CECACommunicates

Issue 52June 2008

In This Issue: 2 Chairman’s Column 10 Industry News 3 Regional Focus - Wales 11 Safety News5 Guest Comment - Ieuan Wyn Jones AM 12 Industry News6 Regional Focus 13 Director’s Comment7 Regional News 14 CECA Contacts9 Guest Comment - Joan Ruddock MP

For more information visit the CECA website www.ceca.co.uk

Small contractors feeling the crunch!CECA’s Workload Trends Survey not good reading for SMEs.

Weaker trends in the workload, order books and expectations of small civil engineering contractors are among the most striking features of the results of the latest CECA survey of civil engineering workload trends carried out in April 2008. This feature is clearly linked to a weakening of demand for the site works for building developments that form a large part of the workload of smaller civil engineering firms and that may, in turn, be linked with the present ‘credit crunch’ that is affecting the plans of house builders and developers.

Indications of the change over the past year in the total civil engineering workload of all contractors remain positive, and results for the trend in employment of both operatives and staff are at new record levels. Employment is shown as grow-ing in firms of all sizes, including the small contractors that, on balance, report a slight downturn in their total workload. This story continues on page 10

Regional Focus: CECA (Wales)Deputy First Minister’s thoughts on transport infrastructure• Tribute to outgoing Director Byron Broadstock• New Director Rhodri-Gwynn Jones’ aspirations for CECA • (Wales)Chairman Huw Llywelyn shares his thoughts•

Broadstock retiresCECA (Wales) Director and Secretary, Byron Broadstock, will retire in July and will be replaced by Rhodri-Gwynn Jones. Byron has given over eight years of service to CECA.

CECA Chairman Peter Andrews said: “Byron has done a tremen-dous job and provided an ex-tremely high quality of service to members in Wales. He has signifi-cantly raised the profile of CECA (Wales) and forged strong links with the Welsh Assembly Govern-ment and other institutions. He has been instrumental in creating a vi-brant and successful CECA (Wales) and will be sorely missed.”

Outgoing CECA (Wales) Director Byron Broadstock

10% cost inflation in ScotlandThe annual rate of inflation of civil engineering contrac-tors’ costs accelerated in the 12 months to April 2008 according to a cost sruvey conducted by CECA. Scotland experienced the greatest rise with an overall rate of infla-tion of costs of around 10%, compared to around 7% in England and Wales.

The annual rate of inflation of contractors’ costs was in the range 7-7¾% compared with 5-5½% in the year to April 2007.

There was a much greater increase than this in the rate of inflation of costs of fuel and materials, for example, the rate of increase for gas oil fuel is between 16½-19½ per cent. Interestingly, however, there appears to have been very little change between 2006-07 and 2007-08 in the rate of increase of labour costs. Indeed, the result for the change in costs of employing engineering staff is margin-ally lower for the year to April 2008 than for the preced-ing year.

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CHAIRMAN’S ColumnPage 2 CECA Communicates

Peter Andrews

These are interesting times for the construction industry. Interesting in the way the Chinese meant it - as a curse. The woes in the world of finance are rippling out. The drop in property prices and the ‘credit crunch’ is having a severe effect

on our colleagues in the building sector. The market in new homes has slumped dramatically, some suggest by as much as a 65% fall in reservations. Home builders are seeing their share prices nose dive and are slowing down on new building. Some have gone as far as completely halting de-velopment on new sites. The longer the economic downturn, the less likely they are to recover to pre-crunch levels quick-ly and some are predicting home building could soon drop by as much as 50%.

The sky is also darkening for smaller civil engineering con-tractors (see page 10). Site works for developments of the kind that are now drying up were a buoyant source of workload for civils SMEs. It is clear that their workload, order books and expectations are a lot weaker than they were a year ago and the most direct cause of this is the slowdown in new developments.

Civil engineering contractors have a diverse profile of workload but a strong outlook in some areas has tradition-ally made contractors feel broadly positive. The confident outlook that has characterised CECA’s workload trends sur-veys over the last two years has been remarkable for the decoupling of contractor optimism from transport - the area of work that has traditionally made us feel good about the future.

The troubling fact underlying this conclusion is, certain plac-es and types of work to one side, we have had very lit-tle information about proposed investment in transport so it simply does not exercise the same hold over the outlook of a pragmatic contractor market compared to times past.

Where did that optimism come from if it was not to be found in transport infrastructure? The overall profile of optimism in the current trends survey is still positive, albeit weaker than in previous years. But the general picture masks the col-lapse in confidence among smaller contractors, for whom the downturn in home building is a real cause for concern.

With diverse areas of infrastructure development and maintenance such as energy, transport, water and waste water, each with their own levels of investment and demand, a slump in preliminary works for new developments does not spell disaster for contractors. But in how many of these other areas can we be truly confident about what the gov-ernment intends to do? Last week, the Office of Rail Regula-tion (ORR) stated that Network Rail should cut its budget to 2014 by 21% whilst at the same time the Chancellor told the CBI that investment in transport “is essential” and that more needs to be spent on road, rail and airport capacity. How do we reconcile the two? If he wants to improve our confidence we need more than just warm words – we need to see a clear programme for investment in transport infra-structure, backed up with a spending profile over a period of no less than ten years. Without that level of commitment and confidence the future could start to look bleak to contractors, influencing how they plan their businesses for the coming years. The Government may be relatively powerless in the face of a credit crisis in a global financial market, but it can act to restore confidence by giving us concrete plans in the areas of infrastructure investment that they do control.

