National Structural Concrete Specification Edition 4 is Now Available

The fourth edition of the NSCS is now available. Edition 4 has been fully revised to meet the requirement of BS EN 13670 Execution of concrete structures use of which is required for execution of BS EN 1992 and other Eurocode designs. For more details go the the National Structural Concrete Specification page. The new edition was launched at a CONSTRUCT event held on 22nd June at the SCI in London. A keynote speech was given by Gordon Clark of Giffords and Paul Toplis of Price and Myers outlined the main changes to the specification.

CONSTRUCT Day 2011 Photos

Over 200 photos taken at the CONSTRUCT Day, held at The Brewery, London EC1, on 7 October 2011, are available from this website by clicking HERE.

CONSTRUCT 2011 Awards.

The winner of the CONSTRUCT 2011 Award for Innovation in design, process and construction of projects was Expanded Ltd for its work at Oasis Media City in Salford. The project, part of the Salford schools programme, embraced the benefits of off-site construction and optimised the solar gain in the exposed concrete floors and walls. This in turn reduced the need for fossil fuel heating. A new Award for Innnvation in materials and products was won by Anchor Bay Products Ltd for the development of its Trackspacer product into Drupak. The judges awarded a Highly Commended accolade to Deer Park Engineering for Survipod. The CONSTRUCT Award for a Health and Safety Initiative was won by Expanded Ltd for the developmennt of Visual Task Sheets which are now used on all their projects. Further details about all the Awards is given on a separate page here.

CONSTRUCT's ROLE in the NSCC

Having joined NSCC, CONSTRUCT now plays an active role in the trade body. Our Chairman, Neil Mitchell, has been elected to the NSCC Board of Management. Various representatives from CONSTRUCT participate in the NSCC Council, the Health and Safety Committee, the Training Committee and the Contracts Committee. Our contractor members are encouraged to submit their excellent Accident Statistics which form part of the industry wide specialist contractors figures. Our members also contribute to quarterly State of the Industry Review.

CONSTRUCT Sponsors Concrete Category in Construction News Specialist Awards

This year the winner of the Concrete Specialists Category in The Construction News Specialist Awards sponsored by CONSTRUCT was A J Morrisroe and Sons. Highly Commended was awarded to Gunite (Eastern). The Judges Mike Donegan (BAM) and Malcolm Richards (Capita Symonds) said the winner was "A high quality company which has expeienced consistent and sustainable growth founded on customer retention, quality, safety and delivery." CONSTRUCT will again be sponsoring this category for the 2012 Awards. The closing date for entries is 11 November.

CONSTRUCT YEARBOOK 2011/12

The new 2011/2012 Yearbook is now available and copies can be obtained from the Secretary.

HSE Announces Less Non-Fatal Injuries

Provisional figures issued by the HSE indicate a significant drop in fatalities within the construction industry. At 35 for 2009/10, the number of deaths is down from 53 in 2008/9 and 72 in 2007/8. 60% of the deaths were related to falls from height and 5 resulted from victims being struck by vehicles. CONSTRUCT is currently collecting data from its members to shew that with no fatalities, our contractors take Health and Safety very seriously.

Best Practice Guides

CONSTRUCT, along with The Concrete Centre and BRE, is sponsoring a series of six best practice guides based on the innovations resulting from the European Concrete Building Project, a whole-building research programme carried out at Cardington, and incorporated into the St. George Wharf development in London. The complete series has now been published and are available as downloads on the publications page.

Concrete in Tall Buildings

Additional opportunities present themselves for concrete in the design of tall buildings. The effect of 9/11 has been dramatic, as explained by Stuart Alexander who delivered the 2003 Peter Campbell Biennial Lecture and new designs throughout the world have taken into account the major issues surrounding disproportionate collapse, fire protection, robustness and escape management. Concrete is now regarded as the preferred option for cores, shear walls, escape routes such as wider stairs and lift shafts. The findings on both sides of the Atlantic on any number of other issues are remarkably similar. For a fuller report, please click on Publications and read Framework 5.