Building Briefs – July 20th

Stewart Milne Homes site manager scoops national health and safety award

A site manager for Stewart Milne Homes has been named as one of the best in the country at a gala event in Birmingham, after receiving a national award for his dedication to health and safety.

Graham Mann won the national ‘Medium Builder’ category at the annual NHBC awards and received this accolade, where he was praised by the judges for his outstanding work at one of the first neighbourhoods at the new £800m community of Countesswells.

Graham said: “I’m humbled and incredibly proud to receive this award. To be one of the best site managers and recognised for my health and safety efforts at Countesswells is great. By working with such a committed and fantastic team at Stewart Milne Homes, we’re continually working to improve our practices and drive the best safety standards in the industry.”

The awards, now in its ninth year, were organised by the NHBC – the UK’s leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes – and independently judged by health and safety professionals.

John Low, managing director of Stewart Milne Homes North Scotland, said: “Graham is testament to our ongoing drive to display the highest standards of health and safety in all our work. It’s an exceptional achievement to be named as a national winner of the NHBC awards and we’re proud to have Graham as part of our organisation.

“Across Stewart Milne Group, we work hard to increase and invest in the best safety standards across the industry. Our health and safety culture is built on continuous improvement through initiatives such as “Choose Safe” combined with our construction guides to excellence and business optimisation programmes.”

Stewart Milne Homes also enjoyed additional success at the NHBC health and safety awards, with Ronnie Falconer, site manager for Stewart Milne Homes’ Den View development, and Nick Athorn, site manager for Stewart Milne Homes’ development at Winterley Gardens, being announced as ‘Commended’ winners.

MSP visits Clark Contracts

MSP for business, fair work and skills, Jamie Hepburn, visited Clark Contracts head office in Paisley this week to hear about the company’s award-winning Academy.

The minister was joined by four attendees from Re:Markable and two from Developing the Young Workforce – West region.

Director Gerry Cummins spoke to the visitors about the work of the Academy and its engagement with Developing the Young Workforce and Investors in Young People.

The visitors then made their way to Clark Contracts Manufactured Joinery Facility to speak to two Joinery Apprentices and a Trainee Quantity Surveyor and her mentor who also completed his studies through Clark Contracts Academy having joined as a placement student in 2013.

During his visit, the Minister announced an additional £200k of funding to support organisations to receive up to 100% funding towards Investors in Young People accreditation.

Clark Contracts achieved the Investors in Young People gold accreditation in 2016 following a series of one to one interviews with staff which were carried out by an independent assessor.

Following this, Clark Contracts won the Training Excellence Award at the Construction News Awards in 2017 and was announced as Employer of the Year at the Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce ROCCO Business Awards in October 2017.

New affordable homes complete in Bo’ness

Springfield Properties has transformed a run-down section of land along Cadzow Avenue in Bo’ness with 30 affordable one and two-bedroom apartments.

Now known as Baillie Court, the energy efficient homes were built in partnership with the Link Group and Paragon Housing Association. Construction started on the £3.7 million project in 2017.

Including the 30 homes in Bo’ness, Springfield Partnerships, the affordable development arm of Springfield Properties, has handed over 146 affordable homes across Scotland since the start of the year.

First Muirton Living homes handed over to Fairfield Housing

Urban Union has reached a key milestone at its Perth development after handing over the first homes to Fairfield Housing Co-operative.

A number of homes at Muirton Living were handed over to the housing association, with residents set to move in later this summer.

A multi-million pound project, the regeneration of Muirton will see Urban Union deliver 102 affordable homes in the first phase of development, followed by an additional 101 for private sale.

Urban Union is expected to complete work on the affordable homes by the end of 2018 and the private homes by summer 2019.

The development will offer a wide range of accommodation types with one, two, three and four bedroom properties available. Each property comes with either private or shared gardens alongside attractive outdoor space and car parking facilities.

The new homes form an important part of the regeneration of the site at Muirton and follow extensive community engagement in the development of the master plans.

Muirton Living, delivered in partnership with Caledonia Housing Association and Fairfield Housing Co-operative, is set within close proximity to Perth’s town centre with easy access to public transport links.

The development offers a selection of one to four-bedroom homes providing plenty of options for everyone, from first time buyers to growing families.

New £9.2m primary school to open in Gourock

The new £9.2 million St Ninian’s Primary in Gourock is to officially open later this year.

The date was confirmed as 21 November, coinciding with the centenary of the law allowing the state funding of Catholic schools. Right Reverend John Keenan, Bishop of Paisley, will officially open the new school.

The new development is being built on the blaes gravel pitches at the current school site and the existing building will be demolished once the work is complete. It has 13 classrooms, a gym, dining hall, music room and a library over its two stories.

It is the latest project in Inverclyde Council’s £270 million schools estate programme.

Other local developments have also made progress with the recent completion of Moorfoot Primary’s £5million refurbishment. The £3.8m refurbishment of Lady Alice’s Primary is expected to be complete in the coming months.

Repair work to take place at Perth Crematorium

Construction work is to get underway at Perth Crematorium to repair the building’s outer walls.

The crematorium was recently refurbished, but during repointing work on the outer walls they identified a need to further assess the existing mortar. A condition survey revealed that restoration work needed to take place to ensure the wall’s stability.

A condition survey was carried out in early June which identified that the outer walls required some restoration work to be undertaken to ensure stability and robustness in the walls and overall structure.

The restoration work will commence on 10 August and continue for an estimated 10 weeks.

Perth Crematorium will be closed temporarily on Mondays and Tuesdays during the project.

East Ayrshire road resurfacing work

Resurfacing work is to begin on six sections of the B743 in East Ayrshire.

The project will be carried out on sections of the road between Sorn and the South Lanarkshire boundary.

The Ayrshire Roads Alliance will complete the work, starting on 30 July and lasting for up to six weeks.

Signed diversion routes will be in place throughout the project.