MIPIM 2011 Update: Thursday

Thursday

Andrew Pryke's pen-ultimate day at MIPIM 2011.
Another early start. However, the sun is shining and it's warm (a change from the recent cold and windy weather).

Breakfast on the beach hosted by Fira and Sidell Gibson. A glut of consultants have homed in on the coffee, orange juice and croissants. I catch up with Peter Stocks from Cundall....work in Libya has dried up. An old colleague from a contractor has an opportunity for me...I am dragged away before I can follow up.

Back to the London Pavilion. I bump into our exec board member Mark Norris and Damian Wild of Estates Gazette. He feels pleased he has just competed a live video link Q+A from London on the Ealing stand...it worked.
I take a wander around the Marina. A mulltitude of multi-million pound (Euro) yachts are moored. Each eblazened with corporate logos. Drinks bars ready for the next party. Arup seem to be missing from their usual position. I haven't seen anyone from Arup here this year.
I pass an American corporate yacht. A speaker bellows out "To us our handshake is our promise"...I move on swiftly!
I have a spare 30 minutes...I take a bet on how much corporate stand bling I can collect (yes, there is sometimes time for fun outside work here!). I return having done a world tour of cities and world companies....I can just about carry it all...rather juvenile I know.
I meet up with David Matthews from Building Magazine at the Capita Symonds stand. We go for a chat on the London Pavilion Terrace overlooking the beach. The weather now is very hot, the wind has died down and the week is taking it's toll. David is looking for a good story about Capita Symonds. The focus strays to major architectural practices that are in trouble (I wonder if he is going to going to print on this?). The next focus is companies left to be acquired by major companies. Again I am not drawn on this, but suggest he talks to our M.D. Jonathan Goring who arrived in Cannes today. I think that I have got away with not giving too much about Capita for now. I agree to meet up again in London. David is a great guy. It's a very pleasant and informative conversation and we part. I am beginning to think I am a bit of a media 'tart' having managed to talk to most magazines this MIPIM.

Back at the Capita Symonds stand the London Pavilion is quiet. A Russian gentleman asks me if I am from Capita Symonds. He states that he is a developer and would like me/ Capita Symonds to design a number of projects for him. It is suggested that a meeting with another developer we’re working with is arranged. It would appear that we have that illusive project(s) win that the guys back in the UK believe you should be getting at MIPIM!

It's a rush back to the hotel for another quick shower and change and out for an dinner invite with Wates. I have noticed this MIPIM a number of 'beggers' on the streets. I know that times are hard but I don't believe they are members of our industry. One chap sits beside a notice "Need petrol for my Porsche"...they get a better class of 'begger' in the South of France!
I meet my hosts, Christine Baltas and Doug Wotherspoon at Le Caveau. A very pleasant restaurant overlooking the Boule pitches (is that the term for them) and the Marina. It seems that the whole MIPIM Dutch contingent have booked the restaurant as well. They start to sing. This could be a very noisy evening. They calm down and I have yet another pleasant and informative evening with Wates and their guests. Discussions dwell on Libya and the Middle East...is this a lost opportunity or a new market opening? At midnight we all depart and head for Morrisons Bar. I duck out and head back to my hotel.
I have an early departure from Nice Airport in the morning…

MIPIM 2011 update: Wednesday

Andrew Pryke's Wednesday at MIPIM 2011

It's a 7.30am start; a jog along La Croisette. I am joined by a throng of other fitness delegates and locals. Legs are beginning to ache from the previous days walking up and down La Croisette to the various events... I knew I should have brought 'sensible shoes' as my mother would say (and also Norman Taylor, Capita Symonds’ MIPIM veteran... how does he know so many people here?).


A quick shower and it's off to a breakfast meeting with a Hoare Lea contact at the Carlton Hotel. I notice a text from him timed at 4.36am this morning – “am I still up for breakfast?” I am, but wonder whether he will be! I answer yes and continue to the Carlton.

Breakfast is taken at a nearby restaurant (who would want to pay the Carlton Hotel rates - I’m told it cost 23 Euros for a G+T last night!?). Coffee and a croissant are taken at a leisurely pace. A review of potential business reveals possibilities in the higher education market (and anyone reading this, hands off!)

