The Institute of Construction Management April 16th regional meeting

The next ICM regional meeting will be held on Tuesday April 16th at the St. Francis Social Club at the Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath with refreshment available from 6pm.

The topic for the meeting will be:

"Building Regulations Update"

The presentation provides an update on the changes to Part L, M, N, K, and P of the Building Regulations that come into effect in April 2013 as well as reviewing the recent history of the Building Regulations. Mark Hillier, of JM Partnership - Approved Inspectors, will also be discussing procedural changes to both the Local Authority and Approved Inspectors which affect the way they work.

There will also be an opportunity in the Open Forum to learn how the HSE Fees for Intervention [FFI] are impacting on the industry and how HSE Inspectors are looking beyond the Contractor when visiting construction sites and attempting to draw in clients, designers and CDM Coordinators into the process.

The meeting qualifies for CPD - CPD Certificates will be issued at the meeting to all those attending.

This is a free meeting but you do need to complete and return the Booking Form if you wish to attend.

Please feel free to bring along other colleagues from your own firm, clients or others that you feel would be interested in attending the meeting - please complete an additional form or let the ICM have their contact details prior to the meeting in order that they can provide them with confirmation of booking and prepare the CPD Certificates.

Eurocodes Plus launches

Eurocodes were first introduced to the UK in March 2010 and present a unified set of standards for the design of buildings and structures. By 2013, they will be a standard part of the Building Regulations.

With that in mind, civil and structural engineers need to know and understand what Eurocodes are available, something that is estimated to cost £16,000 per engineer to implement. In total there are 10 Eurocodes split into 58 parts adopted across all EU member states.

Things are about to get a lot easier and cheaper, though. The BSI has been developing Eurocodes Plus for the last 18 months, and the system has been on trial with 30 engineering companies to ensure it works (including Network Rail, the Highways Agency, Atkins, Arup and Mott MacDonald).

By opting to use Eurocodes Plus, engineers gain access to an online workflow tool that can find Eurocodes with the click of your mouse.It's also possible to share interpretations and provide practical advice next to specific clauses, tables, figures and equations makes it easier for engineers to understand and implement the codes.

Mike Low, Director of Standards at BSI, said:

“Eurocodes PLUS is the first product of its kind in the sector and will play an important role in helping companies implement the Eurocodes quickly and efficiently. The Eurocodes play an integral role in harmonizing construction standards across Europe. We believe this product will help make them more accessible while helping companies share knowledge, save money and remain competitive.”

You can find out more about Eurocodes Plus at the BSi website.