Concrete products take the stage at Ecobuild

5th February 2010

British Precast members are well to the fore at the forthcoming Ecobuild show at Earls Court, London which runs from 2-4th March.

Buchan Concrete Solutions

Cornish Concrete Products

CPM Group

Hanson Formpave

H+H UK

Monier

Roger Bullivant

Associates:
BASF
EBAWE
Lafarge Cement UK
Peikko
SIKA
TEKLA UK
Waldeck Associates

British Precast itself has a small stand (Number 2553) and will be distributing literature including buyers guides and launching our new sustainability targets.

The Concrete Centre will also be there.

To register for admission tickets and for further information visit the Ecobuild website

CPM's Redi-Rock proves to be the ideal flood protection solution

2nd February 2010

CPM has recently supplied the Redi-Rock big block solution to Morrison Construction, who is undertaking environmental improvement work in the Welsh town of Tregaron in Dyfed.

New flood walls were constructed using the aesthetically pleasing Redi-Rock blocks to provide an increased level of flood protection for properties along the river in Tregaron. CPM supplied 999 of it’s big block Redi-Rock Modular wall system, which is aesthetically pleasing and can be used for retaining, force protection, landscaping and flood protection.

Tim Hopkins, Project Manager for the Environment Agency said “Redi-Rock is an ideal solution for this location, in view particularly of the speed with which flood walls can be constructed.”

CPM also specialises in the collection, storage and flow control of rainwater within their off-site solutions team.

MPA Calls on the Government to Pursue Realistic Carbon Reduction Targets

27th January 2010

With just days to go before international governments declare their domestic carbon reduction commitments under the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, the Mineral Products Association today called on the government to resist moves to increase its commitment to a -30% carbon reduction target until further comparable unilateral commitments are made by other major economies.

Dr Pal Chana, MPA's Executive Director Cement and Lime, said “the government should stick to its current EU policy commitment of -20% when the issue is debated at the European Council meeting on February 11 unless other countries agree to fall in line.”

Further information can be found in our Press releases section

Free Breakfast Seminar “The Greening of Concrete”

At the invitation of the East Midlands Sustainable Construction iNet, British Precast has arranged a free breakfast seminar “The Greening of Concrete” at Loughborough University on Tuesday 23rd February 8.45 - 10.30am.

Presentations will include:

Welcome & introduction - Charles Meynell, Sustainable Construction iNet

The UK's Concrete Industry Sustainability Strategy - an overview
Andy Spencer, UK Sustainability Director of CEMEX and Chairman of the Concrete Industry Sustainable Construction Forum

"More from Less", the Precast Concrete Sustainability Strategy: The story so far.
Martin Clarke, Chief Executive, British Precast

Sustainability and the Concrete Industry – A Case Study
David Morrell, Marshalls PLC

For further details, or to book your place register here

10% Discount for British Precast Members on BSI Eurocode Masterclasses

15th January 2010

1-4 February 2010, BSI Headquarters, London
9-12 March, 2010, Marriott Hotel, Manchester Airport, Manchester

Prepare your organization for the transition from British Standards to Eurocodes by attending BSI's series of Eurocodes Masterclasses.

The Eurocodes Masterclasses will provide you with detailed information about the Eurocodes most relevant to you, with a specific focus on the UK construction industry. Through case studies and discussion groups, you'll gain a full understanding of specific Eurocodes, as well as the cost and time commitments involved.

Get information on the Eurocodes most relevant to you by attending one, two, three or four days of classes. A full listing of classes is available here.

To book your place and claim a 10% discount, please call the BSI Customer Service Team on +44 (0)20 8996 9001.

Non-discount bookings can be made online at here

Tekla Structures in Practice – BIM for Concrete Structures

15th January 2010

Tekla's Canadian reseller Dowco Technology Services recently arranged a conference in Vancouver to introduce a new approach to BIM (Building Information Modelling) for engineers. The conference sought answers to questions such as what is BIM, who is it for, why should companies go for BIM, how is BIM better than CAD, and how to know whether one's BIM tool is the best available.

Wayne Kassian, principal at Kassian Dyck Associates, was the keynote speaker in the event. His topic was 'Precast Concrete, Reinforcing, and Total Concrete Structures – From Virtual Design to Fabrication/Construction Drawings'. His presentation gives an excellent insight into the benefits of Tekla Structures for concrete design and detailing and how Tekla’s 3D BIM software can greatly improve your design and business processes.

To read more and view the presentations click here.

Assembly calls for investigation into fire safety of London's buildings

14th January 2010

The London Assembly has unanimously asked its Planning and Housing Committee to set up a scrutiny investigation into fire safety in buildings, following a series of fires in the capital involving tall and timber-frame constructions.