Back at the London Pavilion, our own Mark Norris talks on Funding Development. A decent size crowd gathers, people taking notes, all attempting to unlock that edge on their opposition for that vital lead, that crucial piece of information that will enable targets to be met. Roger Madelin of Argent apparently spoke yesterday on ‘Sex and the Kings Cross Project’ ...driving the sex trade out... not encouraging it! Oh...and the only drugs you can get there now can be found at Boots!

Another dash to co-host a Capita Symonds lunch at La Plage Royale, a restaurant in a marquee on the beach. A popular spot for lunch it would seem. Aecom (inc Davis Langdon), Turner + Townsend. Our guests are set up for a heavy review of the market - Kier, Interserve, Midas and Morgan Sindall plus Jones Lang LaSalle and King Sturge. Our Willmott Dixon guest is missing...the restaurant won't let him in! A slight confusion over names and it’s all thankfully sorted.

Back to the London Pavilion for my stint at our stand. A vast crowd had gathered - obviously my popularity is growing...but no, Peter Rees is about to give his talk on the future of the City. Peter Murray is interviewing. A throng of architectural notoriety await Peter's close-to-the-edge commentary. They are not disappointed.

A simple opening question on whether there is a burden as Chief Planner in the City...Yes I am responsible for 4,000 years of urban planning and architecture in the City...only 2,000 have occurred so far though ....If you had similar powers as in France to cut mass boulevards through London what would you do...well if the French were not so good at signing surrender treatise they could have had a great City like London (always good to insult your host nation I say).....Umm, I would move the Dome of St. Pauls to Milton Keynes, actually no, they have one already and two might be viewed as a bit rude.....Peter moves on....the City is full of surprises, is there any thing that surprises you? Well my apartment overlooks south, from the City over the Thames, when I wake up every morning open the curtains, I see an enormous erection...the crowd (looked shocked)...yes it's the Shard getting higher and higher! What five architects do you most admire? Ken Shuttleworth and Terry Farrell look up.... Wren, Inigo Jones, Soane, Hawksmoor. ...oh and that great Welshman Frank Lloyd Wright (his mother was Welsh - Peter is Welsh and like to promote the Welsh) Peter has dodged the question. What do you think of Chipperfield's new Project on the South Bank...Oh you mean the 'Mini-Shard'? ....yes....well, he could have improved it by coming to talk to myself (Peter Rees) rather than just submitting it straight for planning!

I get back to what I am here for, manning our stand. I notice Rob Knight from Davis Langdon – erm, I mean Aecom. I ask him how things are going since 'the takeover' (MIPIM 2010’s worst kept secret). He highlights a vast number of positives... he’s not going to be drawn into a good story for my blog.

My stint over at the stand, I head back to my hotel, shower and change and am out to host a Capita Symonds dinner at Comme Chez Soi, a restaurant frequented at past MIPIMs. Madam Sophie greets me as soon as I enter. You know she is in charge...I am told to go to my table and sit. I go straight to my table and sit (I didn't know that my mother and old school teacher, wrapped into one person, was here!). Martin Kelly, Capita Symonds’ Head of Land Planning is here already, sitting as told by Madam Sophie. Our guests arrive - a good mix of developers, contractors, and architects.

My phone rings (it's Elizabeth from Building Design - "can we meet up to discuss your latest work?"). I take the opportunity to invite her immediately onto our table. She obliges. I am primed and ready to promote Capita Symonds and our work....a fascinating conversation ends with deciding that the UK is the best country to live in and that many of our guests enjoy cycling (I had promoted Capita Symonds cycle networking week in Mallorca in June - a must for any cyclist whatever their ability)...the evening ends with everyone primed for their next appointment / meeting... I hadn't discussed Capita Symonds' architectural projects...doh!

My phone rings. I take the call outside. On returning everyone has left! It's 12.30am and I decide to go to the Carlton Hotel...but on the way I decide to call it a night. A bit of a lightweight I know… it's been a long day.