The right noises might be coming out of the Treasury but they are not being backed up. CECA will continue to press the Government to be more transparent with its plans for capital spending. The credit crisis may be slowly engulfing us but clarity and transparency would help us see through the gloom.

A clear investment programme will improve con-tractors’ confidence

NCE Contractors File 2008 - Awards Questionnaire now onlineCECA and NCE are teaming up again to produce the 2008 Contractors File. The File lists con-tractors giving key information for customers and highlights excellence across the industry in the Contractor of the Year Awards. The publication will be distributed with NCE magazine.

To be listed in the File and to enter the Awards - which are open to contractors of all sizes - you need to fill in the NCE online survey. A unique link to the survey will have been sent to your company head office. If you have not been sent a unique URL, contact Mark Hansford at NCE on 020 7728 4543 or via mark.hansford@emap.com

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REGIONAL FocusPage 3 CECA Communicates

CECA (Wales) Chairman Huw LlywelynChairman Huw Llywelyn recently addressed, with some passion, 430 members and guests at the CECA (Wales) Annual Dinner in Cardiff and laid down challenges for the industry, its Clients and the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG).

Recent major projects such as Porth By Pass, in the Rhondda Valleys, have shown that where clients have procured new con-struction projects to include so

called ‘social clauses’, this can make a significant change in an area, enabling the unemployed to get back into work. CECA would like more clients to adopt these clauses.

CECA (Wales) is committed to achieving a fully quali-fied workforce. Whilst CECA’s last survey of its members showed that 80% of operatives employed by CECA mem-bers hold a recognised competence card clients can be the ‘drivers’ to help CECA achieve its 100% target. The new CDM regulations have provided clearer client obligations and CECA (Wales) will continue to press Clients through our association with County Surveyor Society (CSS) Wales and other organisations to make it a requirement, when ap-pointing contractors, for all their operatives to hold compe-tency cards and to have passed Health and Safety tests.

CECA (Wales)’s relationship with CSS Wales continues to prosper and a joint Working Group for Procurement has been in place for over a year and produced recommenda-tions in a useful report for CSS members. However, I would like to see greater progress in developing common stand-ards for procurement across the public sector that could save everyone time and money.

Shortage of skilled resources in the civil engineering sector in Wales mandates CECA (Wales) members to work proactively to attract people, particularly younger people into civil engi-neering. Many CECA (Wales) members are already involved in various initiatives involving schools and colleges and are making a valuable contribution. This involvement includes CECA members in North and South Wales assisting with the ICE Wales ‘Bridge to Schools’ programme where children help to construct a large scale cable stayed bridge. Compa-nies have also established partnerships with schools, such as Costain with Whitchurch High School, under a ‘Building Awareness’ programme enabling ongoing involvement and

projects.

CECA (Wales) is also committed to the ‘Work Based Learn-ing Pathways’ pilot projects underway where valuable work experience can be provided for young students studying construction subjects. Health and safety issues with young people working on site are not insuperable and I would en-courage more members to participate in this programme.

Across Wales, CECA (Wales) members are finding that at-tracting and recruiting students is an appropriate method of maintaining their workforce when there is not the avail-able pool of labour there once was. One WAG initiative that CECA (Wales) has been involved with since its concep-tion is “Building Companies: Building Skills.” It is industry led and recently received the blessing of two ministers with the creation of a Welsh Built Environment Forum for Skills and Training, consisting of industry representatives, includ-ing CECA Members.

CECA (Wales) has done a good job over the years in pro-moting the importance of the construction sector and civil engineering in particular. The construction industry is now recognised as a vital component of the economy of Wales. Firms classified as construction companies account directly for more than 5.5 % of the Welsh gross value added (GVA) and for over 75,000 jobs. It is therefore essential that con-

struction companies can continue to grow and improve their perform-ance in a sustainable way, invest-ing time and money to maintain and enhance skill levels whilst continually training their workforce.

However, in a devolved government there is a definitive pot of money available. CECA (Wales) will there-fore continue to press the WAG to ensure there is planned investment in the infrastructure of the country with rolling programmes and pro-

curement strategies that can provide the continuity of work that will allow companies to provide longer term investment in their businesses.

Daniel Contractors Ltd. assists ICE Wales with its ‘Bridge to Schools’ Programme

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REGIONAL FocusPage 4 CECA Communicates

I am delighted to be afforded the opportunity to share with the wider CECA community my aspirations for CECA (Wales), as I take over the man-tle of Director and Secretary from the current incumbent Byron Broadstock.

Following in Byron’s footsteps will be no mean feat, and gaining the respect and confidence of the many organisa-tions and bodies that he, and through him CECA (Wales), has engaged with over the last seven or eight years, will be an immense personal challenge. Having often been across the table in discussion and deliberation with Welsh Local Government or the Welsh Assembly Government, or some-times both at the same time, I saw at first hand his partner-ing skills in action, and his utmost conviction on behalf of the construction industry coming to the fore. If only, during the first few months of my tenure, I shall be able to capture a modicum of his enthusiasm, thoroughness and drive, then the banner of CECA (Wales) will continue to fly proudly as a token of gratitude to him amongst industry colleagues, friend and foe alike.

