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Inside Beale & Co

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Name: Sheena Sood
Job title: Senior Partner
Company name: Beale & co

• What does the company do and what areas does it specialise in?
Beale & Co is an International Construction and Insurance Law Specialist. We have been providing specialist legal advice to the construction, engineering and infrastructure sector for over 50 years and are recognised leaders in the legal directories. Our lawyers understand and advise on all aspects of the construction process from beginning to end, drafting standard conditions of contract and bespoke contracts, providing assistance with tenders and contract reviews, giving practical advice on issues that arise during the life of a project, and dispute avoidance and resolution advice should things go wrong. Working with construction professionals and their insurers we offer cost-effective advice focused on finding solutions to difficult problems. Our lawyers have advised construction professionals on some of the most prestigious projects both at home and abroad including the Battersea Power Station, HS2, Crossrail, or the M25 in the UK; wind farm and motorway projects in Ireland; the Metro 2020 in Dubai, Abu Dhabi International Airport, Bangkok Airport and the Sual Power Station in the Philippines.

• Where is Beale & Co located?
We have offices in London, Bristol, Dublin and Dubai.

• How many people does the company employ?
We have over 90 lawyers working across the four offices and employ over 160 staff in total.

• How long have you worked at Beale & Co?
After completing my law degree with Brunel University I started my training contract (called articles in those days!) with Beale & Co in 1990, qualifying in 1992. I have stayed at the firm since qualification and so have been working at Beale & Co for over 30 years now.

• What is your career background, and what enticed you to work for Beale & Co?
My law degree at Brunel University was a thin sandwich LLB course and involved working in industry for 3 summers out of the 4 years of the course. The first industry experience I gained was working within the legal department of the London Borough of Hounslow for 6 months. Working with its dedicated lawyers on child protection issues was eye opening. I then sought to obtain experience in a private practice law firm which I discovered was difficult, especially with no links to the legal industry. I wrote letters to a number of different firms requesting work experience placements. Of the letters I wrote, two law firms responded, one of which was Beale & Co which then offered me a placement. During this placement and subsequent placements with them, I worked closely with Antony Smith on contentious construction work, gaining great experience. This is where I gained an avid interest in the construction industry. I particularly enjoyed helping clients to get disputes solved and the ‘highs and lows’ of litigation. Mainly the highs! The skills required go beyond pure legal knowledge.

• What is your current role within Beale & Co and what does a typical day entail?
I am the Senior Partner of Beale & Co. My role involves advising clients on a diverse range of professional negligence claims and contractual disputes, advising engineers, architects, contractors, health and safety professionals and surveyors. I work across all sectors of the construction industry and really enjoy getting to grips with the different issues of importance.

Another significant part of my role involves working alongside colleagues in the leadership team in leading the strategy and direction of the firm and management of various issues internally. I have an external facing role representing the firm with a significant part of my time spent on business development. I also contribute regularly to trade press including authoring articles and thought leadership pieces for Building magazine and Infrastructure Intelligence.

As a partner led firm I am closely involved with all of my cases and a typical day will involve work on client matters, liaison with team members working on those cases, business development and internal management and administration.

• What are the company’s core values?
At Beale & Co, we are interested in doing a good job, well. For us that involves thinking holistically about people, having the highest standards, and achieving the best possible sustainable outcomes for all. Our values drive every aspect of what we do as a business, from how we treat our clients and colleagues to how we treat the community and the environment around us. Our core values are:

People matter – one team, one firm.
We believe in a ‘one team, one firm’ approach which prioritises respect for people and their contributions. We foster an inclusive environment where we can be authentic with each other and our clients. Above all we value each other’s mental and physical health and well-being. We have a strong ethos and commitment to collaboration and teamwork founded on listening and action.

Straight and honourable dealing
We value and operate with openness in all our dealings. We aim for the highest possible standards of integrity and fairness as an employer and provider of legal services.

Best possible outcomes
We value hard work, innovation and sustainability. We continually seek to be the best we possibly can be for our people, our clients and our community.

• Are there any projects or achievements which Beale & Co are particularly proud to have been a part of?
I’m proud to say that, in recent years, Beale & Co has advised on numerous high-profile projects and disputes in the UK and internationally including signature buildings in the City of London, Baku sports stadium in Azerbaijan, HS2, Crossrail, Dubai 2020 to name a few.