Mark Norris' Wednesday at MIPIM 2011

Discussion in the morning with a major UK commercial bank – sounds as though the dam holding back all those distressed property assets is beginning to burst.


We're sharing the London Pavilion stand with LB Ealing, GVA and Bouygues and discuss opportunities and challenges in regeneration. Will the lack (ie no appetite whatsoever) of property development lending lead to more innovative financial positions being taken by local authorities to make schemes work? I am sure we can help them!

Pat Kane from Ealing commented that they are not looking to spend money on consultants (the public sector cuts are clearly beginning to bite) but rather risk sharing, commercial property partners. Sounds like Capita Symonds!

Dinner at the Carlton with investment fund and international clients in the evening – a nice way to do business...not sure what happened to Mr Pryke!

MIPIM 2011 update: Tuesday

Updates from Andrew Pryke and Mark Norris Executive Director, Real Estate, Capita Symonds at MIPIM.

Tuesday

Up early today for a breakfast meeting - with three beautiful ladies that would outshine anything the Krasnodar, Russia Pavilion could offer (their words once they knew I was doing this blog) - from Bespoke recruitment agents. Interesting to know that people are looking at opportunities to move ship now there is more optimism!

Dashed to the London Pavilion to man the Capita Symonds stand. Much cursing as no one knows how to fire up our beautiful Apple Mac computer. Panic over, networking commences in anger. I am sure you are meant to network with new contacts. However, we are visited by fellow consultants and agents. We do get introduced to a number of interested parties from Construction News and Project News (hope I didn't say anything I shouldn't have done - no doubt will be in the press before I get back if I did!).

My stint over, I explore the London Pavilion. Many London boroughs are exhibiting plus large masterplans for Earls Court, Kings Cross, etc. Croydon appears not to have such a major presence this year (have they reached their apsired vision - I'll attempt to find out). All the great and good have turned out - Terry Farrell, Ken Shuttleworth and Boris Johnson. I bump into Peter Rees, chief Planner for the City of London Corporation. He is always friendly and welcoming (have known him since my Number 1 Poultry days in the early 90's). He is looking forward to an entertaining presentation with Peter Finch tomorrow. He asks to be heckled to make it more lively. - make a note in my busy schedule to attend and heckle as requested.

Running late for lunch with Cyril Sweett at the Miramar Beach Restaurant. Get there, join in drinks to find it's not the right party (mine is on Thursday not Tuesday!). They offer for me to stay. I politely apologise having had a good chat to Peter Folwell of Plowman Craven regarding cycling. I get the host's business card, Martin Edwards partner and lawyer from Martineau. They are working in Germany, Birmingham and London. Many German businessmen. My German is not good and so I move on.

4.15pm the Cycle to Cannes arrive into Cannes (I did this two years ago, a great experience for those who like a casual bike ride). I am told that they had sunshine all the way down with no mishaps....surely not! Boris Johnson leads the peloton on a Boris Bike! Capita Symonds’ own John Rudge completes the ride and gets his photo with Boris (Boris didn't do the whole ride...and in a suit and tie? No, he joined a couple of miles back…)

Boris completes his photo shoot and rushes into the London Pavilion for his 5.00pm not before a obligatory photo with our own Frank Devoy in front of the Capita Symonds Stand. He is always happy to please.
Off to the Leeds Stand, down in the 'Bunker' for cocktails and more networking quickly followed by a chance meeting with Ray McAuley, BD Director of Morgan Sindall at Cafe Roma.

It's a quick change at the Hotel and then out for the first Capita Symonds Dinner event at the L'Auberge in the Old Town. An oversubscribed table made up of developers, agents and hotel operators. The atmosphere is lively and the conversation focusses on the day's events. My guest, James Buckley of Estates Gazette, is getting concerned that he may not have enough news for his editorial deadline. A quick run around the table and we don't appear to be able to (or unwilling to reveal) give him any help. Hotel development and office refurb is a key topic and the way forward for 2011 (I am not really going to reveal any gossip or 'dish the dirt' am I?).

