Half of Scotland’s councils are participating in Phase 2 of the National Housing Trust Initiative, which was extended in 2011 due to “massive demand”.

The winners so far are Stewart Milne, which will take on two lots covering Aberdeen and Fife, Hadden, which has won the Clackmannanshire Council lot, and James Keiller, which will build homes for Dundee City Council.

UNILIN Structural Insulated Roof Panels deliver exceptional performance for the building envelope, creating valuable extra space within the roof structure and minimising material consumption throughout all elements of its construction.

Designed to provide a more insulated roof structure in a faster time scale and with a system specifically designed to accommodate pitched roof constructions for UK domestic dwellings, UNILIN roof panels provide exceptional thermal performance helping buildings to be more energy efficient in reality as well as on paper.

The firm received the invitation on Thursday and has said it will give evidence, but has yet to decide who will appear in front of the committee, Mr Putnam said.

Several high profile contractors have come under the spotlight for their involvement with The Consulting Association, which was shut down in 2009 after a raid by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Kier Stoke is furthering its commitment to staff and enhancing customer service through a new training initiative.

The innovative scheme will train craft technicians to become multi-skilled, enabling additional repairs on residents' homes to be completed more efficiently.

Some construction companies might be going the way of BYOD (bring your own device), allowing workers to bring personal devices for business purposes on the jobsite. Still, other businesses are holding off, and continue to standardize on corporate tablets and smartphones for work at the jobsite. With the plethora of devices hitting the construction market as of late, how can contractors decide which is best for work in the field?

Apple’s initial release of the iPhone and iPad clearly redefined how the construction industry does business at the jobsite. With a wide world of apps and a very portable device, many construction companies began using these in the field. But now, Apple’s products aren’t the only go-to devices.

ISG has been awarded the contract to fit out the new UK headquarters for leading real estate and property consultancy firm, Savills.

Located on the corner of Regent Street and Margaret Street in central London, 33 Margaret Street has been recently redeveloped by amalgamating three existing structures into a single, prestigious commercial office property. Savills has taken the lease on the entire building and the company will initially fit out and occupy seven of the eight floors, totalling c.88,000 sq. ft.

It looks as though the glimmer of hope for the coming year was just the blurred view through rose-tinted spectacles of a New Year hangover. Latest reports from industry analyst Glenigan show a decline in activity in almost all sectors in almost all regions. In particular the infrastructure sector and the London region show the worst downturns – both of which can be attributed at least in part to the spike of London 2012.

There was one sector that proved a turn-up for the book. According to the report: “Surprisingly, it was the social housing sector that bucked the trend going into the New Year. The sector was boosted by a number of student accommodation projects that began in January; however starts were still up only 1% compared to last January.”

National roofing contractor, Bracknell Roofing, has appointed Simon Smith as operations director. The company provides specialist skills and expertise on all aspects of new and existing structures from a network of 10 regional branches based around the UK.

Mr Smith's role will involve working closely with Bracknell Roofing’s branch teams to ensure customers have access to a wider range of sustainable, building regulation-compliant roofing and cladding solutions.

What does it truly mean to be integrated? For some it means linking together the critical technology systems within the company. For others, that means extending out to external partners. For others still that means trying to get a better handle on all the data associated with a construction project.

Each task around integration seems difficult. However, some technology providers are giving their best effort and providing solutions that tackle all three levels effectively.

Contract details are currently being finalised, however Morgan Sindall is believed to have fended off competition from Preston-based Eric Wright Construction to win the scheme.

CN revealed it was one of four contractors bidding the Knowsley scheme in November. The others were Bam Construct, Eric Wright Construction and Willmott Dixon.