Mixed day

Well, yesterday was a day of many parts.

I spent some time providing design and content input for our new website with Mookat.

I designed a single storey side extension for a bungalow, dealt with Local Planning Authority and Building Regulation queries on a couple of other projects, and answered Client enquiries.

I made some serious headway into my application for membership of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists, something I've been wanting to do since gaining my degree last summer (work has taken precedence, that and all the other projects I have been involved in these past 12 months). I have formerly held Associate membership of the Institute however I had to resign when I formed Taylor Tuxford Associates with Rhys and Anne, this coincided with the start of my degree course at Sheffield Hallam University so I decided to wait for my course to end before applying for full membership.

And then, after work, I edited a couple of backing tracks, updated our playing list and took myself and my trusty laptop off to rehearsals with my Blu Crew pals. The lovely people at Tesco in Rotherham very kindly allow us use of their Community Space in Store. They are holding events in store over the coming weeks to celebrate the Rio Olympics and so we are going to be in store on Saturday 13th August 2016 for a couple of hours between 10.30am and 12.30pm, to support their event and to encourage shoppers to get into the spirit of the Olympics whilst raising money for the British Heart Foundation and Diabetes Uk.

After rehearsals finished at 9pm I safely delivered our equipment back to its current home; we really do need to find some form of secure storage for our equipment....can anyone out these help? Blu crew are a not for profit group and so costs need to be kept to an absolute minimum. There must be an empty garage out there that we could rent from you? Or perhaps one of the Storage Companies could help? We'd love to hear from you if you can.

Maltby Miners Welfare Memorial Community Group

We were approached last year by the Maltby Miners Welfare Memorial Community Group to see if we could offer design consultancy services in connection with a planned permanent memorial to be sited in a prominent location on the High Street in Maltby.

Maltby Miners Welfare Memorial Community Group was formed in October 2014 with a simple objective, to erect a memorial for every person that worked or died at the Colliery. They have been tirelessly fundraising ever since, and, inspired by the famous Calendar Girls, they have produced their own ‘glamour’ calendars to raise funds.

On the 28th July 2015 with the help of Lord Scarborough, they erected a memorial stone dedicated to the 27 men who lost their lives in an explosion at the pit in 1923; one of mining's worst disasters. The bodies of most of the victims remain entombed underground, and the memorial stone was placed on land off Limekiln Lane at the spot above the mine where the fallen miners still rest.

Their focus is now on the main memorial proposed for the High Street. The miners have managed to salvage part of a winding wheel from the pit together with some other equipment which will form the basis of the memorial. They have worked with the local schools to encourage the village's children to be involved with the project and they have helped to form the final design.

They are now in a position where they need quotes for the building work for the memorial, as some possible sources of funding require approximate costs before they will fund the project. The Group is therefore on the hunt for any Maltby builders, wrought iron workers, etc, that would be interested in quoting for the work. If you think you could help, please contact Bill Spilsbury on 01709 817390 or 07735220479.

Michelle was raised in Maltby and Rhys’s Mother’s family originally came from Senghenydd (a few miles north of Caerphilly) with strong links to Coal Mining.

It reminds us of one of our past blog posts where Rhys shared his experience at the dedication service and unveiling of the Welsh National Mining Memorial, which had been erected to commemorate all those miners who have lost their lives in the numerous pit disasters within the principality.

The memorial was erected in the village where at 8.10am on 14^th October 1913, the single worst pit disaster in UK history, and the third worst in world history occurred.  A massive explosion ripped through the Universal Colliery, claiming the lives of 439 men and boys as young as 14 years old, in the process rendering about 300 women widows and leaving some 500 children in the village without a Father. Rhys’ Great-Grandfather, Edward Gilbert was one of the 439 who perished on that October morning, aged just 55 years.

Senghenydd Miners Memorial

For these reasons we are very pleased to be able to offer to assist in preparing a design for their chosen site free of charge in accordance with our Corporate Social Responsibility, or, to put it simply, it just seemed the right thing to do.

Survey essentials

So I guess we're all feeling the heat today? Stuck in an office wishing you could be outside to enjoy the glorious weather? Well, it's not always as enjoyable as you'd think.