It's 11.30am and we all walk to the Carlton Hotel to catch the end of the MIPIM 2011 launch party. It's finished and we've missed it. A few vocal Spanish delegates are singing....Barcelona 3 - Arsenal 1...oh well.

Capita Symonds’ Jim Totton arrives fresh from the Irish delegates night at the Morrisons Bar. He says he has just got married on the beach? Apparently it's a tradition at this event for a couple (previously unattached and unknown to each other) to get married and all the delegates to be the wedding guests. I assume he has not really got married…

Time to call it a night...there are still two official days to go!

Mark Norris, Executive Director, Real Estate, Capita Symonds

Tuesday at MIPIM - Many familiar faces at the London Pavilion – Capita Symonds stand right next to the London cityscape model giving us a great profile. Amazing how many fantastic buildings are coming out of the ground across London – and we are involved (or will be) in quite a few of them.


Interviewed by EG TV who were looking for a Scottish Property Expert to comment on the market and development in Edinburgh. I am of course Scottish and do know a bit about property but probably know more about the London and International real estate markets at the moment than what’s happening back home! However a pre-interview briefing by Stuart Agnew in our Edinburgh office provided some great insight – and hopefully I got the message across! Oh and also got a word in about Edinburgh Council’s property services outsourcing – where we are down to the last two…

MIPIM 2011 update: Monday

Capita Symonds' Andrew Pryke reports back from MIPIM 2011

An early 5.30am start from home on Monday commences my 2011 MIPIM. A 30 minute journey to Luton Airport in sub zero temperatures - am greeted with a crowded terminal full of familiar faces. Amongst the five or six Capita Symonds co-MiPIMiers, the Aecom engineers are amongst the many queues.

A 1 hour 50 minute flight to Nice sees a change in temperature and a bright sunny day.

More queues for the bus to Cannes reminds me that people don't queue here and it's every man and woman for himself to attempt to get that precious double seat and space for themselves. I get a call from David Matthews from Building magazine, he is flying in tonight and would like to meet up. I will try and get him on the number of lunches and dinners Capita Symonds is hosting. Fingers crossed, we are already over subscribed!

However the journey is quick and painless.

A quick check in at my hotel, and change and out for lunch at a Beach Bistro with my Capita Symonds colleagues. There is much calm before the storm, with the Croisette virtually empty. The locals enjoying a day amongst one of two weeks in the year when an event is not happening in Cannes.

Walking to Cafe Roma, the much frequented cafe/ bar opposite the conference centre, is quiet. Not the place it will be from tomorrow onward.

Work is going on in the conference centre. This will go on through the night to prepare Cannes for its busiest week of the year. It is rumoured that more champagne is drunk (to secure deals!) at MIPIM than at any other time. I believe that this is the myth of better times long time gone.



Registration is painless and after dealing with e-mails the evening beckons.

Cafe Roma is the central meeting place for the number of Capita Symonds architects, structural engineers, services and agents to meet. MIPIM is very much a place for chance meetings. Exquisite collisions with key industry leaders that could never happen back in the UK. People are more relaxed at MIPIM and that person you have been trying to meet for months suddenly has time to talk.

Today is no exception for chance meetings. I bump into two architects from my Stirling Wilford days, whom I haven't seen for about ten years - Chris Dyson and Iain Clavedetcher. Both with their own practices and still surviving.

Dinner is with Capita Symonds. A small restaurant in the old town. As the restaurant begins to fill up, there is much anticipation this year. The commercial market appears to be optimistic. All delegates appear to be going through their rehearsals for the oncoming event. Like Olympic athletes, they are limbering up and going through their last minute routines before the race for that crucial deal, the win that will make their 2011 season.

Returning to the hotel I am grabbed by Richard Payne with his Turner and Townsend colleagues who accuses me of stalking them! Very rich as everywhere I have been they seem to follow later! They offer a drink and a review of their campaign.

Things are looking good for the forthcoming week...

