What's New

The Refabulous Home: High Rise Reprise Seminar - 15th November 2004

The collaboration between The Housing Forum, Design for Homes and The Building Centre Trust which set up the Prefabulous Home series of seminars has now branched out to create a new series- The Refabulous Home, aimed at refurbishment solutions! The first in this new series, held on the 15th November and chaired by Judith Harrison, Director of the Housing Forum, proved to be very lively with many questions and contributions from delegates.

• Ben Derbyshire of HTA Architects gave a presentation on how 138 sustainable flats were created from an asbestos ridden block.
• Ben Jones of Assael Architecture explained how Century Building, a listed building in Manchester, was transformed into 121 modern flats whilst maintaining its original features.
• Prashant Kapoor gave a presentation on the Sustaining Towers initiative, a DTI funded website due to be launched early next year, which will provide design advice on tower block refurbishment.
• Robert Sakula of Ash Sakula Architects explained how they intended to fully reclad and extend a tower block in Plaistow, East London from 15 to 25 storeys.
• Nick Thompson of Cole Thompson Architects gave a presentation on the Integer Housing Forum demonstration project which will give a sustainable "makeover" to a 22 storey residential tower in Pimlico.

Watch this space for news on forthcoming "Refabulous Home" and "Prefabulous" seminars and site visits.

Site Waste Management Plans - why should you consider adopting them?

Potential savings
Over 90 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste arises annually in the UK - and 13 million tonnes of this is material that is delivered to sites but never used: brand new material going straight into skips. In addition to the 'gate fee' for sending waste to landfill sites, the construction industry spends over £200 million on landfill tax each year at current rates. Other costs include purchase costs of the materials in the skip; labour costs; lost profit; storage and handling costs, as well as the disposal costs. The true cost of construction waste is generally 10-20 times the disposal cost of the skip. Case studies have shown savings of 3% of build costs, or 20% of material on site without significant investment costs.

Scarce landfill space
In Essex, for example, it is thought that there is less than five years' landfill void space remaining. The availability of sites for the disposal of hazardous waste is now also very limited, since the Landfill Directive requirements implemented in July of this year, and in 2005 further changes to regulations for managing hazardous wastes will be implemented. These changes will increase the types and quantities of materials classified as hazardous.

Substantial environmental improvements.
Waste disposal to landfill poses significant environmental risks, as a result of the leachate (liquid with very high pollution potential), methane and other landfill gases generated as waste decomposes.

Site waste management plans (SWMPs) are a straightforward way of improving waste management on site, whilst at the same time reducing risks associated with waste management and improving compliance with environmental legislation: according to an Environment Agency survey, over 90% of contractors were aware of Duty of Care for waste management, but more than 70% of these were unable to state what the requirements actually are.

Although SWMPs are generally aimed at projects over £200,000 in value, their benefits are not limited to larger companies: they have been used successfully by very small construction companies. They are relevant for all types of construction projects, not just buildings, and for refurbishment work as well as new-build. The form that a SWMP takes is not particularly important - whatever form suits your organisation best is appropriate! - but the key to success is to keep it simple. The simpler and more straightforward the process is, the more likely it is to be followed.

For further information on Site Waste Management Plans and the Voluntary Code of Practice for SWMPs, go to http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk/resourcecentre...

Constructing Excellence are also delivering a number of practical waste management workshops around the country - if you would like to know more about these, please contact the Events team at Constructing Excellence, on 0207 592 1100.

Housing Forum Demonstration of the Month - November

Name: Maintenance for Family
No: 1193
Region: London

Team:

Family Housing Group Impart Links Kier Connaught Property Services Geoffrey Osborne

Value: £20m

Family Housing Association had a responsive maintenance service being delivered by 58 organisations working from a Schedule of Rates. Due to low tenant satisfaction and a need to cut back on the administration of multiple contractors, it was recognised that moving to a non adversarial procurement method would be the best way forward. A shortlist of 14 applicants was drawn up. After workshops and detailed questionnaires had been completed, a panel of residents, board members and key Family Housing Association staff, facilitated by Impart Links, evaluated the applications. After further interviews and site visits, three contractors were engaged in April 2003 and began work on 1st September 2003. A strategic core group was formed comprising two representatives of each Contractor, key staff from Family Housing Group and Impart Links in the role of advisors and facilitators.

• Decision to give the project a stand-alone identity, hence the M4F (Maintenance 4 Family) project
• Complete integration of the project team with all parties working to mutual objectives
• Development of a Project Partnering Charter
• The division of London into three areas. The three contractors undertook this with input from the client
• Development of a standard specification
• Development of a set of standard KPIs for the project
• Implementation of a standard open book format for all Partners
• Standard reporting format for repairs
• Direct involvement of contractors in the budget setting and monitoring process
• Implementation of a project risk register
• Devolution of decision-making to sub-groups and an operational group reporting to the core group
• The operational group now meets weekly with the core group meeting monthly
• Development of a payment system allowing positive cash-flow for all Partners
• Development of an M4F Extranet providing key project data (www.fhadev.org.uk)

Please note, there will be no December edition of the Housing Forum Newsletter. The next newsletter will be in January 2005.

Membership News

Why become a member of the Housing Forum?

What are the benefits? Click here to link to the membership section of the Housing Forum website and find out ...

Events

Prefabulous Homes 7

On January 24th 2005 2pm - 6pm at the Building Centre Trust, The Housing Forum, in association with Design for Homes and The Building Centre Trust, will once again be presenting 5 case studies featuring off-site manufacture, including Baron's Court, the latest venture into key worker housing by Spaceover for Peabody Trust / Keep London Working.

For further details contact Zoe Le Grand on 020 7592 1100 or email zoe.legrand@...

The Delivering Sustainable Communities Summit, Manchester GMX 31st January, 1st and 2nd February 2005

Two years on from the successful Urban Summit, the Deputy Prime Minister's "Delivering Sustainable Communities Summit" aims to bring together key people to celebrate achievements and address what still needs to be done to meet the government's sustainable communities targets.

In collaboration with Mtech, specialist consultants for off-site construction, The Housing Forum will host an exhibition and networking area at this event. There will be masterclasses, seminars and great networking opportunities for clients, designers, developers, housebuilders, manufacturers and suppliers.

A village scene will be created displaying a diverse range of Modern Methods of Construction technologies including innovative cladding, M&E solutions and alternative energy solutions for all types of building - homes, schools, health and commercial/ business facilities, all of the elements needed to create a sustainable community.

On the 31st January, the opening afternoon of the summit, The Housing Forum, Design for Homes and The Building Centre Trust will run visits to MOJO (Urban Splash) and Beswick in East Manchester to highlight innovative manufacturers as part of the highly successful Prefabulous Home seminar series, now in its third year. The seminar series focuses on modern methods of construction and champions innovative builders and manufacturers.

Items of Interest

Please note, there will be no December edition of the Housing Forum Newsletter. The next newsletter will be in January 2005.

Contact details

The Housing Forum has moved to Constructing Excellence's new offices. They can now be found at 25 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 0PP.

The following people can be contacted through the switchboard number
020 7592 1100:

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