The two things I am certain of are that standing still and liv-ing on past glories will certainly not satisfy the construction industry in Wales, and for Wales to develop as a nation it certainly needs a thriving construction industry committed to innovation and delivery on time and within budget.

The recent publication of the Wales Transport Strategy en-titled ‘One Wales: Connecting the Nation’, and the agreed Convergence and Competitiveness Operational Pro-grammes for European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund 2007 – 2013 for West Wales and

the Valleys, and East Wales, worth over €4 billion, present opportunities that need to be embraced and pursued with confidence and determination.

Construction skills and procurement feature as issues across the whole of the UK. I will be keen to continue the engage-ment that CECA (Wales) has had with the salient partners in striving to improve training provision and in the develop-ment of appropriate procurement arrangements that gain client approval, without compromising the ability of the membership at large to play a leading role in the process. Communication is the key (be that in Welsh or English) and I will continue to develop the CECA (Wales) web site to pro-vide an information base with accessibility to the industry in its widest sense.

On the social side there will be a need to ensure that the successes of the past are repeated, be that at the Annu-al Dinner, the Annual Tripartite Conference held with the Welsh Assembly Government and Welsh Local Authorities, and the Annual Golf Day!

I know that I can bring into CECA (Wales) the knowledge and experience that I gained over the long years spent in Senior Management roles within local government. I hope that CECA (Wales) members, in turn, will now benefit from my presence amongst them, not against them, at the table.

Dymuniadau gorau i aelodau CECA Cymru, CECA yn rhanbarthol ac yn genedlaethol, a diolch bwb am y croeso.

(Best wishes to members of CECA (Wales), CECA in the Re-gions and National, and thanks for the welcome.)

Replacing Byron Broadstock as CECA (Wales) Director and Secretary is Rhodri-Gwynn Jones. Here he discusses the challenges that lie ahead and how CECA (Wales) will continue to thrive.

New Director for CECA (Wales)

It seems only a short time since I joined CECA, in May 2000, which is probably indicative of the enjoyable time I have had as Director for CECA (Wales). I have seen CECA mature into a truly representative body for civil engineering contractors and CECA (Wales) mem-bership grow from 19 to 49 members to encompass the whole of Wales.

I am pleased to hand on the challenge of keeping up with the pace of changes in the industry to my successor Rhodri who, I am sure, will be a credit to the Association.

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be part of CECA and I will miss the camaraderie and goodwill of colleagues across the country and, in particular, the CECA (Wales) Execu-tive Committee and Members with whom I have always felt part of the ‘family.’

Long may CECA prosper.

Byron Broadstock, outgoing Director and Secretary of CECA (Wales):

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GUEST CommentPage 5 CECA Communicates

Transport – Pathway to a Greener, More Competitive WalesIeuan Wyn Jones AMDeputy First Minister and Minister for Economy and Transport

Earlier this year I published a new transport strategy for Wales – a blueprint developed with the help of employers.

Effective transport is vital for the economy, and it also needs to contribute towards tackling the challenge of cli-mate change.

In the past, Wales never stood in pole position – transport policy never accorded priority to our needs as a nation.

But things are changing now, and changing very fast.

Devolution means that Wales now has a government com-mitted to getting the best deal for our country, and despite a tight financial settlement handed to us by the Treasury, we are making a good start.

One objective of our One Wales agreement commits us to improving links between all parts of our nation.

As well as 22 schemes for North-South road links, we are also working to ensure better rail links.

In June I announced major investment in the Cardiff and Valleys rail network and further enhancement of Newport Station.

As well as a new direct service between Wrexham and London, my officials are also investigating the feasibility of a faster rail service between North and South Wales. This would operate southbound in the morning and northbound in the evening, and would include business class facilities.

These steps are in line with our One Wales pledge of new train services and safer and higher quality railway stations and platforms.

We are developing a plan to move freight from road to rail – with a draft Wales Freight Strategy and the Rail En-vironmental Benefit procurement scheme.

With traffic congestion costing UK businesses around £20 billion a year, a single freight train can remove up to 120 HGV journeys from our roads, and devolution has enabled Wales to continue to administer the Freight Facilities Grant despite its suspension in England by the Department for Transport.

I also want to encourage greater use of Welsh harbours for short sea shipping by improving access to ports and sup-port for port development, using European structural fund-ing wherever practicable.

Bus and coach services also have a key role in helping achieve our goal of cutting carbon emissions by an annual 3 per cent a year by 2011. I aim to see a high quality low carbon bus and coach fleet services providing fast, com-fortable and safe services.

Improved transport links will help business by making our economy more competitive – as well as drawing the people of our nation closer together and helping ensure a greener Wales.

Ieuan Wyn Jones AM

The Rheola Bridge constructed by Costain has attracted a lot of attention in South Wales.

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REGIONAL FocusPage 6 CECA Communicates

CECA (Wales) in 2007

Membership2007 saw CECA (Wales) continue to grow as member-ship of the Association briefly reached the milestone of 50 contractors until a take-over saw the total drop again to 49. However, four new mem-bers were welcomed into the ranks throughout the year con-firming how far CECA (Wales) has come since it was founded in 2000 with 19 members.

Stakeholder EngagementCECA (Wales) has tried to address members’ concerns by representing them right at the heart of the legislative process. The new coalition provided the ideal opportu-nity to enhance links with the Welsh Assembly Government and CECA (Wales) contin-ued to press its concern at the small land reclamation budget to the Department of Economy and Transport (DET). An introductory meeting was also arranged with the new Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones (also head of the DET) and an offer was made to assist with future infrastruc-ture budget planning, an issue of particular concern to the Minister.

Close ties were maintained with the County Surveyors’ Society Wales and the Envi-ronment Agency Wales, while CECA (Wales)’ members were an obvious presence on CECA’s National Standing Committees.

The Coming YearAll this bodes well for the future but the Association will not become complacent. Steered by a new Director and Chairman CECA (Wales)will continue to strive to rep-resent the interests of all civil engineering contractors in Wales.

Careers Award for CECA (Wales)The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (Wales) was honored for its contribution to ca-reers education at a special ceremony held to celebrate education business links in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Careers Wales Cardiff and Vale held its Most Valued Partner Awards at the Hilton Hotel, Cardiff, to thank local schools, colleges, businesses and organisations for their involvement in careers education, guidance and work related learning. The company’s Education Busi-ness Partnership (EBP), plays a major role in brokering links between local employ-ers, schools and colleges - helping to raise student achievement and provide young people with opportunities to develop work-related skills.

Byron Broadstock was presented with the EBP Award for Curriculum Support by Mar-garet Matthews, Managing Director of Dow Corning.

The awards ceremony recognised support for a range of initiatives, including mentor-ing, work experience, the promotion of en-terprise and business awareness, projects to promote social inclusion, the training and re-cruitment of young people and workforce development.

Jane Hutt, Minister for Children, Education, and Lifelong Learning and Skills, was at the cer-emony to congratulate award winners. She said: “This event is a wonderful advertisement for what can be achieved when education and business work together in such a successful and flourishing partnership. I would like to thank...employers who give so much of their time to support schools and young people.”

Byron Broadstock was presented with the Education Business Partnership Award for Curriculum Support by Margaret Matthews, MD of Dow Corning.

CSS Wales and CECA Wales in partnershipCounty Surveyors’ Society (CSS) Wales, representing the 22 local authorities in Wales, and CECA (Wales) have developed their own brand of co-operation over the last few years.

Starting with an Annual Themed Conference, attended also by civil servants representing the Welsh Assembly Government, the partnership approach has been expanded to include the attendance of the CECA (Wales) Chair and Director at the regular board meetings of CSS Wales, and to be participants at Procurement and Waste Management Groups set up by its various committees.

Brian Kemp, the outgoing Chair of CSS Wales, considers that “the co-operation between the two bodies has proved extremely useful in furthering mutual understanding and trust particularly between the client role in local authorities and that of the contractor, as well as affording a stronger voice and influence for the constructing industry in Wales”.

2008 promises to be a further year of progress with ongoing dialogue regarding frame-work agreements and opportunities, with others, to develop a more streamlined approach to requirements at tender pre-qualification stage. Staff training with exchanges between the local authorities, Transport Wales and contractors is also likely over the next few months cementing the new holistic approach to the industry that is surfacing in a devolved Wales.

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Page 7 CECA Communicates

REGIONAL NewsCECA (Wales) meets Environment MinisterBrownfield sites throughout Wales may remain unremediated for the foreseeable future as the money needed to treat them is not available. The Landfill Directive closed hazardous waste facili-ties in Wales, increasing the costs to clients of transporting haz-ardous waste to sites in England. This is a considerable financial burden for clients and harmful to the Welsh economy.

CECA (Wales) has concerns that many regeneration projects in Wales will not be able to proceed because of the huge costs of disposal of hazardous waste. There are many sites where the application of current remediation techniques would still leave a significant tonnage of waste that cannot be dealt with and would need to be transported over the border.

CECA (Wales) recently met Jane Davidson, Minister for Environ-ment, Sustainability and Housing and expressed continuing con-cern regarding the lack of a hazardous waste facility in (Wales) and the continuing penalty that Wales pays as a result. However, not all Brownfield sites are contaminated and CECA (Wales) has been concerned with the declining land reclamation budget that has fallen to £10m from c. £30m ten years ago. This may con-demn many Brownfield sites to never being restored. This would be to the detriment of the communities involved and a continued blight on the environment.

CECA (Wales) was pleased to note that an initial scoping study for a ‘Brownfield Database’ for Wales has now been commis-sioned by EAW. CECA (Wales) members have made an offer in Wales to the WAG to work collaboratively with the local au-thorities to look at these sites, since much of this land is in the ownership of councils. As well as the environmental benefits to the local communities, there is effectively a large stockpile of reusable material sitting across Wales – mainly colliery spoil tips in the South and slate tips in the North – with considerable potential for reuse as engineering material for other local engi-neering projects and possibly even the Severn Barrage.

Constructing Excellence in WalesMilica KitsonChief Executive, Constructing Excellence

Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW) was es-tablished six years ago with Welsh Assembly Gov-ernment (WAG) funding to promote best practice and knowledge to every sector of the construction industry in Wales. The long term goal is to improve the construction process in Wales and to ensure the principles of Rethinking Construction outlined by the Egan and Latham reports become mainstream in-dustry practice.

