Autumn Seminar

IDE Autumn Seminar

The second of our seminars this year took place at 1, Great George Street, London the headquarters of the Institution of Civil Engineers.  As always the event proved to be very popular with a full house of a little over a hundred attendees.  The theme this year centred around waste and its legal implications although the mood was lightened by an interesting if somewhat different presentation from Jeremy Hunt, the head of Sellerfield Decommissioning Group, who took us on a fantastic trip around the stars, our galaxy and those close to us.  Jeremy's take on big bangs and recycling activities taking place in the heavens was certainly an innovative and unusual comparison to our own on site activities.

IDE Council Member Wayne Bagnall kicked off the proceedings a little after 10.00 with an informative presentation on asbestos with a particular emphasis on HSG264 the new Surveyors Guide which has replaced MDHS100.  Asbestos removal, handling and disposal continues to be an important subject  and with the increased pressure being applied by HSE to eradicate poor contractor practices we must ensure that we have a good grasp of the legislative and regulative processes.

Barry Love, a lawyer who specialises in Environmental Law took us through the legal definition of waste, siting case law and giving us some valuable insight into how we can manage our waste activities without falling foul of the numerous regulative protocols associated with this difficult subject.  Barry is just one of the experts that the IDE hope will continue to offer their undeniable expertise.  We also plan to broach this subject by looking at it from a slighlty different angle at the spring seminar in Leeds.

The NFDC Chief Executive, Howard Button, offered an insight into the site audit scheme as well as advising on the updates to the NFDC Guidance documents currently available and those in the process of being updated. 

Specialist contract law quantity surveyor Clive Marshall managed to bring down a sombre atmosphere with a presentation on the new NEC 3 Contract that had many in the audience gasping at some of the conditions and what they could mean for demolition contractors on some contracts.  We must be grateful to Clive and others in his position for taking the time to advise us on these matters.  Fore warned is fore armed as they say and with contracts like this around its just as well!! 

One of the joys of this seminar was a short film that was presented and ably explained by Bruce Atkinson, a long standing IDE member.  The film, which was made in the 1970's by Ogden Demolition, took us through a blow down project of three large blocks of flats in Birkenhead.  The film races through an often chaotic sequence of events, with intervals of relaxed health and safety procedures, by today's standards, culminating in a successful felling of the blocks after some hairy moments.  For those of us who were around at that time it was an insightful reminder of days gone by and how our industry has changed beyond recognition. 

All in all, it was a very good day and one that all I spoke to afterwards thoroughly enjoyed.  I would particulary like to thank our seminar director John Woodward for his part in making it a success and the national secretary Valerie Stroud for her sterling contribution.  I look forward to seeing you all at the AGM and annual luncheon in November.