News

The LABC Central Building Excellence Awards took place on Friday 25 May 2018 in the Hilton DoubleTree in the home of the MK Dons, Milton Keynes. 

With over 300 attendees from the world of construction and building control it was the region's biggest ever, and was hosted by LABC's Managing Director, Phil Hammond.

LABC hosted this year's London Building Excellence Awards in the beautiful surroundings of the Guildhall in the City of London on Friday, 11 May 2018.

There were more than 450 guests including representatives from the 15 winning and six highly commended projects, all entertained during a 20-minute set by comedian Nick Page. LABC's own Managing Director Phil Hammond was host for the evening. 

Two more local authority building control teams have passed external audits as part of LABC’s ISO-backed quality management system.

Leeds and Harlow building control were independently assessed by Alcumus ISOQAR and both teams passed with flying colours. LABC’s quality management system is about providing a consistent approach on managing competency, performance and resources, backed by a third party audit.

The 2018 LABC Building Excellence Awards train moved on to the Lancashire County Cricket Club (otherwise known as Emirates Old Trafford) in Manchester for the North West Region awards night on Friday 27 April 2018.

Acoustics can be a real nuisance on a conversion project where there is a material change of use (MCOU). Being unsure of differences between material properties could lead to pitfalls; for example, knowing which plasterboard product has the required mass of 10kg/m² as opposed to a 8kg/m² board.

British Woodworking Federation (BWF) Chief Executive Iain McIlwee has commented on the news that fire doors in Grenfell Tower did not meet test standards: “It is concerning to hear about the door at Grenfell, but sadly it is not a surprise.

Employees from 12 England and Wales local authority building control regions were given LABC Superstar awards on the 12 March, at a Gala Dinner in Leicester.

★★★Nominate your 2019 Superstar★★★

The judges this year were Chris Griffith-Jones, LABC President, Dave Sharp, Vice-President, and Anthony Oloyede LABC Junior Vice President.

Housing Secretary Sajid Javid has confirmed government backing to create a new generation of townhouses in cities like London and Manchester to ease pressure on valuable open spaces and help growing families.

Under the proposed changes it will be easier to build upwards on existing blocks of flats and houses as well as shops and offices. For example, an additional two levels could be added to a property – provided it was in keeping with the roofline of other buildings in the area.

This conference is now past - find out what's coming up!

Back due to popular demand. The LABC Controlling the Spread of Fire in High Risk Buildings conference is coming to Manchester on 22 March 2018.

A lot of discussions over the past nine months have focussed solely on the "18 metre rule". But many smaller buildings are also high risk when it comes to fire safety.

The UK economy is missing out on £10 billion each year because home owners are so fearful of hiring a cowboy builder, they simply don’t commission building work, according to new research by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Key results from the FMB’s research into consumer confidence in the UK’s builders include: