runs, his own successful contracting business. I always loved visiting his sites and spending my summers in the work yard and hearing stories about the industry. I knew from a young age that I wanted to work within construction. If it wasn’t for that exposure to the industry I'd have possibly spent years in university studying a subject I didn’t really have the heart for.

What motivated you to become so involved with Novus? Novus is a great initiative from the CIOB. I know from talking to my more experienced colleagues that when they entered the industry it was very much a case of 'do what you're told and not question the reason for doing it'. Thankfully that has passed and the CIOB recognised that and formed NOVUS, the chance to develop the industry for our future, to have a say and to be listened to. That is what motivated me and I am really enjoying it!

What would you like to see happen in the industry?I would like to see a long term pipeline of public sector schemes were delivery is key and budgets aren’t under threat. I want to see bold, innovatively designed buildings being built showcasing the best of what our industry can achieve when the key driver isn’t money.

How do you spend your spare time?Construction! When I’m not at work, I’m thinking about work, reading articles online, catching up on linkedin, etc. When I do manage to switch off I enjoy cooking and going for long walks with my mother and sisters.

Meet a member

Emma Brennan MCIOB bid & framework manager, Farrans Construction

Members

Members

MCIOB gets on his bike for charity

MEMBER ASKS FOR INDUSTRY SUPPORT IN HIS EPIC CYCLE FUNDRAISING CHALLENGE

A member of the CIOB is taking on a tough fundraising challenge in 2018. Steve Murphy MCIOB runs his own construction firm SMGC ltd and is a big supporter of the Dallaglio RugbyWorks charity.

Dallaglio RugbyWorks is a long-term intensive skills development programme, based on the values of rugby, delivered to 14-17 year olds outside of mainstream education aiming to ensure they achieve sustained education, employment or training. It was founded by Lawrence Dallaglio OBE, former England rugby and Wasps captain. Having experienced a troubled time in his youth, Dallaglio credits rugby helping him overcome a very turbulent time in his life, claiming it transformed his attitude, behaviour and aspirations and he channelled that into the development of RugbyWorks.

Part of the charity’s work is staging the Dallaglio Cycle Slam challenge which sees participants take on an epic bike ride through the French and Swiss Alps, the Italian lakes and onto a finish line in Croatia. It is a grueling test of physical and mental ability, taking in 2000km in 15 days climbing 30,000 meters. Steve has taken part in the challenge in 2014 (when he rode one stage) and 2016 when he was a core ride which he will repeat this year in May.

“I really need help and support to

Steve with charity founder, Lawrence Dallaglio, on a past fundraising ride

reach, if not exceed my fundraising target,” says Steve. “No amount is too large or too small, every penny raised goes to RugbyWorks and helps a young person through what can be the hardest of challenges, far greater then cycling up a mountain!! These young people are the future, future employees, business owners, parents, even politicians. With the help of Dallaglio RugbyWorks they can be a real benefit to our society!

So if you have your own business, are a director, manager or sweep the roads please be as generous as you can, you will be making a difference.” ●Read more about the charity at www.dallagliorugbyworks.co.uk; Find out about the challenge at www.dallagliocycleslam.com Sponsor Steve at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ Steve.Murphy


Mike Castle, MCIOB: Built an extension to Henry Cort Community College whilst minimising disruption to the use of the canteen.

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56

Live operation a successLEIGH CARTER FCIOB, SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER WITH MACE, SHARES HIS EXPERIENCE AT THE CHRISTIE HOSPITAL, MANCHESTER.

Me and my project

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust is a national cancer specialist based in Manchester.

Mace has provided the Christie with project management services for the £8m Integrated Procedures Unit which saw the creation over two years of a new build extension while the hospital remained operational. The build, provides 1,000m 2 of clinical space and adjoined 350m2 of

facilitated a drop-in communication session for staff, local residents and patients to attend. The stakeholder engagement has proved successful as all construction work fronts were taken and delivered as programmed with no complaints or disruption to the hospital operation.

The use of BIM and ‘fly through’ videos of the units before construction allowed the users to visualise how the units would be operated. This led to slight design amendments that at the design stage were simple and cost neutral to make, but had they not been raised at that stage would have added significant cost and time impact to the project.

I am delighted that we have created such a fantastic new unit for The Christie. The project team worked with a partnering ethos in mind and achieved an excellent end product within challenging constraints. ●

Leigh Carter project managed the live project at Christie

refurbished space to the existing ward block at first floor level.

