A demolition firm has been fined thousands for a health and safety breach – while its boss was recovering from being tortured by burglars.

Brendan O’Halloran’s company Excavating and Contracting (UK) Ltd, was fined £5,000 after a huge slab of concrete collapsed on to a workman at Lancashire Cricket Club.

The firm had been hired to demolish a stand at the Old Trafford ground, but Mr O’Halloran was off work after being attacked at his home.

A good technology partner can help your capital-project management needs well after the facility has been constructed. Large corporate owners across the country are looking at new ways in which to leverage the technology investment for the long term.

For example, The Home Depot, www.homedepot.com, Atlanta, Ga., which operates more than 2,200 retail stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China, and conducted more than 6,500 capital-improvement projects in 2011, relies on the use of Web-based project management and collaboration technology. This is certainly nothing new for the national retailer, as it has been using the technology from Systemates Inc., www.projectmates.com, Dallas, Texas, since 2004.

Mace has been confirmed as the main contractor for the £129m 30-storey King’s Reach development on London’s South Bank

As Building revealed in September, Mace was in the final stage of discussions with developer CIT Group.

The Kohn Pederson Fox-designed plans focus on the retention and redevelopment of the existing King’s Reach Tower and adjacent podium building, which have been empty since 2007. The scheme includes 370,000 sq ft of offices, 72,000 sq ft of shops and 173 flats.

The district administration heaved a huge sigh of relief as Friday witnessed no untoward incident at the ‘disputed’ construction site at Nagri. Construction continued peacefully, thanks to the beefed-up security.

After a tumultuous Thursday morning — that saw the act of breaching the under-construction wall of the proposed law university and filing of five named and 100 unnamed FIRs against the agitating villagers — security was tightened on Friday.

Keeping track of funding sources can be a difficult process, particularly on large-scale capital programs. Whereas in years past, large organizations managed such a process through a series of disconnected systems and applications, we are seeing the continuing trend of migrating to integrated technology.

One of the more recent examples comes from the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority (PSFA), www.nmpsfa.org, Albuquerque, N.M., which is a state agency that manages funds for public schools’ capital outlay. The organization recently launched e-Builder Enterprise from e-builder, www.e-builder.net, Plantation, Fla., as its new construction program management system. The system will be put in place at PSFA to help track project costs, implement standardized business processes, and create reports to track project performance.

Four contractors are eyeing the chance to build a new hotel and rooftop football pitch for former Manchester United footballer Gary Neville.

The former Manchester United FC defender, now an England coach and TV pundit, won planning permission last week from Trafford Council for a 16 metre by 12m rooftop pitch on the proposed 10-storey Old Trafford Supporters Club.

CN understands Bam Construction, Bowmer & Kirkland, Galliford Try and McLaren Group are interested in the scheme, valued at around £15 million.

#The 2013 International Roofing Expo® (IRE) is seeking volunteers for Community Service Day, a home renovation and revitalization project being held Feb. 4, 2013, in San Antonio. The IRE partnered with NRCA's Disaster Relief Committee and Rebuilding Together® San Antonio to host the event.

Sponsored by Canton, Mass.-based Sika Sarnafil, Community Service Day will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will involve renovating homes of families that include elderly individuals, disabled individuals or are financially unable to support the renovation.

Skilled volunteers are needed from various construction disciplines to help with the renovations, which include painting, siding and replacing windows. All volunteers must be 18 years of age or older and will be asked to sign a waiver of liability form.

Southampton Football Club has been ordered to pay out almost £60,000 to Solent Interior Systems Ltd after a payment row was taken to court.

The Technology and Construction Court in London has ordered the club to pay the contractor, along with VAT, interest and legal fees, within 14 days, after it heard that a final instalment of fees had been missed.

Southampton FC sent no representation or counsel to the hearing on Thursday, informing court officials the day before by e-mailing that they would not be attending.

Contractors big and small welcomed the public to 75 sites across the UK today as part of the Open Doors Weekend, which continues tomorrow.

The programme, backed by Construction News and organised by the UK Contractors Group, the Industry Training Board and Sector Skills Council, CITB-Construction Skills, the Chartered Institute of Building and the Considerate Constructors Scheme, is intended to raise the industry’s public profile and encourage people to begin careers in construction.

One of those sites is Kier’s Winsford E-ACT Academy school site in Cheshire. Project manager Tony Harrison said: “It’s fantastic to be able to offer people the chance to see what we do and see the projects as they’re being built. Working on a construction site can be challenging but it’s extremely exciting and rewarding as well. I hope that members of the public get a sense of that and a better understanding of what’s involved by coming onto our sites.”

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, many business owners and IT managers are looking at DR (disaster recovery) and determining the best plan to put in place in situations of emergency. In the case of Hurricane Sandy, some businesses might not be able to reopen doors for weeks or even months after the storm. Determining how to best backup data and allow employees to work off-site is key for construction companies today.

Kevin Hicks, vice president of IT, M.J. Harris, www.mjharris.com, Birmingham, Ala., says, “At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself the following question: How important is the technology and data to my company’s business continuity?”