A new
directive about asbestos has grouped the benign white asbestos in with the
deadly brown and blue asbestos. White asbestos is not even the same chemical
product. It is used widely as a reinforcement in cement building products such
as roofing panels. The cost of compliance with the new regulations is estimated
to be £5.1bn. (Sunday Telegraph 19/5/02)
New data shows that every monthly session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg costs a million euro more than if it was held in Brussels, reports the European Voice. The five day meetings of the European Parliament in Strasbourg in France last year cost 3,9 mln euro, in contrast to the 2,9 mln euro taxpayers would have had to pay if members were to remain in the Brussels. The figures were disclosed by Secretary-General Julian Priestley in a document sent to members of the budget control committee this week. The European Parliament is bound by a protocol in the EU treaties to meet 12 times per year in Strasbourg, which can only be changed if the Treties are changed. As is the case with all changes in EU treaties, this can only happen with the acceptance of all EU member states, including France. (Euobserver.com 25/2/02)
The EU's former headquarters in Brussels was closed eight years ago because asbestos was found. The cost of refurbishment has risen to £690m, seven times the original estimate. . (Sunday Telegraph 12/8/01)
THE European Commission has told the Government that it will seek to overturn planning permission given for a 20-screen cinema complex at Crystal Palace Park in south London. The commission has said that the development, opposed by residents, has not been given an environmental impact assessment of the kind required by a European Union directive. (Daily Telegraph 9/11/00)
Border Oak Ltd is a very successful Herefordshire builder and exporter of traditional oak timber framed buildings. While meeting the completion deadline for a house in Germany the British staff decided to work overtime on a Saturday. The German police came to the site and threatened to arrest them for working on a weekend. (Border Oak report 15/12/98)
A leak from the EC suggests that a forthcoming white paper could seriously undermine brownfield development, possibly for good. It proposes a moratorium on site decontamination works paid through the public purse, adhering instead to the principle of the polluter pays. UK landowners could find themselves wholly liable for contamination under such as scheme, since much of historic land contamination in the UK was caused by former nationalised utilities. Not content with changing the rules the Commission also wants a higher level of clean up, creating even higher decontamination costs for those found liable. The level of decontamination will have to accord with the highest standards regardless of use. (Property Week 11/9/98)
The European Parliament occupied the Leopold building in Brussels in February 1998. This was Europe’s biggest office building and cost £727m. Soon after signing for the building M Thierry Jean-Peirre MEP, ex-judge, filed a case alleging rampant corruption, fraud and insider dealing on a scale as dazzling as the building itself. An anonymous German MEP said "We have to be very careful because we’re dealing with enormously powerful people". The project was a huge gamble; a speculative development based on information that the Parliament wanted to transfer from Strasbourg to Brussels. First it required an exemption to build Europe’s biggest office building in a zone where office building was prohibited. A contract was signed with Parliament to rent the building with an option to buy. The contract guaranteed a 9.4% profit margin, double the going rate. There was no public tender. Parliament had no right to suspend payment in case of delay. The draft financial agreement was submitted to Parliament one day before signing it. As a result the complex has cost twice as much per square metre than the Council of Minister’s building, Justus Lipsius, nearby. The latter was put out to tender. The small print obliged Parliament to buy the building in 1998. So far only small fry, the Parliament’s principle architect and a former Brussels mayor, have been arrested. Parliament is refusing to become a party to the lawsuit by standing on its diplomatic immunity. (European 29/6/98)
Builders of traditional timber framed houses will have to cover up the exposed oak beams (Hereford Times 7/10/93)
Eurocode 8 proposes that all new structures larger than a house must be made earthquake resistant. Although relevant to Greece and Italy it will be imposed everywhere in the name of harmonisation (S Telegraph 26/3/95).
Persons having a house or any other structure built can be sued for damages if there is an accident to the builder's staff, i.e. the client is responsible for site safety and will have to appoint a planning supervisor for site safety. (FT 20/10/92). This law applies to any building project except with less than five employees and less than 30 days duration is involved (FT 11/1/95).