Construction in Wales has adopted some of the principles proposed by Latham and Egan and there is clear evidence of the benefits gained, but it has yet to fully grasp the additional benefits that col-laboration and best practice can bring. One area the industry has yet to get to grips with is perform-ance measurement.

As a measure of our own success, after six years in operation, we have recently been awarded an extra £1.5million over three years by the WAG to manage the Construction Waste Minimisation Pro-gramme.

Quite rightly construction waste minimisation will now be a major focus for CEW. Construction cre-ates more waste than any other industry. We cannot keep on sending waste to landfill. We must manage the way we build better. The supply chain needs to work together and respond to the challenge, driving out waste and inefficiency, recycling and learning to design and construct more sustainably.

This is a perfect illustration of why we must have early contractor involvement and integrated teams. Construction waste is the responsibility of everyone in the supply chain.

Our funding award comes after three years of hard work on the part of the CEW Waste Task Group which was headed up by Byron Broadstock. Byron was one of the first Board Directors of CEW and it was he who had the foresight to recommend to the Board that we focused our energies on the issue of waste management. As Byron steps down after eight years of unstinting loyalty to CEW I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for all his hard work and for the contribution made by CECA gen-erally. CEW fully expects this excellent relationship to continue with CECA and Byron’s successor, Rhodri Jones.

A fine example of the quality of civil engineering in Wales is the Pont King Morgan - River Towy Footbridge. Contractor Carillion was awarded the 2007 ICE Wales, Roy Edwards Prize.

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REGIONAL NewsPage 8 CECA Communicates

Waste is one of the greatest challenges facing the civil engineering industry. Faced with tightening resources, climate change commitments and the need to enhance the environment contractors have to continually find ways to reduce the level of waste they create and reuse and recycle that which they do. CECA (Wales) is at the forefront of these efforts.

In Wales some 105,000 people are employed in construction and around 15% of those will be engaged in civil engineer-ing. Very importantly, it also has a large industrial waste stream. CECA (Wales) has taken the issues around the manage-ment of ‘Waste’ very seriously for some years and has been in the forefront in progressing changes in this sector.

CECA Wales’ 49 members are engaged in the delivery of the trans-port, environmental and industrial infrastructure of Wales, making major contributions to its economic growth. CECA (Wales) has been working closely with the Environment Agency (EA) and Wales Environment Trust in particular, and has established joint workshops for EA officers, CECA members and also local authority engineers.

Contractors have traditionally looked to reuse/recycle the different ma-terials they encounter and reduce the extent of material sent to landfill, however this has sharpened of late with the economics of waste and the increasing viability of recycled materials.

The crushing and reuse of concrete, road surfacing etc. with a mobile crushing plant is now an ac-cepted procedure with the adoption of smaller machines when there are severe constraints on space, for example in the refurbishment of roads in town centres such as Barry by LGA Ltd. (above).

On larger infrastructure projects such as the infrastructure works for the A449 for the Ryder Cup by Costain (left and below), where space is available and the scale of operations is bigger, then larger mobile crush-ing plants can be utilised. The reuse or recovery of as-phalt road surfac-ing is now more

common practice. Very good recent examples are resurfacing works on the M4 in South Wales when surfacing was being ‘planed’ and then reconstituted to be laid as fresh surfacing, effectively in a con-veyor belt type operation and the A40 by CECA (Wales) member, Alun Griffiths Contractors.

All of these operations significantly reduce the vehicle miles that would have accrued from taking material off site for disposal as well as alleviating the need to use virgin material. As a result, re-cycling percentages for civil engineering contractors are amongst the highest in construction with 80% plus figures common. However, cost can be critical and there need to be many more recycling facilities locally to make it easier and reliable to use recyclate. Disposal to landfill should be the last resort.

However, the traditional disposal to landfill of material that is ‘surplus to requirements’ is still prevalent and inert material from civil engineering operations forms the biggest component of waste from the construction sector to landfill. In the main, it relates to the design of the works and a lot more needs to be done in this area to design out waste in the first place.

Thus, for the foreseeable future, there will be a demand for disposal of the residue from civil engineering operations but CECA (Wales) members are leading the way and through innovation will continue to improve their performance.

Mobile crusher in Barry town cente: LGA Ltd.

Using a larger mobile crusher: Costain

CECA (Wales) members tackle waste

Costain waste recycling

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GUEST CommentPage 9 CECA Communicates

Site Waste Management Plans – Improving Resource Efficiency in Construction and Engineering in EnglandJoan Ruddock MPParliamentary Under-Secretary of State responsible for Waste

The construction, demolition and excavation industries produce vast quantities of waste every year, perhaps a third of Eng-land’s total waste production. Some is clearly unavoidable and

much - around half - is recycled as aggregates, including at the site of production. But it remains an uncomfortable fact that around 25 million tonnes of construction, demoli-tion and excavation (CD&E) material still ends up as waste and is sent to landfill every year. The environmental and financial costs of disposing of this waste are considerable.

To address this volume of waste and the costs that go with it, the Government has been working up a strategy - born in large part out of our 2007 Waste Strategy for England – for improving resource efficiency and reducing waste throughout the industry. As part of this, the Sustainable Construction Strategy to be launched in June will include the target of halving the amount of CD&E waste going to landfill by 2012. As ambitious as this undoubtedly is, I strongly believe that we should view such a target as a stepping stone and that, in the longer-term, we should re-ally be looking to avoid landfill altogether for CD&E waste, except where there is no other disposal option.