I've just got back in from a site meeting on an undeveloped piece of land on an industrial estate with very little in the way of shelter (although we did manage to find some dappled shade which probably meant that the temperature was a degree or two lower than the 33 that our cars were telling us)!

The sun was brutally hot this afternoon, so my essential surveying equipment today, other than site plans, safety boots, etc, was sun cream (factor 50 no less) and a sun hat, and you can't quite beat air con. in the car for the journey back to the office.

Time to re-hydrate and cool down.

Shiny new website

We're very excited here as we begin the process to revamp our existing website which has served us very well over the last few years; we thought it was about time to refresh the site and to make it more relevant and modern.

We're working hard with our developers at Mookat to bring you a more accessible and user friendly website that will improve your user experience.

Whilst we're very experienced in what we do, we are again realising that there's so much we don't know, especially in the world of website design, we had to google (as you do) UI, UAT, CMS, etc (although we knew what etc meant!)

So what makes a good website? Well, to use a shop analogy, if you see something that you'd like to buy in the window you don't want to have to spend an age looking for it once you go in to the store, and that is what we're trying to achieve with our website.

We'll let you know how the design is going and once we've gone live we hope you like our new 'shop window'.

Company Christmas Cards

Every year Anne designs and hand makes Taylor Tuxford's Christmas cards; she spends a lot of time and effort in making them and we receive lovely feedback each year. We've had lots of really nice comments already so we thought we'd share some of them with you, but before we do let's have a look back at the past cards:-

2012

Edible Reindeer Poo

 "On Christmas morning

When Santa had been

I ran to the window 

and saw quite a scene

There in amongst

the snowy white drifts

Rudolph & Prancer

had left us some gifts!

I shovelled it up

(with a bit of snow too)

Those little 'nuggets'

of Reindeer poo!

To throw them away 

seemed such a waste

So I bagged them up

to give you a taste!"

2013

How the Angel got on top of the Christmas tree

Santa's day was awful

So fed up was he

The Elves had drunk

his Christmas drink

Rudolph had done a wee

Mother-in-law was coming

His presents weren't yet wrapped

he had never been so stressed

he was in a right old flap!

An Angel was a-passing

and knocked upon the door

a bushy spruce was in her hands

you couldn't ask for more!

She asked where she should stick it

So that's where there came to be

A lovely Christmas Angel

on top of the Christmas Tree!

2014

Folding out hanging Snowman Decoration

And this year......

Self Assembly Christmas tree

This year we sent out a 3-D Christmas tree card complete with assembly instructions on a wrist snap pen drive.

Here's what people have had to say about it: -

"Like the tree!

A construction project from Engineers to a building Surveyor. What could go wrong?

It’s got pride of place on our card shelf now

Merry Xmas"

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"Good morning, (make that afternoon now as it’s taken me so long to write this!)

Greetings from the other side……

I received your wonderful Christmas greeting last week but only just made time to concentrate fully and assemble said greeting.

I was intrigued by the long usb stick and considered for a short while the reason for its length. Was this to allow display of business details, to use a shoe horn, to scratch ones back or simply so that it is not easily misplaced? I decided to accept whatever the reason might be and move on to reading the instructions I needed to create my master piece of art. BTW, I did assemble the star all on my own initiative before looking at the instructions. I couldn’t wait. Are you impressed?

Anyway, I found your instructions most informative and helpful and the tree was soon complete (well, as soon as was possible, but probably not soon enough! I knew there was a reason for putting it off). Your tips on the difficult bits were most welcome otherwise it might have been made even more not soon enough! Are you liking my logic? J

I have always found your (well Ann & Michelle’s) homemade cards absolutely amazing in the past, however I can’t help but think they had some help with this one. I’m not doubting though that the idea was entirely (collectively) yours and one to be commended for!

I attach a picture of my decorated tree. Hey it looks like the one in the picture. Oh, I’m so good! But not without your help….

In order to stand the tree up straight I used a lump of blu tac stuck in the bottom as suggested (oooooh)  and that worked a treat – eventually. I’ve not modeled play dough or such like for a number of years and am out of practice, although today’s efforts have enhanced my ability to partake in such fun activities more constructively than earlier this morning!

