AA Construction (London) Ltd has been fined £36,000 plus £9,159 in costs after local residents complained of asbestos on the site and debris falling onto a road and footpath near a local school, according to the HSE.

Residents complained that asbestos materials were littering the site, while the HSE found that inexperienced labours were carrying out demolition work.

Procurement of the £400m Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will start “within days” after the Supreme Court rejected objections to the 28 mile route by campaigners.

The bypass will now be bundled together with the £100m Balmedie to Tipperty road scheme and let as a single contract.

First minister Alex Salmond said work would start immediately with prior information notices to be issued this week and drilling works to commence on site next month.

The GMB union has called for construction firms to come clean on the “disgraceful and immoral” blacklisting of workers, following revelations that the information watchdog left up to 90 per cent of potential evidence untouched during its investigation.

The GMB told CN that it hopes to start work over the next week to track down its members among more than 3,000 people listed by the Information Commissioner’s Office as potentially having been blacklisted by contractors.

Meanwhile, UCATT told CN it was was in “ongoing discussions” with the ICO to establish which of its members might be on the blacklist.

CEL was attempting to recover sums said to be payable for electrical works relating to a project on an alcohol distillery in North Yorkshire.

JMD developments provides new-build and refurbishment works including commercial, residential and civil engineering projects.

A judge found at the end of September that with no adjudication agreement, the decision of the adjudicator was not enforceable, so CEL was not entitled to payment.

Exclusive: Marks & Spencer is suing Lend Lease Construction (EMEA) Ltd for £1.4 million plus damages and interest, after the installation of what it says was a defective glass system at a Manchester store.

According to documents obtained by CN from the Technology and Construction Court, the glass system was installed on a contract dated 21 July 1999, with works “practically complete” on 8 November of that year.

A Welsh builder has been sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of gross negligence manslaughter in the case of a three-year-old girl who was killed when a substandard wall collapsed on top of her.

Builder George Collier was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter today at Mold Crown Court in a case brought by the Crown Prosecution Service. His company, Parcol Developments Ltd, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at an earlier hearing.

A builder from Canterbury who submitted fraudulent VAT repayment claims to HMRC regarding his building companies has been jailed for five years.

Wayne Morris Harrison, 52, pleaded guilty to two counts of cheating the public revenue, after using his building firms, David Charles Homes Limited and Weybridge Homes Limited, to fraudulently claim VAT refunds worth £812,250.

A Yorkshire couple have been convicted after pleading guilty to a £600,000 VAT fraud involving a housebuilding company.

Craig and Tracy Taylor, from Wortley in South Yorkshire, were convicted of fraud and money laundering, as the cash was passed through their personal accounts.

The government cannot guarantee it is using its own standardised PQQ process in Whitehall construction procurement.

Government 'can't guarantee' uptake of its standardised PQQ

As part of its drive to slash red tape, each government department was supposed to ensure it was using the standard form as of January 2011.

The Centre of Construction Law & Management King's College London is looking to appoint a new Director and Assistant Director within the next 12 months. The Centre established the original MSc course in Construction Law & Dispute Resolution and continues to be involved in other programmes in London and Dubai as well as supervising research degrees.