Capita Symonds at the 2010 Public Property Summit

Video coverage of Capita Symonds at the Public Property Summit at the Business Design Centre, London on 01-02 November... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnDdZfYOo2I

commercial break

Capita Symonds’ Director of Business Transformation Neil McLocklin looks at how local authorities can learn from the commercial property sector…

Local authorities are used to cutting costs. That is just as well. The imminent Comprehensive Spending Review will ratchet up the pressure on them to do so even further.

But savings are not the whole answer. The government must put more pressure on the public sector to raise money too. This thinking is the lifeblood of the private property industry, but there is little pressure on the public sector to generate income.


It will be hard for the government to change, but change it must: the public sector is missing too many opportunities. These range from the obvious, such as ensuring vacant property is let, to the more innovative.

In August, environment secretary Chris Huhne gave local authorities the option to sell energy through feed-in tariffs. It was a good move, but this was just one possible area to address. The government should send a stronger message to the public sector that it is OK to be commercial.

Some forward-thinking local authorities, such as Lewisham and Southampton, have wisely taken minority stakes in their shopping centres, and will benefit from this income stream as it grows. But this is passive investment.

The diversity of assets within local authorities is immense, and this is part of the problem. Town halls and civic chambers are being rented out by some authorities for weddings and events, but the commercial promotion and marketing of these venues is often poor, so these fantastic assets are under-used.

Car parks and park-and-ride schemes may be operationally well managed, but there should also be kiosks to sell customers newspapers and coffee. Any good private sector property manager would be thinking along these lines.

Towns and cities attract events such as festivals, exhibitions and shows. But there is no proactive asset management that maximises revenue opportunities that surround these events. In the south, authorities should be considering the potential value for photo-voltaic cells on school roofs and landfill sites. Markets in streets and squares are often administered by local authorities, but in a passive way.

Of course, income generation has to be balanced with political and economic desires to stimulate the local economy – that and the all-too-common letter to the leader of the council from a local business, complaining about its audacity in increasing rent after five years.

We live in a new world. And politicians need to support their officers in taking a more commercial approach. If not, they miss opportunities to mitigate the pressure on public services.

Neil McLocklin is head of business transformation at Capita Symonds
Capita Symonds is a lead sponsor of Public Property Summit 2010.

Profiling the Risk

Judith Hackitt CBE is Chair for the Health and Safety Executive. Judith recently gave a speech at the Joint Capita Symonds and ACE Safety Lecuture. An extract of the speech "Profiling the risk - determining what is important and what is not in project management and consulting" is reproduced below. The full speech is available to download.  


First, some good news. Over the last decade, the UK Construction industry has undergone something of a cultural transformation. Fatal injury rates have been more than halved and major injury rates have improved by more than one third. I have had the pleasure of visiting some of the best examples of good practice in construction up and down the country in the last year or so not least the Olympic Park here in London and Media City in Salford. What is particularly striking about these examples of good practice is not just the safety performance which is achieved, but the way in which it has been achieved. Health and safety is part of the culture and it is led from the top. Workforce involvement and engagement at every level is clearly visible. Innovative practices are being implemented which reduce the inherent levels of risk. Motivation, commitment, collaboration in the supply chain; productivity is high and goes hand-in-hand with good health and safety practice – it’s a win-win, not a trade off.


But this particular success story does of course have a major sting in the tail. We now know what levels of performance can be achieved and what huge benefits can accrue when the culture change happens. So this makes the 41 deaths and more than 3,000 major injuries which occurred in the construction industry last year all the more tragic because we know that they need not have happened. The old ‘assumptions’ that construction was a hazardous industry and that little could be done to change the culture were completely wrong. Attitudes and performance can be changed but we have yet to achieve that across the whole of the industry.

Strong evidence is beginning to emerge of a two-tier industry developing in construction. There is a direct correlation between the high accident incidence rates on smaller sites and in particular on refurbishment work. It would be easy to rationalise this problem away by saying that smaller sites and refurbishment work are ‘different’. In some senses of course this is true. But in the current climate of flexible working, sub-contracting and sub-sub contracting this argument is increasingly difficult to maintain. Those who are today engaged in small scale non-commercial refurbishment projects may very soon find themselves working on large scale green field projects and vice-versa.