I found several different colours of map pins, which looked perfect for baubles – see attached picture. Unfortunately, the tree card is so thick that I could not easily prick the pins through at the end of the branches without half destroying the tree! It remains baubleless, if that’s a word, although you never know in a moment (or few hours) of boredom (I never get bored!) I may persevere and attach some other decoration, maybe even some snow.

After erecting my tree, I was again thoughtfully considering the long usb stick and running my fingers along the flat bit thinking how rubbery it felt (in fact I had a job to get it out of the cellophane packet because of the texture) and wondering what you could use it for, when suddenly without any notice, it snapped itself vigorously around my hand and frightened me half to death!!

Once I had recovered from the shock of the totally unwarranted attack (after all I was only gently stroking it!) I decided it was a good idea to wear it on my wrist so that I did not lose it, so I now have new personal decoration as well as my tree – see attached photo. ;-) That’s a good thing because my watch broke at the weekend so my wrist was bare.

Well, finally I thought I would send you an email message with thanks and greetings for the season (this is it!) but when I came to enter the recipient in the ‘To’ line, no address was available. I remembered recently I had a blue screen experience with my computer and our IT man had to clean it up and warned me that it may be software add-ons that caused the problem and specifically mentioned that auto fill on emails may not work. He was right!

However, my mind turned to my new bracelet that had Taylor Tuxford emblazoned on it and I figured I was saved and would find the details I needed right there on my left arm. Alas, it bears only the name. L Perhaps on the accompanying signed card? No. So I had to phone the office and ask for it. Yes that was me just now!!

Many thanks for thinking of me again at this time of year and providing some amusement and thought provoking fun.

Please send details please of your chosen charity as I would like to make a donation, inspired by your continual efforts. It may be a kind of time saving cop out, but I’ll donate to the charity what I might otherwise have spent on making or buying and posting a card.

Merry Christmas and A Very Happy New Year to you all!"

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"Thanks for the tree/ pen drive as usual brute force and ignorance meant that we all struggled with the tree then read the card to discover the pen drive DOH!!!!"

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"We always look forward to receiving your Christmas card; can't wait for next year!"

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So all in all a really positive response, all thanks to Anne's hard work; she's having a rest now as all that card embossing and punching has strained her wrist! 

She's already got some ideas for next year and has raised the bar high this time, so no pressure then!

Merry Christmas!

Taylor Tuxford Volunteer - Michelle Tuxford

Michelle, as well as being the Principal Architectural Designer at Taylor Tuxford Associates, volunteers for an independent fundraising group named Blucrew, who primarily raise money for the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice located in Dinnington.  

Christmas is their busiest time for fundraising and this year has been no exception, with three full stage shows, three separate carol singing events in Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Carol singing at the Wickersley Lights switch on event, Carol singing at Crystal Peaks, Waitrose in Sheffield and at a care home in Sheffield, as well as several other supporting functions (eg. assisting in setting up a grotto for the Bluebell Wood Children) all within the space of 5 weeks in the run up to Christmas!

Michelle has just had a very busy weekend supporting Blucrew and so we thought we’d tell you how it went: -

Saturday night saw Michelle at Silverwood WMC by 6.45pm to find the room looking very festive thanks to the efforts of other members of the Crew in readiness for their second full Christmas variety show of the season.

It can be a very nervy 5 minutes in the changing room as they wait for the introduction music, then they’re on with the show! There’s no time to sit back and relax between acts either as they are constantly checking what’s coming up next, what should they be wearing, what order do we need to go on stage, etc, etc? It certainly keeps you on your toes. Although they very nearly had one cast member singing O Holy night in a grass skirt and coconut bra!!!

 

Blucrew mini panto cast Dec 2015

The performance was over by 10.30pm and everyone seemed to have had a really good night, the Audience joined in with the fun and games there were lots of smiling faces, a very good result all round.

Of course, now the show was over (and once comfy shoes were on sore feet) they set about dismantling the stage set, lighting, sound equipment, tables, etc. There really is no one specific role for individuals in Blucrew, everyone mucks in, and so, ten minutes after taking their final bow the team were busy carefully packing away.

