FM Report 189 - Thursday 25th January 2007

25 January 2007

The latest FM news direct to your desktop

CBI and TUC support work style revolution
The TUC and CBI signed a Concordat this week agreeing to promote 'smarter working practices' and significantly increase flexible working in the next few years. Together with Transport for London, The British Chambers of Commerce, the IT Forum Foundation, The Association for Commuter Transport and the RAC Foundation, they signed up the Work Wise UK campaign to work smarter to reduce commuting times, working hours, energy consumption, CO2 emissions and stress related illness as well as improve competitiveness, work life balance, productivity, sickness absence, staff moral and worker retention. Work Wise UK has also endorsed the Equal Opportunities Commission's report, Working Outside the Box, published this week which says that 6.5m people in Britain could be using their skills more fully if they could work more flexibly.
www.workwiseuk.org www.eoc.org.uk

London will be 'greenest' Olympics
The 'Sustainable Development Strategy' launched this week by London 2012 will reduce CO2 emissions from its Olympic venues by 50% by 2013, reduce waste through design by reusing 90% of demolition material and at least 20% recycled materials in permanent venues and the Olympic Village; make efficient use of water through reuse and recycling; prioritise walking, cycling and public transport to and within the Olympic Park and venues, and carry half of construction materials to the Park by water and rail.
www.london2012.org

County Council appoints Carillion FM
Carillion Facilities Management (CFM), is to manage and deliver a range of property services to Northamptonshire County Council in a 4-year contract working with the Council's property services team, Lambert Smith Hampton (estates management) and Lend Lease Projects (major projects). The estate has over 600 properties including 350 schools, libraries, day centres, Council offices and other public buildings - over 1m sq m in total. Around 80 Council staff have transferred to Carillion.
www.carillionplc.com

Poor practice on service charges found among managing agents
Unless managing agents of commercial property change their practices they will fail to meet the standards of the RICS Code of Practice on Service Charges due to come into effect in April, said Dr John Calvert at a the Property Solutions seminar this week. Author of the Loughborough University Service Charge Update Study, he revealed that of the 400 managing agents in the study none - including the most well known corporate names - were examples of good practice.
www.property-solutions.co.uk/loughborough.htm

Fit out contractors to be vetted
The Association of Interior Specialists (AIS) has introduced ongoing vetting of its contractor members to promote industry wide best practice, maintain minimum standards and demonstrate the quality services of AIS members. The vetting will be carried out every three years and includes on site assessments and documentary reviews.
www.ais-interiors.org.uk

Contract cleaning market continues growth
According to the UK Contract Cleaning Market Development Report from MBD, the market grew 5% in 2006 to £5.4bn, an increase since 2002 of 18%. The market is expected to increase in the next five years by 2-3%.
www.mbdltd.co.uk

Environment Agency 'walks the talk'
Red Kite House, one of the Environment Agency's flagship buildings has won the Construction and Renovation Category of the annual National Energy Efficiency Awards run by UK CEED. An example of sustainable office development, it has natural ventilation, PV cells, solar panels to heat water, rainwater harvesting, wind powered ventilation turbines, motorised windows for night cooling and sustainable drainage from the car park as its key features.
www.environment-agency.gov.uk

Cofathec delivers FM services to Sheffield LIFT
As part of the Sheffield NHS LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) initiative, Cofathec Heatsave is delivering energy management and technical FM services for a period of 25 years to the Wincobank Primary Care Centre and the Deepcar Primary Health Centre. Cofathec is also part of the consortium constructing the new Jordanthorpe Medical Centre, and will be supplying the same services for a period of 25 years when the facility opens in August 2007.
www.cofathec.co.uk

Sustainable office design service
Morgan Lovell has launched a new sustainable office design service using its team of in-house BREEAM and LEED trained designers to advise clients on all aspects of sustainable office design including 'green' office building assessments, sourcing and using sustainable materials, space planning, the use of energy efficient technology and carbon neutral refurbishment.
www.morganlovell.com

BCO launches occupier hand over guide
The British Council for Offices has launched a new guide designed to assist in achieving a successful hand over of an office building. Intended to be a generic guide for landlords and occupies, it sets out the issues which the service provider and client face from inception and including lease agreements, due diligence procedures and terms through to the occupier operating its business from the premises.
www.bco.org.uk