It’s clear that no single Government policy or action will drive out waste to landfill. But a key part of our strategy is new legislation – introduced at the beginning of April – which requires Site Waste Management Plans (SWMP) on all CD&E projects in England costing over £300,000. While many businesses are already using SWMPs voluntarily, I believe that introducing them on a statutory basis could fun-damentally change waste management practices on many civil engineering and construction sites. SWMPs will help

reduce the volumes of waste produced, encourage reuse and recycling before disposal options are considered and strengthen the duty of care requirements for those involved in handling CD&E waste.

Crucially, we also know that SWMPs can help save money, but only if they are used to challenge current resource use practices. A number of major civil engineering clients and contractors are pushing forward best practice and dem-onstrating that by using SWMPs effectively, and by think-ing about minimising waste from the outset, they can save money on materials, disposal costs and labour and make a real difference to their bottom line. I believe that by mak-ing SWMPs mandatory we can spread this good and best practice through the industry and make real strides towards our target of reducing waste to landfill.

The purpose of SWMPs was certainly not to create some new bureaucratic process. So there’s no official form or document to fill in and the precise format of a plan can vary from something quite simple over a side or two of pa-per, to more complex tools for larger projects. I have been delighted by the way in which large parts of the industry have enthusiastically championed SWMPs and I hope that their adoption can be part of strong partnership between the industry, across all sectors, and the Government to im-prove resource efficiency.

There’s plenty of information and advice available for those who want to know more. You can visit the Defra or Netregs websites or go to organisations such as WRAP (www.wrap.org.uk) and Envirowise (www.envirowise.gov.uk) who pro-vide free SWMP templates and guidance to help you get the most out of better waste management.

Joan Ruddock MP

www.ceca.co.uk

INDUSTRY NewsPage 10 CECA Communicates

...continued from front page

Weaker demand for site works for building developments hurts SMEsAgainst this background there is increased concern over the labour market situation, with slightly more than half of all respondents describing both the supply of skilled operatives and the supply of engineers and other staff as ‘unsatisfac-tory’. For skilled operatives this compares with only a little more than a third reporting supply difficulties in January, but for staff the ‘unsatisfactory’ figure is slightly lower than last time.

There is a quite different situation, however, in respect of the account given by contractors of the change in their order books, and with regard to their expectations of trends in workload, employment and new orders in the coming 12 months. For all respondents to the survey the results of the order books and expectations questions remain positive, but they are much weaker than last time. For all elements of these questions one needs to go back three or four years to find results weaker than those posted in the April 2008 survey.

For these questions also, with the sole exception of that which asks contractors to say what trend they expect in employ-ment of engineers and other staff, the positive overall findings hide negative results for small contractors; and here, as with the indications of trends in workload over the past year, there is a strong link between the weakening order books and falling optimism of small firms and weaker demand for site works for building developments.

For the time being this tendency appears to be strongest in the North East of England and in Yorkshire and least strong in Scotland. More generally results for Scotland remain ahead of those for England and Wales for the change over the past year in workload, employment and order books, although the gap has narrowed, but contractors in Scotland are now no more optimistic than those in England and Wales in their expectations of trends in the coming year.

Cost pressures are still a worry for civil engineering contractors, with the proportion of survey respondents saying their costs are rising at a faster rate than a year ago just over a half for the second survey in succession and only the second time in the 11-year history of the CECA survey. Unsurprisingly, higher prices of fuel and steel are cited as the principal drivers of the acceleration of the rate of inflation of contractors’ costs.

Commenting on the results of the Association’s April 2008 workload trends survey, CECA Chairman Peter Andrews said: “Although many of the overall results of our latest survey appear quite healthy, there are some worrying developments. “It is clear that many small contractors are already suffering quite severely from a weakening of demand for site works for building developments, which is an important element of total civil engineering workload often overlooked by those who comment on our industry.

“In the short term it is this site works element of our workload that is most likely to be affected by changes in general economic and financial conditions. The slowdown in this area and the squeeze that it is applying to many smaller CECA members is clearly attributable to the so-called ‘credit crunch’ that began last autumn. It is also worrying that we have again found more than half of the firms taking part in our survey saying that their costs are rising faster than a year ago. It is more than usually difficult for contractors to recoup increases in their costs if demand for their services is slackening.”

ConstructionSkills appoints new Chief Executive Mark Farrar has been confirmed as the new ConstructionSkills chief executive. He will take over from Peter Lobban when he retires in August. Farrar has been the director of corpo-rate services for ConstructionSkills since 2007 managing the levy and grant system.

Sir Michael Latham, ConstructionSkills chairman, said: “I am delighted to confirm that Mark received a vote of confidence from all sectors of the construction industry, and from our other important stakeholders, during the interviews. His excellent track record in his present role also proved to be decisive. “The board and I are very much looking forward to work-ing with Mark in his new capacity as chief executive and I am sure he will prove to be a very worthy successor to Peter Lobban.” Lobban retires in

August

www.ceca.co.uk

SAFETY NewsPage 11 CECA Communicates

Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV)

guidanceA new local exhaust venti-lation webpage has been launched, giving guidance on how to prevent illnesses such as occupational asth-ma by removing airborne contaminants from the workplace. Designers, installers and examiners of LEV will find this website helpful, as will employers and employees who depend on LEV for the continued protection of their health at work. Visit www.hse.gov.uk for more information

New Tower Crane Guidance

An updated version of the CPA’s Maintenance and Thorough Examination of Tower Cranes has now been published. It was produced following industry consul-tation, including with the CPA Tower Crane Interest Group and the Strategic Forum Tower Crane Group. It is available to download at www.cpa.uk.net

Excavators Used as Cranes - New

GuidanceA new guide for excava-tors used as cranes, which was developed in consulta-tion with the CC and CECA, has now been published in the members’ area of the CC website -www.thecc.org.uk.