Sunday morning saw Michelle up bright and early (well, maybe just early) as she had offered to help set up the backdrop and up-lighters at a Hotel in Sheffield, where Bluebell Wood were holding a Christmas Party for the Children, she arrived there for 8am and after a quick set up was away by 9.30am. She then travelled to Meadowhall Shopping Centre to set up for carol singing on the Mall outside Next and was ready for action by 10.30am (ish!)

It was a lovely atmosphere in the Mall and the Centre Management was very accommodating assisting with cordoning off the cables runs so no-one could trip over them. Although, during a song where one of the singers was performing a solo (so she has stepped forward out of line) two shoppers walked straight through the back of the performance area and through the line of singers, completely oblivious to what they were doing!

 

Blucrew carol Singing at Meadowhall Shopping Centre Dec 2015

Blucrew carolled until the mid afternoon to a very appreciative crowd and were congratulated by the staff at the adjoining Love Koffee who had had to listen to their songs at least 3 times!

They then dismantled the set again and loaded the car back up. Michelle then jumped back in her car and returned to the Hotel to dismantle the backdrop and lights after the Children’s party and so didn’t arrive home until 6.30pm feeling very happy that they’d had such an enjoyable, if not tiring, couple of days. Later that evening the team received an e-mail advising that the Elves had counted the takings from the previous night’s show and the donations from the carol singing that day, and that the two events had raised approximately £3000! It all makes the hard work so worthwhile to have a result like that, which is one of the reasons Michelle volunteers, and they’re all completely blown away by everyone’s generosity.

In closing we’d like to take this opportunity of wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, whatever you are doing, and we hope that you all have a happy and prosperous New Year!

Remembering John Ruskin

From time to time one is reminded of the sage words of the 18^th century English writer and poet John Ruskin. 

Ruskin was well known for making what in our modern world might be referred to as “one-liners” but whereas the modern 21^st Century version is commonly made by entertainers of the comedic variety, Ruskin’s were more often than not attuned to the mindset of the (as we might view it) typically staid, God-fearing Victorian – possibly as a result of Ruskin’s upbringing which was largely influenced by his Mother, a devout evangelical Protestant.

I was reminded recently of one of John Ruskin’s more frequently-repeated quotations which was:-

“There is scarcely anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little more cheaply.  The person who buys on price alone is this man's lawful prey”

Applications for approval under the Building Regulations may be made either under:-

§         A “Full Plans Submission”:  Where detailed architectural drawings are submitted for checking and approval before the work commences – this can take up to 8 weeks in some cases, or;

§         A “Building Notice”:  Where the works can potentially commence on site two working days after submission of the “Building Notice” and detailed plans are commonly not required 

NB: The Building Notice was brought in as a means of enabling householders to have minor alterations (new door openings and the like) carried out without the need to incur the disproportionate cost of architectural plans and specifications being prepared beforehand. 

The case which brought this to our mind was in regard to a loft conversion project at a domestic property where, in order to “save costs” the householder had agreed to the builder’s suggestion that the work be carried out under a “Building Notice” application to the Local Authority rather than making a Full Plans Submission for Building Regulations Approval.  The builder had proposed this method as a means of saving the cost of the architectural plan-drawing service (which he told the client was “unnecessary” anyway) and also presumably, to cut out the 3-6 weeks that it would probably take to have the plans checked and approved. 

This was all well and good, except that:-

o        There was no agreed scope for the works – either in the form of a detailed specification or even drawings depicting what the finished conversion would look like

o        The builder had provided a “quote”, but because there were no drawings or specification documents, there was no means of establishing precisely what had been included and perhaps just as importantly, what had been excluded from the price the builder quoted to the Client (the builder’s quotation letter was pretty vague in that regard, also)

o        There was no “pre-agreed” detailed specification that was expected would comply in all respects with the Building Regulations

The whole project ground to a halt when the builder presented the client with a quotation for the additional cost of materials and labour due to “improvements” in certain aspects of the work.  These “improvements” turned out in fact to be necessary only because the builder was not aware that the part of the Building Regulations dealing with thermal insulation had been superseded by a new document some months prior to the work commencing.  Thus, all of the thermal insulation that had been installed to the ceiling and walls of the loft rooms – much of which had already been covered over by plasterboard and skim finish – was of insufficient thickness to satisfy the then-current requirements.  The claim was not just for the extra thickness of insulation, but for renewing the plasterboard and skim finishes and, for re-installing all the other fittings (door/window architraves, radiators, electrical sockets, light fittings and so on).

