Building Briefs – October 22nd

• Fifth seal of excellence for North Berwick site manager

Jim Martin’s success in the Pride in the Job awards is second to none, with a total of nine Quality Awards, five Seals of Excellence and one Regional Award.

Competing against 40 Scotland-based site managers, who also received a Quality Award at the first stage of the awards, Jim was one of just 12 managers that scooped the highly coveted 2019 Seal of Excellence at the NHBC Regional Pride in the Job ceremony.

Following his win, Jim, who is from Livingston, said: “I’m so proud to be a site manager for Miller Homes. It is fantastic to be part of a team that strives to achieve the highest standards. I’m extremely honoured to reach this level in the competition and to be rewarded the Seal of Excellence for the fifth time.

“I’ve been a site manager for 27 years now and I’ve been with Miller Homes for 13 years - these awards are a true reflection of the fantastic team I have at Ferrygate Meadow - a testament to their support, dedication and enthusiasm. It also demonstrates the hard work of the wider team at Miller Homes.”

• East Kilbride site manager awarded for house building excellence

Iain Alexander of Taylor Wimpey West Scotland won a Regional title in the third round of the NHBC Pride in the Job Awards 2019 held at The Hilton Glasgow.

He was honoured for his dedication to building homes of exceptional quality before an audience of over 500 for his site Benthall Farm in East Kilbride.

Commenting on the awards, NHBC director Scotland, John Mack, said: “A site manager’s job is one of the toughest in house building and they carry out a role that has many hats. They are the pivotal part in building someone’s home, ensuring it is built on time and on budget while maintaining high quality and the safety of everyone on-site.

“To reach this level of the competition means you are at the very top of the house-building industry. Iain is without doubt building homes to an exceptional standard and is a worthy winner. Congratulations and good luck to Iain in the final stage of the competition.”

Iain will now go on to compete for the ultimate title in house building, the Supreme Award which will be unveiled at a gala ceremony in London, in January 2019.

• Work starts at Horsley Brae junction

Work is under way on improvements to the road layout at the A71 Horsley Brae junction with the B7011 Brownlee Road.

North and South Lanarkshire councils and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) are investing a total of £1.6 million in the project which aims to reduce congestion at the busy junction.

The A71 will be widened to create a right-turn lane northbound, for traffic turning on to Brownlee Road, and a merging lane for traffic travelling south on Brownlee Road and joining the A71.

JH Civil Engineering Ltd has been appointed to carry out the work, which is expected to take approximately 26 weeks.

• Early completion date confirmed for Stromeferry works

The Highland Council has confirmed that the works underway on the A890 Stromeferry Bypass are due to finish earlier than planned and the road will reopen fully to traffic at 7am on Thursday 24 October – ten days ahead of schedule.

The rock scaling and netting works form part of an on-going programme of inspection and maintenance on the rock face adjacent to the A890 that involves replacing sections of the existing rock protection in areas identified during survey work carried out last year.

Geo-Rope Ltd has been busy on site since the start of September and every effort has been made to keep disruption for all road users to a minimum.

The works were scheduled to last 8 weeks and were due to be completed on November 3.