Back page Have you thought of…

...SLEEPING ON

...TRAINING UP PENSIONERS AS A NEW CONSTRUCTION WORKFORCE? It’s not such an outlandish idea. Last month, main contractor Wates hired a group of senior citizens to help out with a housing project that involved re-using scrap timber taken from a former pub it had demolished. But before you call social services and the HSE, we should mention that the housing in question was in fact bird tables and bug boxes designed for installation at the aptly- named Wren’s Nest estate in Dudley, West Midlands. The new estate is part of Wates’ £4m housing development for Jephson Housing Association. And the pensioners weren’t press-ganged — they were all volunteers from the Dudley Senior Citizens Enterprise Group who wanted to keep up their skills.

...OR USING TEACHERS TO OPERATE EXCAVATORS? And why not? As we’ve seen in Dudley, the industry is already recruiting from a more diverse workforce. Teachers can probably do with a break from the classroom, and if you’re asking them to direct the telescopic excavator at their old school, you can bet they’ll take on the task with gusto. That’s what happened when Lorraine Wright, head of learning for performing arts and media at Francis Combe Academy in Watford helped Kier knock down one of the building’s 50-year-old structures to make way for a new £22m academy building. Wright won a charity auction that gave her the chance to knock down the old main hall. All the money raised from the auction is going to support the academy’s former principal, Nicky Williams, who is working with orphaned children in Mombasa, Kenya.

THE JOB? In most cases the boss wouldn’t approve, but what if catching a few z’s on site helped keep crime at bay? That’s the idea Leadbitter labourer Alan Martin had when he became fed up with thieves and vandals breaking into houses he was helping the contractor build for Knightstone Housing Association in Hartcliffe, Bristol. The local criminal element had been stealing appliances and defacing walls with graffiti. Taking his thermos, fishing chair and radio, Martin camped out in one of the houses Leadbitter was building. The idea seems to have worked — there have been no further break-ins, and Martin also arrived early for work.

...ASKING A TAILOR TO MEASURE UP YOUR NEXT BUILDING? With the invention of a new product known as “concrete cloth”, it’s not such a far-fetched idea. Giving a whole new meaning to the term “building fabric”, this flexible, cement-impregnated cloth hardens when water is applied to it, forming a thin, durable, waterproof and fire-retardant concrete layer. The product has just been given a Class B fire rating by fire consultant Chiltern International Fire.

In Previously used for the speedy

erection of military and disaster relief shelters and storage, the product is also suitable for ditch lining, pipe protection, roofing, asbestos containment and flood defences, say its inventors, William Crawford and Peter Brewin. We say, “ooh, suits you sir!” www.concretecanvas.co.uk

Editor Elaine Knutt +44 20 7490 5636

Contributing editor Stephen Cousins

Production editor Lucien Howlett

Art director Mark Bergin

Tel: +44 20 7490 5595 Fax: +44 20 7490 4957 firstname@atompublishing.co.uk

58 | OCTOBER 2010 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Advertising manager Martin Sinclair +44 20 7490 5661

Production manager Peter Songi

Publisher Emma Tilley

Managing director Stephen Quirke

Construction Manager Published for the Chartered Institute of Building by Atom Publishing Clerkenwell House 45/47 Clerkenwell Green London EC1R 0EB

Subscriptions Katy Stoneham Englemere Ltd. The White House, Englemere, Kings Ride, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7JR kstoneham@englemere.co.uk UK £73.00 Overseas £83.00

Circulation Net average circulation 33,438 Audit Period: 1 July 2008–

30 June 2009

Construction Manager is published monthly by Atom Publishing. The contents of this magazine are copyright. Reproduction in part or in full is forbidden without permission of the editor. The opinions expressed by writers of signed articles (even with pseudonyms) and letters appearing in the magazine are those of their respective authors, and neither the CIOB, Atom Publishing nor Construction Manager is responsible for these opinions or statements. The editor will give careful consideration to material submitted – articles, photographs, drawings and so on – but does not undertake responsibility for damage or their safe return. Printed by Headley Brothers Ltd. Reprographics by F1 Colour. All rights in the magazine, including copyright, content and design, are owned by CIOB and/or Atom Publishing. ISSN 1360 3566