The client thought that he had agreed a fixed price with the builder for “the project” and so one can imagine his response when the builder presented him with a further quotation for in excess of £1,600.00!  In fact, we calculated that the additional cost of using the correct thickness of insulation materials in the first place would have amounted to just £70.00 for the whole project.

Not surprisingly, the client refused to pay this extra £1,600 to the builder – who promptly “downed tools” and vacated the site stating that the client was being “unreasonable”.  The client was then left with a partially-finished attic room that remained non-habitable and with the prospect of either kow-towing to the builder’s demands for extra money or else, paying another builder to step in and finish the job – probably at similar cost to that quoted by the first builder.  Alternatively, the client could of course sue the builder for this cost, but without a pre-agreed drawing or specification determining the precise scope and extent of the works, such legal action could potentially prove to be fruitless and expensive.

We were asked (by the client’s solicitors) to provide a professional opinion on the situation and upon inspecting the work completed thus far, we identified in addition to the thermal insulation issues, a number of other items of defective workmanship that we could not in all honesty advise the client should be left untreated.  In all, we estimated that the total cost of rectification works to bring the project to satisfactory completion would be in the range £4,000 to £5,000 or thereabouts (dependant upon what other defects might be uncovered as the rectification works progressed).

At this stage, the client had paid the builder all but the final £1,500 of the agreed sum for the whole project and so he was likely to be considerably out of pocket.

The problem as we see it is that in our modern age there is an ever-increasing emphasis (for example via price comparison websites and the like) upon getting “the best price” for a product or service.  Too many people however, still confuse “best value” with “lowest price” and in some instances, the two are mutually incompatible.

We took the view that at that stage that it might be rather cruel to repeat John Ruskin’s “words of wisdom” to this particular client, but they nevertheless ring true and in a similar vein, the same author also wrote:-

“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you
bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well
to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.” 

Wise words, indeed……

John Ruskin (1819-1900)

A lack of understanding of the Party Wall etc Act 1996

It is almost 18 years since the Party Wall etc Act 1996 came into force in the majority of England and Wales and yet still we frequently come across many people who are largely unaware of the nature and extent of works that typically, may fall subject to the Act and thus, require service of written Notice on the adjoining property owner(s) before commencing works.

When that comment is applied to members of the general public it is perhaps understandable, but we still find that we far too frequently have to make that criticism about individuals (and also companies) who are actively involved in the design and construction of building works (especially domestic projects).  

In the perception of the customer these individuals and companies might be expected to have a reasonable working knowledge – or at the very least a good awareness of – most if not all of the technical and legal matters that pertain to their building project – and that would include the Party Wall etc Act 1996.

But in far too many instances they frankly do not…..

As an example:-

The most recent “hot topic” insofar as works falling subject to the Party Wall Act is concerned relates to the notion of what constitutes “cutting into a party wall”?

Section 2(2) of the Act states that “…A building owner shall have the following rights….(f) to cut into a party structure for any purpose (which may be or include the purpose of inserting a damp proof course)…”

Ever since the Act came into force surveyors have been debating what “cutting into the party structure” actually includes and perhaps more importantly, what it does not include. 

It has long been held to be the case that removing wall plaster from a party wall does not fall subject to the Act; however, a decision by a Judge in the Central London County Court in 2013 determined that the removal of wall plaster using mechanical tools would constitute cutting into the party wall, whereas if the plaster was so old and dilapidated that it could be prised away using a putty knife or similar then it would not fall subject to the Act.

How many builders out there are aware of this comparatively recent development in the interpretation of the law?

Does anyone else have any experiences or comments they wish to share on this subject?

Failure to serve Notice under the Party Wall etc Act 1996

Taylor Tuxford Associates has over the past few months been involved in three formal Disputes under the Party Wall etc Act 1996 that have arisen following building works that have commenced without first serving the requisite Notice upon the adjoining property owners.  We are currently also instructed in regard to a fourth such case, which is still in the process of being determined.

