Publications directory

Citation

(2000), "Publications directory", Structural Survey, Vol. 18 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ss.2000.11018bae.001

Publications directory

Recent Health and Safety Executive publications include:

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  Guidance on safe manual handling in construction - over a third of all accidents reported to the HSE involve manual handling. The new guidance - Backs to the Future sets out the basic principles for dealing with manual handling risks and explains how every member of the construction team has a role to play in reducing these risks. There are 27 case studies of actual site solutions. To reinforce the message the first European Week for Safety and Health of this century is to take place in the UK in the week of 16-22 October 2000 to coincide with Back Care Week.

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  Guidance on the safe use of gas cylinders.

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  Updated guidance on avoiding danger from underground services when carrying out excavation and underground work.

All of the above are available from HSE Books. Tel: 01787 881165.

EN 924 Admixtures for Concrete Mortar and Grout

Part 2: Concrete Admixtures - Definitions and Requirements has been published and Parts 3, 4, 5 and 6 are currently being finalised. Once Part 6 is published (sometime this year) the new standard will replace BS 5075. The Cement Admixtures Association (Tel: 01564 776362) has produced a document outlining the new European Standards.

Flood estimation

Those surveyors practising in areas subject to occasional flooding will be interested in a new publication from the Natural Environment Research Council. The Flood Estimation Handbook contains techniques for estimating flood frequency and includes computer software and extensive data sets to help apply the procedures. The handbook is based on a five year MAFF funded research project. For more information see www.nwl.ac.uk/feh.

Average group element prices study

BCIS has published a study showing how the cost significance of elements varies depending on the type of building. For example, the cost of the superstructure of a factory building can represent 60 per cent of the total cost while it accounts for only 35 per cent of the cost of hospital buildings. The study covers over 100 building types in the following sectors: industrial, commercial, health, recreation, education and residential.

Surveys of tender prices

The latest quarterly BCIS Surveys of Tender Prices includes a study of functional unit prices for over 200 building types. This study reveals that the average cost of a new cinema is £304,000 per screen, a new squash court £57,200 per court and an opera house £5,100 per place (which is £600 more than a theatre costs).

BMI occupancy cost analyses

Two recent reports from Building Maintenance Information present the occupancy costs for health care buildings (based on an eight-year study of Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust) and for primary schools.