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For further advice on these issues or any health and safety matter contact John Wilson on 020 7227 4624 or email johnwilson@ceca.co.uk

Driving safely - new guidance for employersCECA has issued its latest guidance on the use of mobile phones while driving. Penalties for driving carelessly or dangerously when using either a hand held or hands free phone can include disqualification, a large fine and up to two years imprisonment.

Employers can already be prosecuted if they cause or permit employees to take or make calls or send texts while driving using a hand held mobile phone. The Department for Transport (DfT) recommends that phones should be switched off before workers drive off. It is CECA’s view that companies should follow this advice and ban the use of all mobile phones when driving. If a company chooses to ignore this advice they could potentially face prosecution under legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act or the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 should an accident occur.

The full briefing note can be found in the members’ area of the CECA website.

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Kerb Cutting Group LaunchLord McKenzie launched the Project for Reducing Respiratory Disease in Kerb, Paving and Block Cutting on the 6 May 2008, to which CECA has contributed. Output included:

Guidance for the use of concrete kerb, paving and block cutting• Thameside council good practice case study on water suppression• Highways Agency H&S bus traveling to sites in May with guidance materials• Time to Clear the Air Highways Agency/HSE leaflet• Pavers chalk markers carrying H&S message given out free• Good practice DVD demonstrating safe techniques•

Information on the group’s activities can be found at the web communities page http://webcommunities.hse.gov.uk

HSE Introducing F10 formThe HSE is planning to introduce an interactive electronic F10 form (EForm) in June 2008. More information has become available on how the new system will work. It will: -

Increase options for notifying construction projects to HSE• Provide an online service for sending initial notifications to one single point in • HSEAllow retrieval of notifications and making amendments to them• Have easy to follow on-screen help• Provide a print out of the form for recording purposes and as a copy to display • on site

In the meantime, a new downloadable F10 form is available on the HSE websitewww.hse.gov.uk/forms/notification/f10.pdf?ebul=cons/may08&cr=07

www.ceca.co.uk

INDUSTRY NewsPage 12 CECA Communicates

European Court Ruling on Collective

Agreement WagesThe European Court of Justice (ECJ) has given its ruling in the ‘Rüffert’ case concerning social and employment protection measures, the relationship with the posting of workers and the payment of wages under col-lective agreements. The Court found in favour of a company posting workers not having to abide by the wage levels set out under the collective agree-ment in the place where the construction work was carried out.

The facts relate to the applica-tion of the German State law of Lower Saxony on the award of public contracts. This states that public works contracts may be awarded only to undertak-ings that commit to pay their workers at least the wage pre-scribed for by the applicable collective agreement. The law further lays down that the con-tractor must also ensure that any sub-contractors apply the same rules and must monitor the sub-contractor’s compli-ance.

The Posting of Workers Direc-tive lays down that companies must abide by the universally applied minimum terms and conditions of the territory to which workers are posted. The ECJ ruled that the rate of pay provided for in the collective agreement was not seen as being included in the conditions set out in the Posting Directive.

The Court also found that as the collective agreement only applied to public contracts and not private contracts, that again the universal application could not be claimed.

CECA meets BERR Head of Energy StrategyOn 30 May CECA representatives, including Nuclear Forum Chairman Dan Hockey and Forum member John Redman, met with Paul McIntyre, Head of Energy Strategy at BERR.

Unsurprisingly, given the introductory nature of the meeting, the agenda was full and CECA raised concerns in several areas. Foremost was the per-ception within the industry of the absence of an overall energy plan and the fear that as a result contractors might devote their resources to other sectors. Other issues covered included addressing the skills issue, Carbon Capture Storage (CCS), and the progress of the Planning Bill which would acceler-ate the plannning permission process for major infrastructure projects.

Mr McIntyre stressed that the Government is trying to create the ideal market conditions for the private sector to invest in energy supply and that the Planning Bill would remove several obstacles in this regard by providing greater certainty. Indeed, he urged CECA to throw its influence behind the Bill to ensure infrastructure projects are not dealyed un-necessarily.

Overall, CECA’s views were received with interest and Mr McIntyre encoured CECA to engage more closely with BERR in the future. A follow-up meeting will be arranged for the Autumn.

Paul McIntyre

Employment: CIJC Wage RatesA CECA briefing note has been issued detailing the basic and additional rates of pay, apprentice pay rates, daily fare and travel allowances, industry sick pay, subsistence allowance and other allowances under the Construction In-dustry Joint Council Working Rule Agreement, which take effect from Monday 30 June 2008. The briefing note can be found in the members’ area of the CECA website.

