Opinion

Balfour Beatty BBGE HS2 Undergraduate Placement Student, and Net Zero Challenge Team Lead, Yutong (Abby) Li, discusses bringing together the brightest young minds to tackle arguably the biggest societal challenge we have ever faced – the climate change emergency. Ten of our young apprentices a

Sarah Peterson, director at Harley Haddow, discusses the potential repercussions of COP26 for the engineering and construction industry. As the dust settles on COP26 and the many pledges and announcements made, the impact on the engineering and construction industry is substantial.

Neil Bancroft, associate at HarrisonStevens, on why valuing natural assets can be a good way to protect and save them. Astley Ainslie Community Trust (AACT) will be going out to public consultation with its plans for this historic site in Edinburgh in the new year.

East Lothian Council leader Norman Hampshire outlines the local authority's reaction to the 4th draft National Planning Framework (NPF4). The draft NPF4 provides a spatial strategy and core planning policies to guide where development and infrastructure should go.

Bruce Kennedy details how BDP's design approach at Queen Street Station was informed by the building's Victorian history. We walk in the footsteps of our predecessors. Just as the inherited values of past generations shape our society, their aspirations are cast in stone in the built fabric of

Sandra Cassels, partner in the commercial litigation team at Morton Fraser, continues our four-part Construction Delay Series, which takes a closer look at legal issues surrounding construction delays. The contract should set out the particular factors which should be taken into account in cons

Anthony Zdanowicz, an associate at DM Hall in Ayr, considers the commercial property market in Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and Dumfries and Galloway. In the historic Scottish fiefdoms of Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway in which I operate, the commercial property environment is rich and di

Jimmy Black writes about the latest episode of the Scottish Housing News Podcast, with Link Group’s finance director Nick Pollard. I used to sit on the committee of a local authority pension fund, and I made unpopular suggestions. I’d say “Let’s stop investing in tobacco,&rdq

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) writes in our COP26SCN feature that its members are working to tackle climate change by using sustainable and highly energy efficient methods to build homes. A new survey pubished by SFHA has been published as COP26 turns its attention to the th

Following Balfour Beatty’s 2021 Employee Engagement Survey results, Paul Raby, human resources sirector, shares his thoughts on how, together, the company is building a better future.

Construction Scotland Innovation Centre innovation manager Sarah Buchanan writes in our COP26SCN feature that retrofit activity is going to ramp up significantly over the next 10-15 years as we head towards the government’s net-zero goals, with the affordable housing sector

Sandra Cassels, partner in the commercial litigation team at Morton Fraser, continues our four-part Construction Delay Series, which takes a closer look at legal issues surrounding construction delays. If your contract makes provision for an extension of time it should also set out the procedur

With government help, the construction industry can do a lot more to prevent tonnes of waste from going to landfill, argues Brewster Bros MD Scott Brewster. With COP26 into its second week, sustainability and net zero remain high on everyone’s agenda. However, long before the UN’s climat

SFHA chief executive Sally Thomas spoke at an official COP26 UN System Side Event yesterday to discuss how to decarbonise homes in an inclusive and affordable way. In her contribution to our #COP26SCN feature, she highlights how the housing sector is already working on this.

Scottish Construction Now's #COP26SCN showcase of the social housing sector's efforts to help tackle the climate crisis continues with Andy Moseley, senior policy officer at the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, who makes the case for utilising empty homes as a critical tool in terms of mi