|
Quantity Surveyors support own
professional organisation
During a recent poll on the Association
of SA Quantity Surveyors website 88% of all respondents indicated
that their interests would best be served by their own organisation.
Only 8% of the respondents thought that quantity surveyors should
join forces with either the engineering or architectural bodies.
"Although such a poll is not statistically significant, it
does indicate that quantity surveyors still prefer to be represented
by an organisation run by their peers," said Mr van den Heever,
the ASAQS webmaster.
(www.asaqs.co.za)
Continental
alliances are required in the construction industry
With the globalisation of the construction industry and the 'multinationalisation'
of large international contractors, the only way regional African
contractors can stand up to the loaded competition is for them to
develop alliances, either between themselves or with the large multinationals.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Constitutional
Hill will provide hope
CONSTRUCTION of the 12000m² Constitutional Court, which forms part
of the Constitutional Hill precinct, would begin in July, Johannesburg
Development Agency CEO Graeme Reid said yesterday. The development
of Constitutional Hill is one of the 10 projects in the provincial
government's R1,7bn Blue IQ programme. Blue IQ aims to create a
"smart province" through investing in tourism, technology, transport
and high value-added manufacturing in Gauteng. "Once completed,
it (Constitutional Hill) will be the cornerstone from which to realise
our aspiration of (becoming) an African world-class city," Reid
said at the handing over of the report on the Old Fort to the president
of the Constitutional Court, Arthur Chaskalson. The report, handed
over by the SA Heritage Resources Agency's CEO Pumla Madiba , was
commissioned for the purpose of developing a plan to conserve and
re-use Constitutional Hill, the site that contains the Old Fort
and other historic buildings in Braamfontein.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Makro
warehouse blaze damage is put at R200m
Massmart's share price unscathed by fire at insured building MASSMART
has estimated damage caused by Sunday's blaze at its Makro warehouse
in Woodmead, Johannesburg, at R200m. Johannesburg metropolitan police
department spokesman Wayne Minnaar said the cause of the blaze had
not yet been established, and police and forensic experts were still
investigating.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Glen
relaunches with new focus
THE revamped Glen shopping centre,
opened in 1998, has relaunched. The R350m, 45000m² centre in Oakdene,
south of the N12 motorway had to spend more than R13m in rewaterproofing
its elevated parking decks because of leaks.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Thebe
revives R150m project
JHI Real Estate subsidiary Thebe Housing Projects has taken over
the development of a residential area from the defunct Islamic Bank
on a prime piece of land in Ormonde, south of Johannesburg. The
R150m project was put on hold after the 1997 liquidation of its
initial owner, Islamic Bank. The project consists of 871 individual
freehold residential erven, as well as a number of large erven for
townhouse and cluster development. It intends to provide affordable,
rather than low-cost government-subsidised housing. House prices
range between R100000 and R200000. The group says this market has
been neglected in the past few years, as developers have concentrated
on the higher end of the market and on low-cost housing.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Sandton
unveils food court
SANDTON City is opening its R35m, 5500m² mapleand-steel-finished
food court tomorrow. The project, carried out by contractors Wilson
Bayly Holmes Ovcon, involved demolishing and rebuilding the former
John Orrs premises to house some 20 shops, eating areas and walkways.
All demolition was done between 1am and 8am to limit the noise disruption
to cinemas and other traders, says Godfrey Place of Liberty Properties,
which has handled the development with the Sandton Consortium.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Decline
angers revivalists
Is Johannesburg's CBD reviving or declining? The latest office vacancies
suggest a decline. But advocates of revival insist there is something
wrong with the SA Property Owners' Association (Sapoa)'s latest
quarterly survey, which shows nearly a quarter of available space
is empty. The December survey trumpeted a rise in occupancy of A-grade
(modern, high-quality) offices to more than 80% for the first time
in years. But the March survey shows A-grade occupancy declining
to 76,4% - an emptying of 50 000 m², equivalent to half of Sandton
City, in just three months. "It's not possible," says Central Johannesburg
Partnership executive director Neil Fraser. "I know of at least
six buildings that new tenants have moved into. The statistics do
not tie up with the dynamics here." Property consultant Erwin Rode,
who has used Sapoa research for years, says: "I'm not sure that
I can trust the Sapoa figures any more."
(©www.fm.co.za)
Foreign
firms help to lift rental market
RENT your upmarket home in a secure prime residential complex or
suburb in northern Johannesburg to a foreign corporate body and
chances are the rental will cover the bond and the cost of housing
your family in rented accommodation elsewhere during the
lease period. "That's the extent to which foreign corporate bodies
seeking accommodation for middle and senior management on short-
and mediumterm assignment to SA have driven up rentals at the top
end of the residential market," says Ronald Ennik, MD of the Gauteng
operations of Pam Golding Properties.