Are contractors obliged to mediate?As a general rule, the courts would discourage a refusal to mediate, as it is seen as a high-risk option. Nevertheless, it remains possible, provided one can demonstrate that the refusal to mediate is reasonable. However, any parties that refuse to mediate without good reason would be deprived of some of their costs should they be successful.

Due to this lack of clarity the Court of Appeal laid down some markers for the court to take into consideration when determining whether a party had acted reasonably in refus-ing to mediate. In particular, the following matters should be given consideration:

Prospects of success – consideration of the question of whether there was a real rea-1. sonable prospect of a mediation being successful.The merits of the case – consideration of whether the party declining to mediate had 2. a reasonable belief that the case it had been pursuing was watertight.The nature of the case – is the case such that it is not suitable for mediation.3. Costs of the mediation and other options for settlement – would the costs of the me-4. diation be too high and therefore disproportionate. Also, what other attempts had been made to settle the dispute.Delay – would mediating cause a delay to the trial?5.

The court stressed that this list should provide an indication of factors that should be con-sidered by any party deciding not to mediate but is not exclusive. It was also ruled that it was for the unsuccessful party to show that the successful party had acted unreasonably in refusing to mediate.

In conclusion, parties do not have to mediate in every instance but clearly unless you have a watertight case then it is always preferable to take the cautious route, which can always be viewed retrospectively as at least an attempt to resolve any dispute amicably.

www.ceca.co.uk

DIRECTOR’S CommentPage 13 CECA Communicates

Rosemary Beales

How do we achieve medi-um-term certainty in invest-ment in infrastructure? The last attempt by Govern-ment – supported by CECA although it was not without its flaws – was the Ten Year

Plan for Transport, launched in 2000 and then ceremoni-ously ditched in 2004. Four years on, with contractors even more in the dark over transport infrastructure, one could conclude that the idea is less attractive than ever.

However, medium-term certainty is not just something that the industry needs but necessary for the country as a whole. It will better enable the economy to develop by allowing the infrastructure that underpins wealth creation and qual-ity of life to keep pace with the increasing demand put upon it.

If infrastructure lacks investment, and it is clearly showing the strain in many instances, not only the economy but the quality of individual people’s lives will be affected. Whilst transport is often at the forefront of our thinking other ar-eas such as flood defences, need significant early invest-ment. We have already seen the damage caused by the lack of this.

Without a doubt certainty would enable the industry to plan and to function more efficiently. There have been, over the past few years, calls by various parts of Government for the industry to become more efficient. However, whilst contractors have more than risen to this challenge they have been let down by Government and its lack of vision. Cer-tainty of investment and more focused procurement proce-dures would enable the whole of the supply chain to work in a more integrated way, innovate and enable the use of their valuable resource, people, most effectively. The in-dustry’s image, a serious issue and key to attracting good people into the industry, would also be enhanced.

The call for certainty should not be seen as “special plead-ing” by contractors – all parts of the construction industry are voicing a similar message and arguments against it are spurious and ill-founded.

One of the interesting facts to emerge more recently is the manner in which the devolved administrations of Scotland and Wales have used decentralised powers over infra-structure and taken the step to give contractors greater certainty. In Scotland and Wales we now know more about the investment intentions of the Scottish and Welsh Govern-ments in transport than we do about England, despite the existence of the Department for Transport and the High-ways Agency!

By far the most interesting development has been in North-ern Ireland. There, a Strategic Infrastructure Planning Body (SIPB) works in partnership with industry and Government, aiming to provide much needed medium-term certainty to the major infrastructure project market to improve co-ordi-nation of delivery, maximise efficiency and make the best use of resources.

Following the ICE’s recent State of the Nation Report on Ca-pacity and Skills on 20 May, CECA was invited by ICE to a round table discussion chaired by David Orr, ICE President, with representatives from a wide range of stakeholder bodies engaged in the planning, design, construction and financing of the Nation’s infrastructure. The topic of the day was “does England need an SIPB?”

The principle of an SIPB for England had strong underlying support but there were concerns that it might not be as ef-fective in an economy as large as that of England. It was also felt that it might add another layer of bureaucracy on top of an already complex decision making structure. Fun-damentally, it was agreed that support for investment from across the political spectrum is key, as well as ensuring that society generally recognises this need.

An SIPB might not be the answer for England, but the de-bate on how to provide medium-term certainty has moved to another level. CECA will be working with the ICE and with stakeholders from across our industry to make sure that the Government is persuaded of the benefit of sustained investment in infrastructure.

How can we provide medium-term certainty for contractors?

CECAContacts:

CECA (National) DirectorRosemary Beales020 7227 4620

CECA Director of TrainingJoe Johnson020 7227 4626

CECA Technical & Environmental OfficerJohn Wilson020 7227 4624

CECA Head of External & Public Affairs Phil Morgan020 7227 4625

CECA Communications OfficerJack Callan020 7227 4623

CECA PA/AdministratorLaura Ellis020 7227 4620

CECA Council Dates for 2008:

4 March 2008 23 September 2008 3 June 2008 9 December 2008

CECA55 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QLwww.ceca.co.uk

www.ceca.co.uk

People & Resources Committee4 June 2008

Safety, Health & Environment Committee18 June 2008

Nuclear Forum18 June 2008

CECA/NR Liaison Meeting30 June 2008

Business Improvement Committee9 September 2008

External Relations Commitee9 September 2008

Finance Group16 September 2008

CECACalendar: