Author Archives: Cristina Lago

A former secretary of a leading structural safety body has resigned his Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) membership over its “lack of adequate response to the Grenfell tragedy”. Civil engineer John Carpenter left ICE on 4 February after being a member since the 1970s and a fellow for over 40…

A carpenter unhappy at being offered a lower salaried job during a redundancy process has lost two unfair dismissal claims against Bam Construction & Ventures UK. Nikolay Avramov joined Bam in 2009 as a carpenter and moved into its aftercare team in 2014, carrying out carpentry and repair work. Following…

Demand remains the single biggest concern for construction product manufacturers and the primary constraint on future sales. The Construction Products Association's (CPA's) latest State of Trade Survey for Q4 2025 showed that 71 per cent of heavy side firms and 60 per cent of those on the light side expected…

Galliford Try is expected to receive approval this week for plans to demolish a school where reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was found and replace it with a £11m new building. The contractor and the Department for Education (DfE) submitted a planning application in October to demolish St Francis Catholic Primary…

The High Court has awarded £35m in damages to the freeholder of a high-end London development after a Laing O’Rourke subsidiary withdrew from the case, leaving the trial to proceed without a defence. In a judgment handed down remotely on 2 February 2026, Mrs Justice Jefford ruled that Laing O’Rourke…

Wigan-headquartered Domis Construction has reported a turnover increase for the fourth consecutive year, although a “significant” unspecified provision hit its pre-tax profit. The contractor’s accounts for the year ending 30 April 2025 show a £253.4m turnover - a 56 per cent increase from the previous 12-month period when it recorded £162.6m.…

A specialist subcontractor on Hinkley Point C (HPC) is taking the main contractor joint venture (JV) to the High Court to enforce a £24m adjudication. Darchem Engineering Ltd took Bylor – the Laing O’Rourke and Bouygues Travaux Publics JV constructing the nuclear site – to three adjudications in 2025 over…

The parent companies of collapsed Ardmore Construction say a £40m legal claim by Taylor Wimpey is invalid because they reached settlement on the contract two years ago. Taylor Wimpey is seeking a building liability order (BLO) and damages over fire safety and design defects to 72 properties at Morea Mews,…

A mechanical and electrical (M&E) subcontractor that argued an adjudicator had gone off on a “frolic” when determining the cost of “defective” work has been ordered by the High Court to repay a contractor more than £100,000. Loughton-based VMA Services Ltd accused the adjudicator of “ignoring” evidence and using “guesswork”…

The government’s plan for a single construction regulator promises a reset of professional competence across the built environment. But as ministers look beyond buildings and products to the professions themselves, industry figures warn that licensing alone will not fix deep-rooted problems of skills, accountability and culture.