(©www.bday.co.za)
A
bright spot in a dull marketplace
DESPITE the tough times being experienced by the property market,
the region north of Durban is becoming one of SA's leading property
investment areas. The force behind this is leading private-land
developer Moreland, the property division of London
and Johannesburg-listed Tongaat-Hulett group. Since its inception
in 1992, the company has developed Zimbali Coastal Resort, Mount
Edgecombe Country Club Estates, Umhlanga Ridge, La Lucia Ridge,
La Lucia Ridge Office Estate, Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre and
the Empangeni Old Mill Industrial Estate.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Moz
plans $320m rail rehab
Mozambique is planning to carry out a $320-million project to rehabilitate
the Sena rail line which links land-locked Malawi to the Mozambique
port of Beira.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Creating
a bridge link between divided city
AN agreement to develop the Effingham-Avoca area northwest of Durban
was integral to the arrangement for the metropolitan council and
Moreland, Tongaat-Hulett's property arm to develop the Point Waterfront.
Tongaat-Hulett owns substantial tracts of
land in this precinct and has long been under pressure to find ways
of unlocking its economic potential. A hindrance to any development
was the absence of arterial roads and an interchange on the N2 to
facilitate increased traffic flows.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Richway
fails to raise cash to acquire shopping centre
DOUBTS over the prospects of Cape Town shopping centre Canal Walk
have prevented Richway Retail Properties from raising R200m in cash
required to acquire 58% of Century City Centre, the owner of Canal
Walk. The sale deal collapsed because Richway could not honour its
cash component as agreed with sellers Monex and BoE. Richway had
hoped to raise the cash from institutional investors who proved
unwilling to expose themselves to this deal by not subscribing sufficiently.
Richway CEO Peter Blanckenberg said the group used institutional
investors as a condition for the deal and would not go on with it
without their support. He said Richway was not prepared to go the
gearing route as this would have driven the group's gearing way
above acceptable levels.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Weathering
the interest-rate cycle
TONGAAT-HULETT has identified Moreland as a core business, in recognition
of the vast land holdings under its control. Moreland ended 1992
with turnover touching R14m, rising to R22m, R45m and R76m. By 1996,
the zone north of Durban was gaining stature as a property investment
area, as a growing number of Moreland-initiated residential, industrial
and office-park estates came to the market. Sales in the years to
March 1996, 1997 and 1998 were R137m, R177m and R191m respectively,
and the company seemed set to rival the rest of SA for property
development and the establishment of new business zones.
(©www.bday.co.za)
|
| On
the side... |
Black
civils firm beats expectations
When Sefako Molekwa and Precious Mali started their own consulting
civil engineering business five years ago, they never dreamed
that their company would have moved from its small beginnings
in a borrowed office to one of the larger black economic empowerment
firms in the industry.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za) |
|
Counting
the costs of green-friendly mines
THE environmental restrictions on building a new mine in North
America are crippling, say many mining companies. Yet a corollary
of this view is that North America is setting the standards
towards which the rest of the world is gradually moving. Environmental
groups complain that some global mining companies take advantage
of the laxer norms in many developing countries to act overseas
as they would not at home. The pressure is thus on the mining
companies to observe higher standards in those countries.
(©www.bday.co.za)
|
Survey
raises alarm on school buildings
CAPE TOWN School buildings, among them some that were in good
or excellent condition only a few years ago, are disintegrating
rapidly, costing the state R155m a year.
(©www.bday.co.za) |
Aluminium
smelter study in third quarter
The results of the feasibility study into the proposed expansion
of Billiton subsidiary Hillside Aluminium's smelter, in Richards
Bay, Kwazulu-Natal, are expected during the third quarter of
this year.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za) |
Protea
to invest R80m in Nigerian partnership
LAGOS SA hotel group Protea is entering a partnership with a
Nigeria's Odua Investment Group to develop that country's hotel
and tourism industry. "Odua is looking towards the possibility
of having a joint viable investment in hotels and tourism development
with Protea hotels," said Odua chairman Remi Omotosho. His group
is one of the three largest in southwest Nigeria. Omotosho said
the partnership arose from the need to develop the industry.
Protea would rehabilitate old hotels in the country to meet
international standards, and also build new hotels.