A motion agreed yesterday highlighted the Colindale fire in 2006, during which a six story timber-framed building burned to the ground in less than nine minutes, and the series of recent fires in Peckham involving timber-frame buildings under construction.

Assembly Members called on the Committee to look into possible changes to building regulations, with a view to making recommendations to the Mayor of London and central government.

Darren Johnson AM, Chair of the London Assembly, said: "The tragic deaths of six people at the Lakanal House fire last July and a series of recent blazes involving timber-framed buildings have all too graphically highlighted the vital importance of fire safety when designing and building people’s homes. An Assembly probe into how such incidents might be avoided in the future is the least we can do to minimise the fire risks to Londoners.”

Navin Shah AM, who seconded the motion, said: "A spate of recent incidents have emphasised the need for a swift review of construction methods and their impact on the fire safety of London’s buildings. We must do all we can to highlight areas where improvements can be made that may save lives in the future.”

A webcast of the meeting can be viewed here.

Further Timber-frame fire hits South London

6th January 2010

This morning saw the second South London fire in three months in Camberwell. The fire was reported at around 2.30am this morning as another five-storey timber frame building under construction was destroyed. Seventy-five firefighters battled to keep the blaze under control and stop it spreading to neighbour properties, although businesses were affected. Thankfully, although 150 people were evacuated, the fire was contained and under control 6.30am.

The blaze comes just weeks after more than 300 people were left homeless following a building site blaze in neighbouring Peckham on 26th November. Following that blaze, some fire safety chiefs called for tighter regulation of timber frame construction. British Precast is repeating its call for such urban construction to be stopped.

Further details can be found on the Building, South London Press and BBC websites.

BPCF announce Lafarge Cement UK as the 2009 British Precast Sustainability Champions

15th December 2009

The 2009 British Precast Sustainability Champion award has been won by Lafarge Cement UK with runner up J&P Building Systems.

The award goes to the Associate member who has done the most in the last 12 months to assist the sustainability programme of the UK precast concrete industry.

Lafarge Cement at Hope, Derbyshire – driving sustainability forward

Lafarge Cement UK won the award for a series of interlinked projects:

• Reducing CO2 by the use of waste
• Stakeholder and community engagement
• Reducing river water consumption
• Exemplary safety training programme

Martin Clarke, Chief Executive of British Precast, commented “I am delighted to announce that Lafarge Cement are this years Sustainability Champions. They “get” sustainability and understand what our manufacturing members are trying to do. Lafarge Cement, along with the other UK producers, are playing a major role in the greening of concrete and are helping the precast sector to reduce its carbon footprint significantly. As well as our strong relationship within the British Precast agenda, it is a pleasure to work with them on the Concrete Industry Sustainable Construction Forum where together we are working to put concrete at the top of the materials leader-board by 2012. Every one of our valued Associate members has an important role to play in our green agenda and we look forward to an even stronger push in 2010.

J&P Building Systems are worthy runners-up with the Key2Concrete website and educational resource. Martin Clarke commented “In Key2Concrete, J&P and Cliff Billington have opened up a new international and home on-line audience to best practice in precast design. It is a great platform to present the best in lean and green design.”

British Precast Council agrees 2012 sustainability targets for precast concrete industry

BPCF President Steve Parker, Roger Bullivant signs the targets flanked by Martin Clarke[l], Chief Executive BPCF and Darren Waters[r], Tarmac Building Products, Vice-President BPCF

8th December 2009

The Council of the British Precast Concrete Federation have set targets for 14 sustainability indicators to be achieved by the sector by 2012. The targets were signed by President Steve Parker after the December meeting. In July 2008, the Federation signed up to the Sustainable Construction Strategy for the UK Concrete Industries developed by the Concrete Industry Sustainable Construction Forum (CISCF) in which it made these eight commitments:

The precast commitments will now be combined with the rest of the cement and concrete sector commitments as they are made. BRMCA targets for readymix were issued last week . Details of the BPCF targets will be published in the next issue of Sustainability Matters.

Protect your company from bad debtors

British Precast has launched a scheme to help protect Members from bad debtors. Creditlook is a web-based service that allows members of a federation or association to collaboratively share information about customers that are trading outside of agreed credit terms. This shared information helps limit the risk to members of bad debtors, by enabling them to identify high risk customers before any goods are supplied.

How it works

If a customer trades outside of agreed credit terms with any member, that member can instantly register the customer and incident details on Creditlook. For each customer listed, Creditlook records how many members have been affected, whether correspondence has been sent in relation to late payment and any legal proceedings that have taken place in order to recover such payment.

Creditlook brings members together to protect their individual and collective financial position.

For more information about the scheme and to register, please call Russell Lawley Gibbs on 01628 581058. Once registered, you just have to click on the Creditlook logo above to enter your login details and you can start tapping into this invaluable resource.