Introduction to IPMS

Site Waste Management Plan Update Jan 14

Webinar update review of what contractors are doing with Site Waste Management Plans after the repeal of the related legislation in 2013.

#Environmental & #Waste Management Explained- Half Day course in Burnley- Fri 26th October

QHS Solutions Ltd are hosting a half day Environmental & Waste Management Explained course in Burnley on Friday 26th October.

 

Delivered by Chartered Environmental Surveyor and Chartered Environmentalist David Inman, of Blackburn based environmental consultants DIEM Ltd, this course will give sensible and practical expert advice on reducing environmental and waste management risks and potential costs, plus demystify some common environmental challenges that businesses face today.

 

For more details and to book please contact Alison at QHS Solutions on:

01282 839103

Email, info@qhs-solutions.com

 

Quantity surveyors – construction’s future sustainability stars

The RICS APC (Assessment of Professional Competency) pathway guide for Quantity Surveying describes the discipline as:

 

Quantity surveyors are the cost managers of construction. They are initially involved with the capital expenditure phase of a building or facility, which is the feasibility, design and construction phases, but they can also be involved with the extension, refurbishment, maintenance and demolition of a facility.

 

They must understand all aspects of construction over the whole life of a building or facility. They must have the ability to manage cost effectively, equating quality and value with individual client needs.

 

 

Looking at the term "cost", QSs hold the key not just to costing financially, but in terms of waste quantities and diverting this from landfill plus more critical, carbon accounting right through projects from design and construction to long term maintenance and eventual disposal.  The information QSs hold is invaluable for analysing material, including waste, quantities and carbon.

 

From a Chartered Environmental Surveyor who interprets and manages carbon, waste and materials data for environmental and sustainability reporting, my advice to trainee QSs is embrace the wider sustainability applications which you skills can unlock and you’ll be the stars of the future.

SWMP - not dead yet

The word on the street is that Site Waste Management Plans (SWMP), which are statutory waste management plans for construction projects in England, however they are still with us.

I'm not going into details of SWMP and details can be found at

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/netregs/businesses/construction/62359.aspx

but I'm undecided whether they should end.

On the side who wants rid of SWMPs, their diabolically poor implementation by the previous government, meant that they were a good idea badly implemented. They now have seemed to vary in quality and accuracy across projects which is a shame as they are useful, but they have lost their way and maybe it's time for a new start.

When they were brought out, I attended many (state funded) training sessions which were very poor in quality. Also, they were attended by environmental professionals in the main not estimators, quantity surveyors, designers, project managers and the like. People who cost, agree and drive projects from their conception.

SWMP if done right, ie start at the design phase, have been proven to save projects money, but their mandatory nature can make them a formality instead a chance to save money and identify waste minimisation opportunities starting at design.

They are not dead yet, so why not rethink their potential.