(©www.bday.co.za) |
Consortium
to build R270m airport
The Primkop Airport Management company - developer of a R270-million
airport near the Kruger National Park, in Mpumalanga, and 22
km north-east of Nelspruit - has appointed a consortium to build
the new airport, and construction will begin this month.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za) |
Sappi
expansion
SAPPI, the locally listed global paper conglomerate, announced
yesterday that it had launched a feasibility study into a $30m
expansion of a chemicals plant at Umkomaas in Kwazulu-Natal.
(©www.bday.co.za) |
Deal
in place for Point project
THE Durban metropolitan council and Moreland have concluded
a public-private partnership for the Durban Point waterfront
project.It is expected to fast-track the commercial development
of the Point waterfront precinct and unblock years of frustrating
delays in the development. There has never been any doubt that
the waterfront area, situated near the entrance to the harbour,
holds enormous potential for tourism and commerce. The problems
have come in translating those dreams into reality.
(©www.bday.co.za) |
Umhlanga
sales ride the back of developments
Homes in Umhlanga and its surrounds are hot property as the
giant Gateway Shoppertainment World complex nears completion.
While Umhlanga has always enjoyed a strong residential market,
agents say the new centre along with other major developments
in the area, have undoubtedly boosted sales activity. Old Mutual's
R1,4-billion centre, off Umhlanga Rocks Drive, is scheduled
to open on September 29 this year and will include more than
300 shops, making it the biggest single-phase shopping complex
in South Africa.
(©www.iol.co.za) |
TOURISM
NUMBERS AREN'T ALL BAD
There's been a worrying drop in numbers of foreign tourists
to SA, but air arrivals from elsewhere in Africa are encouraging.
(©www.fm.co.za) |
Nedcor
under attack for executive incentive plan
Nedcor finds itself under fierce verbal fire over its investment
incentive scheme or, more accurately, its "additional incentive
scheme for certain executives". The criticism ricochets around
the head of Nedcor chairman Chris Liebenberg after the decision
not to disclose the remuneration packages of directors until
the company is compelled to do so by JSE listing requirements.
(©www.fm..co.za) |
Reconstruction
and development - Small-business promoter now servicing 80 firms
That the Small Business Project's representation of businesses
to its private sector initiative has increased more than ten-fold
over the last five years attests to the fact that the concept
of corporate citizenship is catching on.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za) |
Chinese
to develop SA plants for $140m
EQUATOR Mining Acquisition, a new SA mining consortium, has
signed two investment agreements worth $140m with a Chinese
building corporation. The two agreements entail the China Building
Material Industrial Co-operation for Foreign Econo-technical
Corporation setting up a marble manufacturing plant in the Northern
Province for $80m and a cement manufacturing plant beside it
for $60m. The development is expected to be at the existing
Suez Marble mining operation just north of Pietersburg.
(©www.bday.co.za) |
Ugandan
roads upgrade project . . .
Tenders for an 18-month road maintenance and upgrade project
set in central Uganda will be called shortly.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za) |
.
. . and road fast-track threat in Zambia
Limited engineering capacity and ability in Zambia threaten
to thwart the country's plans to fast-track the second phase
of the World Bank- funded billion-dollar road sector investment
programme..
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za) |
|
|
Good
sales in Gauteng boost Golding's turnover
PAM Golding Properties has reported sales up 26,6% for the year
ended February 2001, spurred by a strong performance in Gauteng,
where its turnover soared nearly 40% year on year.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Nu-Way
moves to next phase of Klipfontein project
RECENTLY privatised affordable housing developer Nu-Way expects
the first phase of its R70m Klipfontein View project in Gauteng
to be sold out by August. Technical and new business manager Jordan
Mann says the next two phases, with 1115 stands on 55ha, have been
approved. Nu-Way has also started building the first 1000 of a planned
5360 affordable housing units at Olivenhoutbosch in Centurion, is
developing more than 300 residential stands and a 3500m² shopping
centre at Langa in Western Cape, and is involved in projects at
Coega in Eastern Cape, Khayelitsha in Western Cape, Kanana and Khuma
in North West, Ebony Park in Midrand, and Klipfontein View in Modderfontein.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Bill
tabled to amend law on pension funds
Changes make it easier to get housing loans and give banks greater
security CAPE TOWN Retirement fund members' ability to leverage
their pension fund benefits for housing purposes is to be strengthened
by the proposed amendments to the Pensions Funds Amendment
Bill tabled in Parliament yesterday. The bill provides greater security
to banks, extends the concept of ownership and lifts the restrictions
on the type of housing that qualifies for a loan to cover all homes
from shacks to brick houses. Yet it also protects a portion of the
members' ultimate retirement benefit by stipulating that the loan
may not exceed one third of the total value of the members' benefit
at retirement.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Substantial
rise in sales of residential and resort properties
IN the past year Moreland has experienced a turnaround in its residential
property portfolio, with a mid-year marketing initiative resulting
in most of the serviced stock in The Gardens At La Lucia Ridge,
Somerset Park and Broadlands At Mount Edgecombe being sold. As a
result, the company is proceeding with further phases, particularly
developments in the middle-income to upper-income range.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Taking
time to think - considering options
People who are interested in buying a home but would like some time
to consider their position could, instead of relying on the cooling
off clause in a sale agreement, ask the seller to give them an option.
