Building Briefs – October 11th

Forster quality management system hits the mark

Brechin based Forster Group’s quality management system (QMS) was recently certified by Ocean Certification as being compliant with the International Standard EN ISO 9001:2015.

The roofing and solar installation business, who cover one in five of Scotland’s new homes, passed the assessment with zero non-conformities.

The Ocean Certification assessor, David Robinson, was extremely complimentary and highlighted areas of best practice in his assessment report.

“The company demonstrated a strong commitment, led from the top, to continual improvement of the management system, the business and the measures it uses to evaluate performance. This is to be commended,” said David.

Burns Construction to begin Aberdeen aquarium refurb

Burns Construction (Aberdeen) is to begin a £750,000 aquarium refurbishment project in the city.

Work at Pets’ Corner in Hazelhead Partk will get underway on Monday, 17 October.

The project will include developing a new larger area for fish and reptiles, a new education room, replacing the roof over both parts of the buildings, internal alterations and refurbishment, new external access ramp and paths, and an upgrade to the staff facilities.

The first phase of the project, the new aquarium and reptile section, will be open to the public in late spring and the second phase, the education centre, will open several weeks afterwards.

Developer plans up to 200 new homes in Fife village

Persimmon Homes is in talks over a potential project to deliver up to 200 new houses in Wormit.

The firm is in discussions with Fife Council over the proposed development on the southern edge of the village.

Iain Innes, managing director for Persimmon Homes North Scotland, told the Evening Telegraph: “We are at a pre-application stage for our new proposed development in Wormit, which has been allocated as a housing site by Fife Council. The site will contain a range of homes to suit all families and there will also be a substantial affordable housing provision.

“Residents’ views are important to us and they will be considered fully prior to the application submission, which will be finalised in the near future.”

Guardbridge biomass plant shortlisted for major award

The University of St Andrews and partners Vital Energi have been shortlisted as a finalist for the prestigious Scottish Green Awards 2016 for the biomass energy centre at Guardbridge.

The £25 million energy centre on the east side of the former paper mill site at Guardbridge will produce hot water from a biomass boiler using clean, natural fuels which will be pumped four miles to St Andrews where it will heat university buildings.

The Green Energy Awards 2016 have attracted more than 130 nominations. The Guardbridge energy centre is shortlisted in the sustainable development award category.

Work on Perth council office refurb project complete

A major council office refurbishment programme has been completed in Perth allowing staff and local authority services to move back into the offices at 2 High Street.

The works were carried out as part of the Perth Office Programme, which aims to reduce the number of city centre offices occupied by Perth and Kinross Council, saving money on leases and energy costs and allowing customers to access services more easily.

Features include a new public reception area, new offices, and improvements to the streetscape at pavement level.

GMB has called for ‘massive’ housebuilding programme

The GMB has called for a “massive” housebuilding programme to get underway “without delay” after a report by the union found that workers on average earnings in Scotland are priced out of the housing market in 21 out of 32 local authority areas.

Published yesterday, the report shows current average house prices in the country are between 3.7 and 7.6 times average earnings.

According to the report, the average house price in July 2016 in Scotland as a whole was £143,711 which is 5.2 times the average full time earnings of £27,732. House prices are rising at a much faster pace than earnings with the house price to earnings ratio now 7.8 on average across the UK. Average house prices in Scotland increased by 3.4 per cent in the year to July 2016.

The situation is most extreme in Edinburgh where average house prices are 7.6 times average earnings, 7x in East Lothian, 6.7x in Stirling, 6.6x in Perth and Kinross and 6.5x in Aberdeenshire.

A ratio of 4.5 times a borrower’s income is regarded as the maximum that banks and building societies will lend.

Set out in the table below are house price data and average earnings for all authorities in Scotland ranked by areas with the highest ratio.

Halbeath plan given public airing ahead of formal application

Taylor Wimpey East Scotland has completed the first of two public exhibitions of its plans for the proposed development to the land north of Halbeath.

The first pre-application exhibition was designed to encourage members of the public to share their views and give feedback before the company prepares to make an application for planning permission in principle to Fife Council later this year.

The event, which took place at Carnegie Conference Centre, was well attended with more than 75 people taking the opportunity to go along to share their views.

The company is hoping to deliver around 1,400 homes and say the proposed plans will be crucial to support the delivery of the onward extension of the northern link road, and make provision for a primary school, retail, and community facilities.

Edinburgh community solar panel project complete

A community solar panel installation project has been completed in Edinburgh.

A number of energy-saving panels have been placed on 24 buildings, including schools, community and leisure centres, in partnership with the Edinburgh Community Solar Co-operative (ECSC), supported by Energy4All.

The renewable scheme is estimated to supply one million units of zero-carbon energy a year and contribute towards the council’s target to reduce emissions by 42 per cent by 2020. Any surplus energy will be sold to the National Grid and profits made by the project will be reinvested locally through a newly-created Community Benefit Fund.

In addition, the initiative is believed to be the largest community-owned urban renewable project in the UK and has been nominated for the Best Community Project Award at the Scottish Green Energy Awards.