Up to six contractors are being sought for a London police framework deal which could be worth up to £220 million.

The three-year framework has been published by the mayor’s office for policing and crime and would see contractors appointed across two lots: general works and mechanical and electrical works.

Lot 1 for general works includes internal refurbishment and fit-out for offices; estate refurbishment and demolition and asbestos removal.

Infrastructure Projects to be discussed at One Great George Street, Home of the Institution of Civil Engineers, London in December.

Many of the UK’s most respected infrastructure experts, main contractors and asset owners meet in London next month to discuss the National Infrastructure Plan, announced by the Government in November last year.

The UK Infrastructure Conference (UKICE) is a two day meeting between the UK asset owners and operators (energy, transport, information and communication infrastructure, water and waste) and the main contractors, alongside the project investors to discuss the implementation of priority projects for 2013.

A British Columbia construction industry team got a rock star's welcome at job fairs in Ireland, where out-of-work tradespeople are desparate for jobs being offered in B.C.'s north.

At a job fair in Dublin, 10,000 workers came through the door, said Abigail Fulton, B.C. Construction Association vice-president. The delegation also set up in Cork and Belfast and made a trip to Glasgow, Scotland, where they met thousands more job hunters.

"It was non-stop for three weeks," Fulton said of the trip during September and October.

Sometimes it all comes down to strong technology partners. For construction companies this is certainly the case, as good technology partners help run more efficient operations. But for technology providers, the same theory can also apply, as strong partners help deliver a more cohesive set of products fit to best serve construction customers.

Throughout the past few months Viewpoint Construction Software, www.viewpointcs.com, Portland, Ore., has adopted this strategy in full. Just in the past few weeks the company has partnered with the likes of Hard Dollar, www.harddollar.com, Scottsdale, Ariz., and Quote Software, www.quotesoft.com, Eugene, Ore. This adds to the already impressive list of partners for Viewpoint that extend across all aspects of the construction-technology space. One could argue its acquisition of Construction Imaging earlier this year also played into this strategy as well.

This week Viewpoint’s partnership strategy continues to progress with the announced deal with McCormick Systems, www.mccormicksys.com, Scottsdale, Ariz. The company, which provides estimating and other technology solutions for electrical (and more recently, mechanical and plumbing) contractors, will now be included in the Viewpoint Development Partner Program.

The trio are shortlisted to carry out works including detailed design, enabling works, manufacture, supply, construction, installation, testing, commissioning and hand over of railway depot facilities at the Ilford Yard Stabling facility.

VolkerFitzpatrick was awarded a contract for surveying the site in September 2011.

The site is located adjacent to the Great Eastern Main Line between Ilford and SevenKings. The depot covers an area of approximately 12 hectares. Network Rail owns the freehold to the site.

Exposure to the elements can lead roof deterioration and eventually roof failure. A roof maintenance program can maintain your roof so that deterioration can be slowed or avoided. In return, roofs will last longer and will be healthier.
 
Roof maintenance is important because it makes sure that your roof is healthy and working at its highest efficiency. In order to ensure this, a maintenance program provider needs to work proactively with you on your roof. In addition, the program should be on-going with continuous checkups, and the provider should have open communication with the customer.

As initiatives such as lean and BIM (building information modeling) continue to move deeper into the construction industry, contractors are evaluating which are right for their particular operations. While some might view these two to be separate endeavors, others in the market believe there is definite value in tying the two together.

Gilbane Building Co., www.gilbaneco.com, Providence, R.I., for example, considers the two to be integral to jobsite safety. This was the topic of a recent industry presentation from the commercial contractor to the Lean Construction Institute.

William J. Gilbane, Jr., president and chief operating officer, Gilbane, says it all started as a cultural shift in how the company views safety and progressed to become part of its overall mission to maximize value on projects.

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.

One of the UK’s largest and most complex building-integrated solar electricity systems has been officially switched on at King’s Cross railway station in London.

The solar glazing on the main train shed will have a peak output of 240kW and is expected to generate around 175,000kWh of electricity each year, saving over 100 tonnes of CO₂ emissions and meeting up to 10 per cent of the station’s electricity needs.

The construction of new nuclear power stations, which had been suspended since the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, will be resumed in China.

But only a small number will be launched by 2015 and all of them will be located at coastal sites.

Prior to the Fukushima disaster, some energy officials indicated China would embark on as many as 40 nuclear energy projects during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), and at least seven inland provinces applied to host plants.