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OF CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT UP 20 PER CENT Theft of construction and agricultural machinery has risen sharply, with thieves taking £43m worth of equipment last year, new figures show. Machinery and equipment theft rose by 20 per
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cent, according to the National Plant and Equipment Register’s 2006 Equipment Theft Report. It reports that excavators are often used to steal from cash machines or partially disable vans carrying money. There are fears that the 2012 London Olympics could spark more thefts. In 2005, reported tractor thefts rose by 70 per cent, quad bikes by 62 per cent, dumpers by 54 per cent, breakers by 42 per cent, rollers by 41 per cent and fork-lift trucks by 38 per cent. Trailer theft rose by 24 per cent. The most common items to be stolen were excavators, with 1,169 taken in 2005. Source: www.ter-europe.org
PARTIAL COLLAPSE OF HOTEL, 29TH APRIL, 2006 The roof of a £1.5m, three-star hotel caved in. There were serious concerns the Sackville Hotel in Hove could collapse entirely, throwing hundreds of tons of masonry and scaffolding onto the seafront. The roof of the hotel — which was undergoing a £5m facelift and was empty — collapsed at 8.30pm, taking out several of the floors beneath. The front of the upper floors then collapsed inward and the emergency services established at least one corner of the hotel was unstable. The 45-room hotel, built more than 100 years ago, has suffered from under-investment by more than a dozen owners in the past 15 years. Its new owners, Sackville Hotel Ltd, were ploughing millions into restoring it to its 1950s heyday in the hope it would regain five-star status. It was due to reopen in the spring of 2007. The hotel’s third floor was being converted into four residential units. A six-storey rear extension housing five residential units and a swimming pool complex was also being built. The Sackville was built in 1904 and, in its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, stars such as Douglas Fairbanks Junior, Margaret Rutherford and politician Manny Shinwell were regular guests. Source: The Argus newspaper
q PALGRAVE MACMILLAN LTD 1742 – 8262/06 $30.00
Journal of Building Appraisal
VOL.2 NO.2
PP 98–101
News stories
IN THE COURTS When a party decides not to rely on the evidence of an expert, is court permission needed to use a second? Will the first report need to be disclosed? This very question was considered by the Court of Appeal in Nicos Varnavas Hajigeorgiou v Vassos Michael Vasiliou (2005) EWCA Civ 236.
Details of the case In the case (concerning assessment of damages), the trial judge had given a direction at a case management conference granting both parties ‘permission, if so advised, to instruct one expert each in the specialism of restaurant valuation and profitability’. Mr Hajigeorgiou, in anticipation of such an order, had already identified a suitable expert. Following the making of the order, the expert was instructed to undertake an inspection and prepare a report on Mr Vasiliou’s restaurant premises. Mr Hajigeorgiou then decided that he did not wish to r
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