Here are just a few reasons why these types of mobility are not just possible but probable:

In the last 2-3 years construction has been hit by the worst recession in over 50 years – the industry now employs 375,000 fewer people than in 2008. As we emerge from recession, private sector investment in construction is going to create huge demand for skills.

We need look no further than the huge infrastructure investment required in the energy economy for evidence of this. Investment in the grid itself as well as massive investment in renewable energy technologies and nuclear – all of this will involve construction activity on a major scale.

At the same time, the huge squeeze on expenditure will have an opposite effect on major construction projects in the public sector in building new schools, hospitals and public amenities.

We have no way of knowing how these events will coincide but my point is that these forces will create movement of labour across the full spectrum of the sector as we enter economic upturn and growth.

But if the difference in performance between large scale projects and domestic refurbishment is telling, the correlation between inexperience in a job and risk of injury is even more compelling.

Just as we have moved on from the generic mindset that ‘construction is a dangerous industry’, we must stop ourselves from falling into the trap of believing that ‘refurbishment and small scale construction are different’. Or that there is anything inevitable about new and inexperienced workers being more ‘prone’ to injury.

What the evidence of the past tells us is that despite making significant progress; particularly on major high profile construction projects, refurbishment and the influx/flow of inexperienced recruits throughout the sector are two priority areas which we must now focus our attention on in construction to reach the next level of performance improvement and culture change. Furthermore, the performance improvement which has been achieved over the last decade clearly demonstrates not only what is possible but the very clear business benefits of doing it.
 
For more information on the Health and Safety services Capita Symonds offer visit our dedicated microsite.

wielding the axe

Chris Marriott on how to make savings in local authority leisure and arts management

The recently announced budget cuts for local authorities have been brutal: savings of anything between 25% and 40% will need to be delivered over the next four years.

Councils have for some time been working out what they can cut, how much they can save, and when they can do it. All services will come under intense scrutiny and all are likely to suffer, some more acutely than others.

So, what is the future of ‘leisure and arts’, as a non-statutory service? Some councils may be tempted - as they are free to do at their discretion – to close their leisure centres and theatres and sack staff. Closing the doors is a very efficient way of making savings, but the problem is, whilst councils do not have to provide leisure and arts services at all, they do represent some of their most visible activities and are integral to the delivery of a far wider social and economic agenda.

So what is the alternative to closing facilities? Well, for those councils who are operating their facilities directly, the simple answer is to get someone else to do it for you, under contract. About 65% of leisure centres in England are still operated in-house, whereby the council takes responsibility for the delivery of the service and takes on all the risk. The other 35% is run by a mature stable of specialist private contractors (Leisure Connection, DC Leisure, Parkwood, SLM, Serco) and trusts (Fusion, Greenwich Leisure, Active Nation, SIV).

Leisure operators typically charge the council a management fee in return for taking on the financial risk of operating the facilities. Councils tend to find it cheaper to contract with a partner rather than deliver the service themselves. This is for a number of reasons, including more commercially astute management, better marketing and programming and faster decision making, leading to higher sales and lower costs. Also, trusts (although not private operators) benefit from business rate relief and tax benefits which they can pass on to the Council via a reduced management fee.

On the cost side, cynics might question whether these contractors will reduce the staffing base, but the truth is council employees are transferred across as part of the contract and their terms and conditions will be protected under the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) Regulations. That’s not to say that over the course of a contract (which will typically be around 10 years) they will not be banking on making savings through improving the productivity of their workforce – savings that they will pass on to the council in the form of a lower management fee.

Given that staffing typically represents the single biggest cost (around 75% of the total) it warrants some consideration here. We have undertaken a number of reviews of local authority leisure operations over the past few years. Compared to trust and privately operated facilities staffing costs – almost without exception - proved to be significantly higher, due to a combination of better pay and higher numbers of staff. Going forward – and there is no avoiding it – councils are going to need to address this if they want to retain the scope of their service and continue operating in-house. Up until now it’s an issue they have been unwilling to tackle and they have not been under much pressure to sort it out. It’s been easier to just cut back on repairs and maintenance. That’s just not sustainable.