• How important is sustainability within the company?
Sustainability is hugely important to us. Sustainable business has at its heart the understanding that the success of a business relies intrinsically on doing what is best for the environment, clients, employees, communities and all other stakeholders. Writing this during the Covid-19 pandemic I am struck by how true this is.

Companies around the world are facing growing pressure to become more socially and environmentally responsible. As a firm, we believe that we should do more than simply acknowledge the importance of doing the right thing but also strive to deliver value to everyone connected directly or indirectly to our business.

Our strategy for delivering sustainable business is based on ‘Four Pillars’ which form the foundation of our approach to being a responsible business.

Our ‘Four Pillars’ are:

Community: We recognise that the way we deal with our stakeholder clients, employees and suppliers has a huge impact on the communities in which we operate and goes far wider than the simple delivery of legal services.

Employees: Our people are our most valuable asset and we are committed to nurturing a working environment that our people can say they are both proud of, and can relate to.

Environment: Any sustainable future needs to consider environmental impact

Marketplace: We run our business with integrity and we are proud of that. We are committed to sustainable and socially responsible business practise, and we expect the same standards from all those we work with.

While we are a relatively small firm of approximately 160 staff in total, we aim to instil a culture of sustainable business in all of our Partners and employees to be a force for good, focusing on these four key pillars; Community, Employees, Environment, and Marketplace.

We are evolving as a firm, just as our four pillars are evolving, and there is more that we want to do. We are reviewing whether or not we might sign up to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and we look forward to sharing our progress in the future.

• How does Beale & Co support graduates and early career professionals who are entering the industry?
We aim to take on up to seven trainee solicitors across our offices each year, providing them with the first-class legal experience and business skills they will need to succeed as a lawyer. Trainees work alongside our partners in the fields of construction (UK and international), insurance and corporate/commercial. From the start of the training programme we give them a hands-on role and they are a real part of the team providing the quality service upon which we have built our reputation. We value our trainees and their contribution and give them opportunities to build relationships with clients and take responsibility for their own matters. We offer our trainees and newly qualified solicitors an extensive programme of internal training and CPD on a number of topics both legal and commercial to assist with their career development.

Not only do we provide training to our own staff but we believe in the importance of providing training to our clients and regularly run CPD events to assist with development of legal knowledge and risk management capabilities within their legal teams.

• How has COVID- 19 affected the day to day running of the company? How have staff adapted?
As a firm we have responded very well to the changes brought on by the pandemic. Fortunately, we trialled remote working across the firm a week before lockdown so the transfer to working from home for us was fairly smooth and we are pleased to say that we have suffered few if any adverse reactions to the new circumstances. Staff have adapted well to the new way of working. We have rolled out software across the firm to enable colleagues to communicate and collaborate via online meetings which has been vital to maintaining our productivity during the pandemic.

What became apparent to everyone at the start of the first lockdown was the potential impact on the mental wellbeing of staff in all forms of business. Not only have people needed to adapt to a new way of working but they have also needed to adapt to a new way of living which in some cases has left people at danger of feeling isolated and anxious. In order to promote the importance of mental health and mental wellbeing internally we have developed a number of initiatives, classes and workshops through our ‘Wellness Teams’ across each of our offices. Our aim is to encourage openness, team bonding, creativity, the development of new skills, physical health and hobbies. Examples of these include social coffee mornings, Spanish classes, yoga sessions, book clubs, cookery and art classes and magic and comedy nights.

• Why do you feel the AGS is important to the industry?
Trade associations such as the AGS are vital for the improvement of quality, health and safety, environmental practices and technical standards. Through networking, training and education and the provision of industry expertise to policy makers the AGS strives to improve the profile and standards of the geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering industry.

• What are Beale & Co’s future ambitions?
To maintain our specialist focus, to maintain our independence, to continue to develop high quality lawyers to undertake high quality works for its clients.

Beale and Co were Diamond sponsors of the AGS’ Loss Prevention webinar series; Commercial Risks and How to Manage Them; Basic Contractual Risk Mitigation and Limited Particular Liabilities.

Recordings of the webinars are available for purchase on HERE and HERE from £25 per series.

Article Loss Prevention

Waiver of Subrogation – What does it mean and can it be a problem?

