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Welcome to the July edition of theNBS.com eNewsletter

In this issue we look at corporate responsibility and contract administrator's instructions, and introduce the collaboration between NBS and WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme).

Corporate responsibility: the duties and responsibilities under the new CDM regulations

CDM 2007 came into force on April 6th 2007 with an accompanying Approved Code of Practice (AcoP) published two months earlier, introduced to counter a creeping blasé approach to health and safety (H&S) in the UK construction industry. Companies now need to be more realistic and transparent in their assessment procedures and to structure their H&S systems accordingly. For example, a client
executive delegating responsibility to an untrained member
of staff will be deemed personally to be at fault in any subsequent legal proceedings resulting from health and safety infractions.

In this exclusive extract from NBS Shortcuts, written by noted industry figure Austin Williams, we discuss the duties and responsibilities introduced by the 2007 changes to the Construction (design and management) regulations.

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Guide to IC05: Contract administrator's instructions

Only the contract administrator has the power to issue instructions. If the employer gives an instruction other than through the contract administrator this would not be effective under the contract. The contractor would be under no obligation to comply with any such instruction.

In this exclusive extract from Guide to IC05 by Sarah Lupton, we introduce contract administrator's instructions.

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NBS WRAP

To help specifiers incorporate products with recycled content in projects, NBS has been collaborating with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), the not-for-profit organisation charged with reducing our annual 20 million tonnes of construction waste by half by 2012, and to zero by 2020.

Using WRAP's publication Choosing construction products, values have been added to NBS Building, NBS Engineering Services and NBS Landscape, allowing users to specify minimum percentage values for recycled content of a range of "generic" products or materials, with the definition of recycled content given by the ISO standard on environmental labels and declarations, BS EN ISO 14021.

Categories are split into "Standard", "Good", and "Best". "Standard" represents recycled content normally found in a product if no request for recycled content is made. "Good" represents a higher-than-standard value possible at a cost-neutral level when compared to standard practice. "Best" represents the highest value currently available, but may incur additional cost. Where products or materials inherently or consistently have one value for recycled content (e.g. steel, aluminium, hardboard, etc.) they are excluded in the NBS listings. Products with complex recycling considerations have also been omitted, e.g. those for cast in-situ concrete applications, and most aggregates. WRAP's AggRegain programme can be used for recycled and secondary aggregate (RSA) specification via www.aggregain.org.uk.

For proprietary specification, direct links are made to the WRAP website's Construction products guide, a database of manufacturers' products which claim recycled content. Specifiers are able to move from NBS clause guidance direct to WRAP product type entries and select a manufacturer and product as appropriate (note that recycled content claims are manufacturers’ claims, although compliance with ISO 14021 is distinguished).

Although transport and availability must be considered, a recent BRE report (The environmental impact of higher recycled content in construction projects) states that in 90% of cases, higher recycled content means a net reduction of damaging environmental impacts.

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Watch this: Planning Policy Statement 25

Planning Policy Statement 25 (PPS25), published in December 2006, sets out the policy of central government on development in areas of flood risk. With mounting evidence that global warming is increasing the risk of flooding, flood risk policy is increasing in importance: some 5m people, in 2m properties, now live in areas of flood risk in England and Wales. Does PPS25 step up to these new challenges? In this programme, barrister Gwion Lewis (Landmark Chambers) reviews the legal and policy framework and practical issues of relevance to advisers and their clients.

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Consider NBS Contract Administrator for contract administration forms and guidance

Building Contracts usually require the extensive use of notifications, certificates and instructions, but there is little or no standard practice or guidance when it comes to their format or detailed content. In response, RIBA Enterprises produced a comprehensive range of "standard" contract administration forms, approved by the RIBA.
These forms are specially designed to contain all the information necessary to allow efficient and cost effective administration of building projects.

NBS Contract Administrator is a software product that contains these forms for use with the JCT Standard, Intermediate and Minor Works Building Contracts, as well as some generic forms for use with other contracts. It simplifies the contract administration process further with additional features.

NBS Contract Administrator is available from £305 + VAT.

For more information or to subscribe to NBS Contract Administrator please contact NBS Sales on
0845 456 9594.

 

New books from RIBA Bookshops

Keep up to date with the latest design and construction reading with these new releases from RIBA Publishing. All books featured are available to order from RIBA Bookshops.

Buildings that feel good – What makes a building good? This central challenge facing architects and clients can only be answered by
looking at what works well for those who know the buildings most intimately – the building's users.

Richly illustrated in colour, this refreshingly original book is packed
with case studies of recent buildings that feel good. This ineffable quality is architecture's Holy Grail. It is rooted in the physical but mediated by human experience, and may only be judged after the building has been "lived in" and stood the test of time. The trick is to identify the relevant characteristics that will inform new buildings
before they are built.