Regardless of how they make these savings, the fact is that external partners can substantially reduce the cost of the service to the council and can prove this through a demonstrable track record over a number of years.

One of the leading leisure contractors in the UK will tell you that it typically delivers a £200,000 saving to a Council for each leisure centre it takes on (reducing the net cost from £300,000 to £100,000). If they can all demonstrate that the quality of service can be improved and they take on the risk of operating the facility, this makes for a very attractive proposition.

Proponents of in-house delivery will argue that councils are generally more in tune with the needs of their community and are better at delivering sports and arts development programmes. This may well be true and there are some councils we know who do it extremely well. However, leisure officers will have a difficult job convincing their chiefs that this is important in the current climate and whether they are indeed any better at doing it than a third party contractor. And then they will have to make a convincing case to continue funding it.
Even if they can put forward a compelling case for retaining their sports and arts development service in-house, the business of managing the facility is a separate issue. Councils will find a very competitive market out there and contracts are likely to be keenly priced. The fact that all councils who currently manage their leisure and arts facilities in-house will be reviewing their options at the same time is positive; there will be opportunities for like-minded neighbouring councils to club together and jointly offer a larger portfolio of facilities to the market (e.g. Guildford and Woking). The bigger scale opportunities tend to be more aggressively pursued by operators and can help drive a keener price, whilst the councils can share the burden of the procurement costs.

So, in the face of swingeing cuts and competing budgetary priorities local authorities will need to demonstrate a sound business case for continuing to operate their services in-house. In fact, from now on, the onus is likely to be on why councils should not outsource their service.

Chris Marriott is Principal Consultant at Capita Symonds -

air tight regulations

Yianni Spanos on what the recent revision to Part F of the Building Regulations will mean for the construction industry… 

One of the challenges for achieving low energy buildings is to significantly improve their air tightness. Ventilation provisions within the new Building Regulations Part F have been increased for commercial buildings and dwellings with a recommended design air permeability tighter or equal to 5 m3/(h.m2) @50Pa.

Focusing on construction, achieving an air tightness target of 5 m3/(h.m2) is not a difficult task. For many years specifiers have demanded significantly better standards of air tightness in quality buildings to ensure that the occupants enjoy a satisfactory state of comfort and well-being. For air-conditioned buildings, and buildings which aim to be low energy, a maximum air permeability standard of 3 m3/(h.m2) has been set by many building owners and operators.

The major benefits of tighter air tightness standard are far better control, fewer staff complaints and improved energy efficiency. Equally, many clients in the retail sector have adopted lower air tightness standards than required by the Building Regulations, such as 2 m3/(h.m2) for new build projects. Even extensions to existing buildings can routinely achieve an air permeability target of 3 m3/(h.m2).

In this regard, under normal practices for mix-mode and air-conditioned buildings, superstores, museums and storage, mechanically ventilated dwellings, factory and warehouses, the air-tightness should is expected to be better than 2010 amendments. Special consideration should be given to the design of naturally ventilated dwellings, schools, hospitals and naturally ventilated offices, when best practice for those type of buildings can achieve 40% - 60% better air tightness level than the new Part F standards.

The path to routinely achieving air tightness targets is as follows:

• Specify the air tightness target at a very early design stage;
• Specify the air seal line at a very early stage. The inside surface of the structure is usually the airtight surface. The airtight surface should be brought inside rooms which will be ventilated to outside, such as boiler rooms, plant rooms, electrical switch rooms and lift shafts;
• Require air sealing detail drawings from the architect or design and build contractor;
• Consider specifying an air tightness consultant to review drawings;
• Specify that air tightness testing be undertaken by an independent organisation  which is a member of ATTMA, the testing organisation for the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing;
• In liaison with the testing organisation, specify all aspects of the air tightness contract process. Where necessary, specify penalty charges for failures not rectified in a reasonable time-scale;
• Consider specifying an air tightness consultant to inspect the building during the construction process;
• Clearly communicate the requirements to all design and construction parties.

What main contractors and subcontractors need to do to ensure they're not caught out by the changes?