The disputes in question arose because the adjoining owners in each case claimed that damage had been caused to their property as a result of the works undertaken by the building owner’s contractors.

The Party Wall etc Act requires that in instances where a building owner wishes to carry out works to their property that fall subject to the Act, then they must serve written Notice upon any affected adjoining property owners.

It is a generally held principle in English & Welsh Law that the “accused” person or corporate body is “innocent until proven guilty” and the accuser is obliged to provide that proof.  However, in instances where “work falling subject to the Act” (i.e. the Party Wall etc Act 1996) is carried out without compliance with the requirements of the Act in regard to the service of a Notice etc, then this principle may not apply.

This stems from a Court of Appeal judgement in 2003 where Lord Justice Chadwick stated in his judgement that “…if it can be shown that the damage which has occurred is the sort of damage which one may expect to occur from the nature of the works that have been carried out…he (i.e. the building owner in that instance) should not be allowed to obtain forensic advantage by his own failure to comply with the statutory requirements…”

In other words, the Judge applied a reverse burden of proof and the building owner was thus obliged to prove that the damage had NOT been caused as a result of his building works.  From our extensive experience, this is extremely difficult to achieve in the majority of cases “after the event”.

In the case of the two disputes referred to earlier, the end result was that the building owners in each instance faced substantial additional expense relating to the repair of the damage plus the fees of the surveyors in resolving the dispute.

Does anyone reading this entry believe that they may have inadvertently placed themselves in a similar position?

Taylor Tuxford Associates’ advice is simple – if you are having building works carried out, seek the advice of your architectural designer and/or your builder whether the works will in any way fall subject to the Party Wall etc Act 1996 and if that is the case, ensure that the appropriate written notice is served on the adjoining owners.

Two happy events……

We had two pieces of absolutely great news this week both concerning one of our Clients, whose subsidence claim against her Insurer is finally (after two years) moving along towards final repairs being carried out very soon to her home in Sheffield.

But by far the best news – for the same Client - was the happy arrival of triplets (all girls!) yesterday morning by Caesarean section.

We wish to send our very best wishes to our Client and her newly-extended Family and we are pleased to report that Martha and all three of her beautiful new daughters are doing well…..photos below: - 

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Specifying Minor Works

Taylor Tuxford Associates is proud to announce its involvement with “Specifying Minor Works” (ISBN 978-0-415-58351-0) which is a newly-released publication from Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

This new book, which has been edited by Patrick Reddin, was co-written by a group of four authors including Taylor Tuxford Associates’ Director, Rhys Taylor and is intended for:

• Non-technical workers in property management
• House owner/occupiers
• Property professionals
• Property maintenance workers
• Contractors

House occupiers, be they tenants or owners, together with managers of property, maintenance personnel, contractors and individual operatives are all in the front line in the battle to carry out effective works to buildings which both represent value for money and add value to those properties. 

They all in their various roles have to confront defects and inadequacies in existing buildings.  Between them they have to carry out repairs and need to be equipped to adequately assess and respond to problems.  They need to be armed not just with a means of diagnosing defects and inadequacies but also assessing the seriousness and possible consequences.

The four authors of the book – Arwel Griffith, Patrick Reddin, Rhys Taylor and Michael Wadood – are all members of the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE).  Rhys, Patrick and Arwel are all Past Presidents of the Association and Michael is currently President-Elect of the Association.

Rhys Taylor says: “I was extremely pleased and honoured to be asked by Pat Reddin to join in with him, Arwel and Michael in writing this new edition of “Specifying Minor Works”. 

“This is the first time that I have been involved in writing a text book and, although I was only responsible for two out of the eight chapters, it certainly tested my ability to write in a manner that hopefully, readers will find easy to absorb.  I have purposefully set out my two chapters in such a way as to be readily understood by professionals and non-experienced householders alike.