Unified Design – Is the present obsession with the icon and the promotion of image over substance symptomatic of a general trend in contemporary architecture? Arup Associates provides the alternative: unified design, a radical pan-disciplinary approach that focuses on people from the outset, through the united vision of architects, engineers, artists and social scientists. Arup Associates rejects the imposition of an external image: there can be no standard solutions and no predefined styles. Instead, design must evolve from fundamental research and experiential goals, to form a holistic architecture entirely driven by a "whole life" sustainability that
maintains human culture – tradition, religion, the intangible components of humanity – in the face of modernity.

Sustainable Design – From thermodynamics to fluid dynamics to computational chemistry, this book sets forth the scientific principles underlying the need for sustainable design, explaining the "hows" of sustainable design and green engineering, and also the "whys". It provides the scientific principles needed to guide sustainable design decisions.

 

 

 

Specifying Buildings: A Design Management Perspective –
Selecting the best materials, techniques and systems for each project and then specifying them correctly to meet all the requirements of quality, time, value, constructability, maintenance and durability is a fundamental aspect of architectural design. It also helps to determine the quality and environmental impact of the project. Specifying Buildings: A Design Management Perspective provides a unique
insight into the entire specification process, from selecting materials and products to writing the specification, dealing with changes and minimising risk.

 

 

All books listed above are available to order from www.ribabookshops.com, from our mail order department: +44 (0) 207 256 7222 and from our bookshops in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

 

Most popular NBS articles - June

Find out what NBS website visitors are reading. This month, we round up the most popular technical articles from June on www.theNBS.com.

17th Edition Wiring regulations 
The IEE/BSI Requirements for electrical installations has been updated as BS 7671:2008 Requirements for electrical installations. IEE wiring regulations. 17th Edition. This creates a new revised edition of the wiring regulations, which will come into effect on 1 July 2008. This article looks briefly at the changes incorporated into the new edition.

New sections have been introduced to align BS 7671:2001 much closer to IEC 60364, which is the basis of the electrical rules for international adoption. Up to July 2008, engineers can use either the 16th or 17th Editions but after 1 July all installations must be designed and installed to BS 7671:2008.
Read more >>

The structure of a schedule of work 
The schedule of work is rarely, if ever, used in isolation. It is commonly bound together with contract preliminaries (describing general project requirements and contract terms) and with a specification document describing minimum acceptable product and workmanship standards. This group of documents may then be supported by drawings and itemized lists (also, confusingly, known as schedules), bundled separately or bound in as appendices.
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Not just a timber deck 
The recent ban on smoking in pubs is likely to cause the owners of pubs, clubs, restaurants and hotels to construct outdoor spaces for smokers to gather. The growth in the construction of timber decks is likely to accelerate to meet this need. Standards set by the Timber Decking Association and the Timber Research and Development Association make the specification of a timber deck a clear and structured process.
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The functions of a schedule of work 
There is considerable scope for confusion in discussing schedules of work – usually arising from the lack of a generally accepted definition of structure and content, but also from disagreements over terminology, and whether inclusion of quantities within a schedule of work is valid.
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Don't get your wires crossed: the colour coding of low voltage fixed wiring cable cores 
The colour coding of low voltage fixed wiring cable cores changed on 31 March 2004. These changes affect not only electrical contractors, but also specifiers, builders, do-it-yourself enthusiasts and anyone who carries out work on electrical cables.
Read more >>

 

Recommended websites

This month's recommended websites are all on civil and structural engineering:

BridgeArt.net 
Engineering for a BridgeArt.net compiles, categorises and archives high quality information of interest to structural, civil and bridge engineers. It includes a wiki, a software database and a news monitoring site.

CL:AIRE 
CL:AIRE provides a link between the main players in contaminated land remediation in the UK, to catalyse the development of cost-effective methods of investigating and remediating contaminated land in a sustainable way.

Eurocodes Expert 
Eurocodes Expert has been established to help clients, designers, contractors and suppliers understand and use the 10 new European structural design codes. Includes information on the Eurocodes themselves, plus details of training and events.

Steel in Fire Forum (StiFF) 
StiFF is a discussion group for researchers, specialists and design professionals interested in the behaviour of steel and composite framed structures under the influence of fire, and in the development of rational structural fire engineering design methods.

Structurae - International Database and Gallery of Structures 
Information on structures of interest to the civil engineer, with details of the people and practices involved, method and material of construction, images, etc. It is searchable or can be browsed by name of the structure or the people involved, geographical area or using a timeline.

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