Pro Installer May 2016 - Issue 38 | Page 11

11 PRO INSTALLER MAY 2016 PRO NEWS @proinstaller1 Sharper focus on building cost info The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) is teaming up with analysts Barbour ABI to bring the latest information on construction costs to the industry. Barbour ABI has been tasked to request project data on behalf of BCIS. The results will be used anonymously to feed into the BCIS online service and will feature in the ‘BCIS Benchmark Reports,’ which allow data suppliers to gain insight when comparing their project costs with similar schemes from the BCIS database. Adam Valentine, Group Content Director at Barbour ABI said: “As a business we have a longstanding history with the construction sector and are very well positioned to work with BCIS to further develop its insightful cost and pricing findings. We are looking forward to a long and prosperous relationship with BCIS, which in turn will have a significant effect in helping the sector forecast future project costs.” Marianne Chowdhury, Head of Data Collection at BCIS said: “We are looking forward to working with Barbour ABI on data collection to maintain the up-to-date, relevant and accurate building cost data available to BCIS subscribers.” DUBLIN LOCAL AUTHORITY MAKES PASSIVE HOUSE MANDATORY All new buildings in south-east Dublin must be built to the passive house standard or demonstrably equivalent levels - in a move that may lead to the construction of upwards of 20,000 passive houses by 2022. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has adopted its county development plan for 2016-2022, including a motion worded by Passive House Plus editor Jeff Colley that all new buildings must be built to the passive house standard or equivalent. The motion, sponsored by Fine Gael councillor Marie Baker, passed by a majority of 27-10, winning support from members of every political party, including nine out of eleven Fine Gael councillors, four out of seven Fianna Fáil councillors, all Green Party, Sinn Fein and People Before Profit councillors, and five out of six independents. Just one of the council’s seven Labour councillors voted for the policy, leaving Labour as the only party where a majority of councillors didn’t back the policy. The Passive House Association of Ireland commissioned a legal opinion from planning, European and competition law experts Philip Lee Solicitors, to address concerns raised by the Department of the Environment about the legal basis for the passive house policy. Source: www. passivehouseplus.co.uk Is your supplier letting you down ? 15% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER* £ ££ GET A PRICE COMPARISON TODAY pro installer half pg inner - conservatory.indd 1 Conservatory Roofs * Offer is only available to new customers and excludes glass units. Stickered prices include 15% new customer discount Tel: 01642 610799 Fax: 01642 615854 www.madefortrade.co 21/04/2016 14:05