“The Chapter on Neighbour Issues in particular, enabled me to put down in print a number of measures that any property owner or developer can adopt in order to try to prevent difficulties, delays and costs from occurring during a building project, simply by using a little common sense, coupled with some sound professional advice

“Specifying Minor Works” is available from all good booksellers at the recommended retail price of £29.99.  It is also available in “E-Book” format from selected suppliers.

http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415583510/

Royal Charter

As those of you who are our regular customers and/or readers of these blogs will be aware, both Michelle Tuxford and Rhys Taylor have for some years both been corporate members of The Association of Building Engineers (ABE).  What you may not be aware of is that on 10 July 2013, the ABE’s petition to Her Majesty the Queen for a Royal Charter, was granted at a meeting of the Privy Council, attended by The Rt Hon Nick Clegg (Lord President), The Rt Hon Michael Gove, The Rt Hon Lord McNally and the Rt Hon George Osborne, recognising the 88-year history of the ABE and its contribution to Building Engineering in raising standards, sharing knowledge and developing professionals.

Taylor Tuxford Associates is therefore very pleased and proud to announce that as from 1^st January 2014 the Association of Building Engineers will henceforth be known as The Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE).  Moreover, as the CABE is now an Affiliate of the Engineering Council, Michelle and Rhys now additionally have the professional status of Chartered Building Engineers (CBuildE).

Royal Charter

 

Looking through the history of the Association, we should like to paraphrase a few relevant extracts from the December 2013 edition of the “Building Engineer” Journal:

 “...In the late 19^th and early 20^th Centuries it was rare for professionals operating in different spheres to meet and network in the modern sense; indeed, many working in the industry were fiercely defensive of their own profession and sought to establish themselves as the leaders in the industry. Against this background, the need for closer co-operation between architects and surveyors was increasingly recognised…as a result, the Incorporated Association of Architects and Surveyors (IAAS) was formed on 25 September 1925.

“…Although credited by many as the founder of the Association it was not until 1930 that Sir Edwin Lutyens, probably the best-known architect of the time, joined the IAAS.  The following year he became President, a post he held until 1938.

“…The role of members and their expertise and skills had begun to change by the 1970s and at the beginning of that decade the Association introduced an Engineering Surveyors section…by the beginning of the 1980s the balance of membership had shifted with over 70% specialising in Building Technology, a trend which continued over the following years and the change in expertise and practice, combined with a need for greater recognition outside of the UK led to the change of name in 1993 to “The Association of Building Engineers”

Rhys Taylor joined the former ABE as a Corporate Member in 2001 and was awarded “Fellow” Status on 17^th September 2004.  He was subsequently elected to the national ruling Council of the ABE in 2005 and elected as President of the ABE in May 2008, a role in which he was honoured to serve for one year.  Rhys is currently part-way through a one-year co-opted appointment onto the Board of Directors of the Association, having been invited to provide specific experience and input to the Board’s meetings.



Michelle Tuxford gained Corporate Membership of the ABE on 14^th February 2008 and has for the past four years served as an elected member of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Committee of the ABE.  Michelle has just completed her second year as the Y&H Regional Secretary and will continue in that role going forwards as the Regional Secretary for the CABE. 

As a Past President, Rhys was honoured to receive an invitation to attend the formal presentation of the Royal Charter and Seal to the Association by His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester.  The ceremony, which took place at Gray’s Inn, London on 6^th December, was opened by the CABE’s Patron Lord Lytton and President Stanley Barker-McGuire, who welcomed guests including Sir David Brewer, Lord Lieutenant of Greater London and Dr Peter Bonfield, Group Chief Executive of the Building Research Establishment (BRE).



CABE patron, Lord Lytton

The CABE’s Chief Executive Dr John Hooper said in his speech that “…Today, the granting of Charters is comparatively rare to years gone by and the Association had to meet stringent requirements, demonstrating its solid record of achievement, the calibre of its members and its role in educating building engineering professionals.

The reception was thoroughly enjoyable and Rhys had the opportunity to meet up with a number of old friends and colleagues from both within the Association and elsewhere, including Past Presidents Chris Dawson, Dave Phythian, Diane Marshall, Beryl Menzies, Steve Barker, Pat Reddin, Arwel Griffith, Ken Blount, David Smith, John Humphries and Michael Cassidy, amongst others.  He also had a long discussion with Malcolm Lelliott, President of the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors and somewhat shorter discussions with Graham Watts and Paul Everall OBE, Chief Executives respectively, of the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and Local Authority Building Control (LABC).