The cooling off clause currently applies only to homes costing less
than R250 000 and gives buyers five days to cancel a sale.
(©www.iol.co.za)
|
| Special reports |
Lessons
of the Pyramid and the Dandelion in Construction:
In 1982, the business world followed Tom Peters and Bob Waterman
in search of excellence. Was it ever found?
(©www.constructech.com) |
|
and
|
Benefits
of Online Procurement
Early E-Commerce Adopters Offer Valuable Insights
Construction is one of the world’s most fragmented industries
and involves the exchange of myriad specialized products and
services. Buyers and sellers typically exchange faxes, compare
data printouts from legacy software systems, and negotiate
over the phone.
(©www.constructech.com) |
Now
you can manage your unit trusts online, realtime!
|
Rates
Offered
|
|
|
MIN
|
AVE
|
| Floating rate |
12.70%
|
13.54%
|
| Fixed rate |
13.70%
|
14.58%
|
| Prime rate |
14.50%
|
FROM 2001-04-24 TO
2001-05-12
These are the average interest rates offered by the Bidding Banks.
Average fixed rates are higher than average variable rates, as
banks absorb the risk of interest rate movements on behalf of
the client.
(©www.bondnet.co.za)
Application
for a bond from bidding banks through BondNet
|
|
"Analyzing
Fire Risks Building by Building"
Performance-based fire protection lets architects focus on a building's
design objectives, instead of searching for ways to meet generic
code provisions.
(©www.archrecord.com)
Get
10% discount on essential software now
We have negotiated a special deal on software that will ease your
task in handling the new JBCC, assist you in preparing feasibilty
scenarios in a fraction of the time and get your fee accounts out
in a flash. Just click on the link above to make use of this offer
today!
Labour
rates around the world
What do bricklayers earn in Australia and the USA?
How do our labour rates compare?
(©www.icoste.org)
Are
You Prepared for Mediation?
(ICEC 2000 Runnerup - Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
The purpose of this paper is to discuss mediation as an Alternative
Dispute Resolution (ADR) process. The paper identifies why we ought
to study the mediation process and discusses some of the good and
the bad points concerning the use of mediation as a form of dispute
resolution. Finally, the paper offers a number of suggestions concerning
how to prepare for and win at a mediation session.
(©www.icoste.org)
New members to the CUG
We wish to welcome the following new members to the CUG:
Ahmed Seedat
Hareesh Patel
Michael Georgala
Please note
that your registration to the CUG will remain in force as long as
you remain a member of ASAQS and there is no need to register every
year. If you have not received an e-mail confirming your registration
contact ASAQS.
|
| Did you hear? |
| Truro, a town in southwest England, has commissioned
braille publicity posters to promote equal treatment for the
blind. The posters are on display at the town's leisure centre.
But no-one can read them: the sighted because the posters are
in braille, and the blind because they are protected behind
glass covers. |
| Want to pack in the job? You're not the only
one. Market research in Britain shows nearly 50% of that nation's
16-24-year-olds are already looking forward to retirement. |
| South Africans can't wait even that long to
retire. According to a report in The Citizen, Johannesburg is
offering free flu immunisation "to all pensioners and children
under the age of six". |
| Organisers of Indaba 2001, the recent SA tourism
conference in Durban, chose an appealing picture of a rhinoceros
and her calf to illustrate the brochure cover. It would have
been even more appealing if the animals could be found here.
Despite the distinctive pleated folds of armoured skin, it seems
no-one noticed the featured animals were Indian, not African. |
| The chairman of Bird Life SA's Wesvaal branch,
in Potchefstroom, is Mr Starling. |
| A New Zealand farmer has been banned from his
local drive-in cinema - for watching movies from the back of
his donkey. Geoff Roder, a 35-year-old bachelor, says he doesn't
have a car and the donkey is his means of transport. He is suing
the drive-in to be allowed back in. |
Now
read the rest of Did you Hear? in the Financial Mail
| Did you see? |
|
|
| Washington, D.C. - NAHB 4 story construction
project refreshes every 5 seconds with different view every
minute |
|
