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I have often been asked, “so what do you do?”. This has been a tricky question to answer due to the diverse scope of services that we offer. Whilst it remains a Building Surveyors bread and butter to diagnose defects and identify potential problems, project work has driven the need to bridge a gap. Very simply, an Architect’s expertise is to design, a Quantity Surveyor controls cost, a Clerk of Works reports on quality and a Project Manager will make sure the team is cohesive. So, where does the Building

The enjoyment of flat roof areas as a roof terrace by flat owners can be a thorny issue. Where a flat is built by a reputable builder with the benefit of a roof terrace you would usually expect to see that all necessary statutory consents were obtained before the flat was sold off on a long lease and that the lease grants the flat owner the entitlement to use it. In this case there should be no problem leaving aside the risk that the builder may erect other blocks in the vicinity that then affect the enjo

Employees at FirstPort have voted overwhelmingly to make Centrepoint the company’s official charity partner for 2019. FirstPort has committed to matching every donation it receives for Centrepoint, pound for pound to make a real difference to the 10,000 young people across the country the charity supports every year. “We are delighted to be partnering with Centrepoint – the charity giving homeless young people a chance to turn their lives around, build firm foundations and prepare for a future where they

Current guidelines offered by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) suggest a  typical operating life of around 20 years for an electric traction lift and 15 years for a hydraulic lift. While these are only guidelines, many lifts remain in service long after their expected lifespan. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that many people do not even consider the future of the lift within their building until it starts to become unreliable. Unfortunately on many occasions, by the

The team at NOTB offer their deepest condolences to Anna Bailey and her family on the sad loss of her beloved brother; a statement from ALEP was released;   It is with great sadness that we announce the death of ALEP co-founder and Director, Alex Greenslade. Alex, 51, who founded the professional membership association with his sister, Anna Bailey, died suddenly at home on 12 December. Alex had worked with leaseholders since 1998 and was also co-founder and Chairman of the Leasehold Group of companies

The Law Commission has today published its eagerly awaited Consultation Paper on commonhold reform. Titled ‘Reinvigorating commonhold: the alternative to leasehold ownership’ the consultation is now open until 10th March 2019.  The government’s recent consultation 'Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market' raised many questions concerning the future of leasehold as a form of residential land tenure in the 21st Century. It also indicated that Commonhold should be reviewed as an alternative to t

AskPorter has announced an investment from the Google Assistant Investments Program for the AI driven property management platform. At its heart sits ‘Porter,’ a digital artificial intelligence assistant for agents, property managers, and landlords that eliminates mundane tasks & delivers fast, efficient customer service. From one single platform, property & facilities managers, and landlords, can automate their workflows with AskPorter which over time learns and improves how they work in a completely cus

Brethertons are excited to welcome Enrique Green, Foreign Qualified Argentinian Lawyer (Abogado), to its Company Commercial team.   Enrique’s specialist experience extends to work in Entertainment, IP and Corporate Law as well as wide experience in in-house legal advice at multinational companies and all legal aspects of corporate business activities.   Having moved to England in 2014, Enrique has worked as in-house Counsel and as a contracts advisor for companies including Anglo American PLC and Rolls-Ro

More than a thousands front doors in a London borough designed to protect residents from fire could be faulty after failing safety tests.   Hackney Council commissioned fire resistance testing on its door stock back in April, similar to the testing which revealed that Grenfell Tower’s doors failed under test conditions after just 15 minutes.   The so-called FD30S door is meant to keep smoke and flames at bay for at least 30 minutes. After the tests, the council has revealed that 16,000 doors are to be rep

Savvy landlords are turning to social media to screen tenants before letting them rent their property.   New data from Foundation Home Loans has found that sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram could reveal valuable insight into how people would be as tenants.   The research said that it is the first port of call for an estimated 11% of landlords.   Depending on the accounts available, information that could be gathered from social media could include everything from job and career histo

MRI Software (“MRI”), a global leader in real estate software solutions, announces the acquisition of Thesaurus Technology, the UK-based provider of cloud-based, self-service software for residential sales and lettings agents. The acquisition, revealed today at MRI’s International Users Conference in London, enhances the company’s technology choices for residential property agents, developers, owners and investors in the UK, from smaller-scale systems for local businesses up to fully-tailored, enterprise-

Aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding – which covered Grenfell – is just one of many high-risk concerns that residents, freeholders and managing agents should be aware of. But the narrow focus on this type of cladding has distracted the size of the issue. As consultants specialising in the area of façade combustibility, the industry often finds a lack of information available to help people understand their buildings’ external fire risk or its compliance with legislation. How do I know if my façade