Specialists should have an early involvement and provide support to the contractors in the design and project management process. In some cases, advanced solutions may be required to meet the targets of the 2010 amendments, especially for construction solutions for which it was challenging to pass the 2006 amendments. It also vital that the project management fully understands and ensure co-ordinations of different trades with aspects of the external façade, and especially when structural supports, or building services, pass through a ‘perforated’ façade and external building elements.

With regard to ventilation systems, reference should be made to a new ‘Domestic Ventilation Compliance Guide’ for guidance on installing, inspecting, testing and commissioning ventilation systems in dwellings. For mechanical ventilation systems installed in new dwellings, air flow rates shall be measured on site and a notice given to the Building Control Body. This shall apply to intermittently-used extract fans and cooker hoods, as well as continuously running systems. In addition, the owner shall be given sufficient information about the ventilation system and its maintenance requirements so that the ventilation system can be operated to provide adequate air flow. All fixed mechanical ventilation systems, where they can be tested and adjusted, shall be commissioned and a commissioning notice given to Building Control Body.

What impact the changes will have on finance and profits?

Under Part F 2010, the contractor should have a greater focus on ensuring that the design is delivered according to correct specifications by specialists. Over the last four years, air-tightness levels were in many cases 50%-60% better than Part F 2010 at no additional cost. It is expected therefore that changes will not have an impact on profits when the design follows a proven assessment routine.

Although these changes will not have a fundamental effect on finance, as well as setting out physical performance requirements performance specification for building envelopes, procurement will need to ensure that contractors have the calculation competences and accredited details needed to secure the required air-tightness levels. Projects with many on-site design variations could be subject to greater misalignment with the expected air tightness results and a greater risk to the contractor team charged with delivery.

Dr Yianni Spanos is Associate Director at Capita Symonds.

let's get down to earth...

Malcolm Richards (right) on how rammed earth construction techniques can be used to reduce the energy used in constructing buildings...

Whilst initiatives such as photovoltaics and geothermal energy will help to deliver longer-term energy efficiency benefits, it is clear that they could be usefully supplemented in the more immediate future if the embodied energy in construction materials were reduced.

Research has shown that about ten percent of global CO2 emissions result from cement production, so cutting our dependency on this and other kiln-fired components, such as bricks, could make a big difference.

For some time now I’ve been studying the use of ‘rammed earth’ construction. Rammed earth is based on the compaction of graded soils into formwork to produce an unfired environmentally friendly building material. Rammed earth materials can be also sourced and produced locally, negating the haulage and storage impacts of kiln-fired masonry components and mortars.

Walls produced using rammed earth contain less than one twentieth of the embodied energy of traditional cavity walls. They are more easily returned to the ground when no longer required so the material is borrowed, not stolen. Earth walls have a high thermal mass and act as a heat sink, absorbing heat energy through the day and releasing it into the building as temperatures fall at night. Experiments have shown that rammed earth can actually reduce warm daytime temperatures by 4 or 5 degrees C - equivalent to some cooling systems. At the same time earth buildings stay warmer in cold climates, with internal temperatures unlikely to fall below 140C when occasional external sub-zeros are experienced. Given that half the energy generated in Britain is used to heat or cool buildings, the potential to reduce energy consumption makes earthen buildings an important environmental initiative.

Earth walls control humidity levels within buildings by absorbing excess water vapour and releasing it back when the environment is drier. They also have good sound absorption properties and absorb volatile organic chemicals from the atmosphere, potentially eliminating sick building syndrome. In addition to the normal applications, rammed earth can also be useful in disaster areas as it can be rapidly built using indigenous materials and local labour that requires little training.

Earthen architecture is gaining strength in many parts of the world, including Europe, Australasia and the Americas while building codes for the material are also now being developed, including new seismic design regulations in New Zealand.

Rammed earth is a material that minimises energy input in the construction phase, makes an input into energy consumption and can be returned to the ground when no longer required. It is a material with a viable future and one that won’t (ahem) cost the earth.

Malcolm Richards is a Director of Structures at Capita Symonds.