By far the most enjoyable bit for Rhys, however, was having the opportunity to meet all of the CABE HQ Staff (otherwise than in the HQ Office building).  It was a really good move on the part of the Management Team to allow them all the opportunity to go down to London and enjoy the experience.

Attentive audience

HRH The Duke of Gloucester

The Directors of Taylor Tuxford Associates are very proud of the company’s connections with the Chartered Association of Building Engineers and look forward to many more years working as members of the CABE in providing Chartered Building Engineer services to our Clients, both within the Yorkshire & Humber Region and beyond, in the fields of :-

Architectural Design

Structural Design

Structural Engineer’s Inspections / Reports

Party Wall Act matters

Boundary Disputes

Technical Expert Witness Services

More photographs taken on the day can be found on our facebook page by clicking on the following link: -

Taylor Tuxford on Facebook

The Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education 2013

I enjoyed a very pleasant evening recently at St James’ Palace, London (no less) where I was attending a Reception to announce the Prize-winners in the tenth round of the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education. 

Invitation card

These awards, presented biennially, recognise and celebrate outstanding innovative work within UK higher and further education institutions and its beneficial and practical effect.  They are the highest form of national recognition open to a UK academic or vocational institution.

The winning entries (of which there were twenty in total on this occasion) represent work by individual departments and research groups, major infrastructure and enterprise projects, vocational and technical training programmes and the application of cutting-edge research.

Entries undergo a rigorous process of independent external assessment.  This includes review by national and international experts and specialists covering the relevant disciplines, reference to government departments and UK devolved governments with a particular interest in the fields of work under consideration and, to professional and other bodies and sources. 

I was proud several years ago to be invited to be one of the members of the reviewing body – known as “Readers” – of which I understand there are about 350 or so in total and something of the order of half of us were present at the reception yesterday evening at the Palace.

The “Readers” are effectively the early-stage adjudicators/judges and are asked to study several different submissions, assess their merit and also to suggest any areas where further information in support of the submission might be requested.  The best submissions from these initial rounds then go forward for more rigorous assessment by the main judging panel.

This year, I “read” two submissions – one from a Northern Ireland College of Further Education which had promoted a scheme to encourage its students to become involved at a detailed level in construction schemes for local charities and public bodies and the second submission (talk about being off at a tangent) was for a University’s programme to assist the training and development of elite athletes in the run up to the London Olympics and beyond.  One of their star athletes involved in the programme was not other than double Olympic Champion, Mo Farah.  Unfortunately, neither of these submissions sufficiently impressed the later round judges sufficiently to win one of the Prizes.

Winning institutions in this round focused on applied research in a range of areas including amongst others:-

·         Multidisciplinary work on environmental, ecological and economic challenges: Cardiff University; Cornwall College; Newcastle University

·     Innovation in surgery training, human anatomy and forensic ID and ground-breaking applications in archaeology: The University of Edinburgh; University of Dundee; University of Leicester

·         Manufacturing techniques and processes and industrial design: Loughborough University; The University of Manchester; University of the Arts, London

I was fortunate to speak briefly with one of the winners from the University of Oxford, a neuro-physician, who had pioneered practical and cost-effective improvements in the prevention of Strokes, and also, with Peter Chenery, the Chief Executive of the Royal Anniversary Trust, which sponsors and promotes the Awards.

 

Prize winners

I also bumped into a couple of Past-Presidents from the Association of Building Engineers, Arwel Griffith and Diane Marshall (it was Diane who had the dubious honour of draping the ABE Presidential Chain of Office around my own neck in the House of Lords in May 2008).  I didn’t get the chance to speak for very long with Arwel, but had plenty of time to do so with Diane – who I haven’t seen for ages it seems – and shared a taxi back to Kings Cross after the Reception was finished.

As a footnote, Anne has been telling everyone that she was especially impressed when I was originally asked to be a “Reader” for a set of Awards primarily aimed at the “Education” sector…….apparently she believe that this constitutes some sort of official recognition that not only can I “read” but apparently therefore, I also must be “educated”!

Hmmmm…..talk about damning with faint praise!

Rhys Taylor