The IPU provides a new facility that co-locates a number of services including radiology, the procedure unit, pain service, plastic surgery, endoscopy and day case surgery. The new build extension created 900 m2 of shell space at ground floor level that would later be the new main entrance, with retail units (M&S Café and WH Smith) whilst providing extensive seating and waiting areas for visitor and patients.

Shell space on the first floor became tbe £2.1m clinical trials extension (CTE), project connecting to a full refurbishment of the Clinical Trials Unit.

I worked closely with the project team to drive innovation, manage s t a k e h o l d e r e n g a g e m e n t a n d incorporate significant change to the project, namely the incorporation of the clinical trials extension and ground floor main entrance schemes.

The key challenge for the project was working in a live hospital environment and adjacent to live theatres and key outpatient units. The project was constructed at the main access node for the hospital, so logistics and management of traffic and pedestrian access externally coinciding with ever changing internal routes through the construction phases was critical.

In my role as project manager I was at the forefront of managing the key challenges. I established weekly stakeholder engagement meetings to ensure that everyone was informed ahead of time about the construction works and how it impacted on the operation of the hospital; this also aligned with media updates via the Christie online presence as well as letter drops to local residents. Prior to the construction works I organised and

Part of the project was a new 900m2

entrance

“The use of BIM led to design amendments that had they not been raised at that stage would

have added significant cost and time"



57

Membership of the CIOB brings with it many benefits, including exclusive access to discounts and special deals on products and services that could enhance your professional development, help your business or boost your earning power

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PORTAKABIN OPTS FOR MIXED MEDIA

58

With recent government backing and new players moving into the sector, offsite manu-facturing may finally be set to flourish in 2018. Portakabin, acting as the main contractor, recently displayed its nous with the delivery of the Global Academy, a state-of-the-art hybrid modular building.

The 8,700 sq m academy is a state school for 14-19 year olds in Hayes, west London. Built on the site of the Old Vinyl Factory, once the head-quarters of music giant EMI, it is primarily aimed at students wishing to pursue a career in the broadcast and digital media industry.

Andrew Simpkin, Portakabin’s head of project delivery, says the marrying of tradi-tional and modular construction ensured the process was as smooth as possible.

“We started on site in September 2015,” he says.“It was a full turnkey project for us, on a design and build basis. We worked under a JCT contract and I would say, in terms of balance, the full project was probably 50% offsite construction and 50% traditional.

The Global Academy’s construction involved the use of 112 Yorkon Building System modules

One module an hour was craned in to the site

The contractor worked alongside architect Surface to Air on the project. The finished building contains a roof-lit central atrium as a focal point, as well as a sculptural feature staircase. Anodised aluminium mesh cladding encloses the north and south elevations from first floor to roof level, with areas of full-height glazing around the ground floor.

The main modular parts of the building are the two wings, both four storeys high. The modular elements consisted of 112 Yorkon Building System modules – which range in size from lengths of 6–18.75m and widths of 3-3.75m and were manufactured at Portakabin’s production centre in York.

Simpkin explains the process: “There is a four-storey configuration, then we erected curtain walling on the open side of the atrium, which is between the two wings. We then put the roof over the top to create a circulation space. When we were on site we typically craned in one module per hour.”

The traditional construction work was also extensive, he says. “We also constructed some pretty significant elements in traditional construction, such as the sports hall for the school, lecture theatres and TV studios.”

Another innovative element was seen in the school’s recording studios, also constructed offsite. Simpkin explains: “We had built and done small booths in buildings, but this was so specific and quite detailed, so we employed acousticians who preciously worked in the BBC to make sure all the elements were right and just what the client wanted.” ●

TASKED WITH DELIVERING A STATE-OF-THE-ART MEDIA ACADEMY, OFFSITE SPECIALIST PORTAKABIN MADE USE OF BOTH TRADITIONAL AND MODERN METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION. JAMES KENNY REPORTS

“The reason for doing both elements was primarily for speed – we had a very tight timeframe of build and it allowed us to work on site on some of the traditional elements while offsite work was being done.”

Timing and schedule were key. While on site constructing the foundations, Portakabin was manufacturing the modules in York and fitting them out. Lack of space, typically an element of work in London, was also an issue, with only 4m between the site boundary and the new building.

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