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The AGS Glossary of Useful Professional Indemnity Insurance Phrases defines subrogation as follows:

“Under the terms of the insurance contract an insurer has the right to recover any applicable loss (in whole or in part) from any third party against whom the insured enjoys rights of recovery. In the context of Professional Indemnity insurance this might refer to a right of action against a sub-consultant whose negligence caused his principal’s insurers to pay a claim to the principal’s client”

It is noted in the same document that an insurance company generally has the right to subrogate (or take legal action against). When a Waiver of Subrogation clause is present in a contract or required by a client/employer, the intention is that subrogation rights of the insurer are waived and the insurer is unable to take legal action and recover damages against the third party responsible for the loss.

A waiver of subrogation rights is included in some standard contract forms, such as the NEC3 and NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract.  An insured party must not enter into an agreement with any third party that will prevent the Insurer recovering any applicable loss.  It is therefore important that they either remove any waiver clauses or confirm with their insurers that the waiver will not affect their cover on a contract.

Article

Key considerations before winding down your company

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Article drafted by James Hutchinson and Sophie-Rose Bowen from Beale & Co.

This article will consider the following:

1. Matters to consider before closing down your company;

2. Obligations to ensure that your company is insured once it has ceased trading; and

3. Why it is important to protect your company against future claims that arise once your company has ceased trading.

1. Matters to consider before closing down your company

Procedure

In terms of how to wind down your company, there are various methods available. For the purposes of this article, we will assume the company is solvent at the time of closure.

Strike-off

You may choose to voluntarily strike your firm off the Companies Register maintained by Companies House register using the method known as “voluntary strike-off” (in accordance with section 1003 of the Companies Act 2006). Note that you will need to distribute all cash and assets in the company before the company is dissolved as otherwise such assets will vest bona vacantia i.e. belong to the Crown.

This method of dissolution is often an attractive procedure as it is relatively quick, straightforward and cost-effective. Once a company is struck off the register it is deemed to be dissolved and there is no longer a legal entity (and therefore there is no one to sue).

However, note that despite the company’s strike-off and dissolution, future claimants can apply to restore the company to the register at any time, if they have claims against the company.

Although a company does not have to formally discharge all of its liabilities before it is struck off, it must however notify all contingent and prospective creditors (which would include a party to whom an existing obligation is owed but in respect of which a present liability has not arisen and may never arise e.g. a potential claim). Note that failure to inform such creditors would constitute an offence under the Companies Act 2006. It will be an aggravated offence punishable by a term of imprisonment if the person’s failure to perform this duty is with the intention of concealing the application.

Solvent liquidation

Another method of dissolution is via voluntary liquidation, which is the costliest procedure. There are two main types of liquidation – creditors’ voluntary liquidation (CVL) and members’ voluntary liquidation (MVL). A CVL is entered into when a company is insolvent (which we will not be discussing in this article) and an MVL is entered into when a company is solvent.

To initiate an MVL, you must make a Declaration of Solvency (for English and Welsh companies). You will need to review your company’s assets and liabilities before making a declaration.

To make a declaration of solvency you must produce a written statement stating that the directors have assessed the company and that they believe it can pay its debts in full together with any interest within a specified period, not exceeding 12 months from the commencement of the winding up of the company (pursuant to section 89 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016). You will also need to include the statement of your company’s assets and liabilities. Once this has been confirmed, a shareholders’/members’ meeting is convened to appoint a liquidator to wind down your company.

It is important when making a statutory declaration of solvency that the directors assess the actual and contingent liabilities of your company (including pending or potential claims) and have reasonable grounds for the opinion that your company would be able to pay its debts in full within the period specified in the declaration (which must not exceed 12 months from the commencement of liquidation).
Should a declaration of solvency be made falsely or if it is found to be inaccurate the repercussions for the directors can be very severe, including an unlimited fine and up to 2 years imprisonment. It is therefore prudent to ensure that the company holds adequate professional indemnity insurance to capture any potential liabilities that arise in the period specified in the declaration of solvency.

How can I protect my company against future claims?

Ensuring that there is adequate insurance in place to protect the interests of yourself and your company against the possibility of future claims is a key consideration to be had before winding down your company.

It is possible to take out professional indemnity insurance to provide protection against claims that are made once a company has stopped trading. This is called run-off cover.

Run-off cover is important as professional indemnity insurance is provided on a claims made basis. This means that if a claim is made against your company and you want cover to be provided, professional indemnity insurance needs to be held on the date the claim is made against your company, rather than the date of the incident giving rise to the claim.

2. Obligations to ensure that your company is insured once it has ceased trading

In considering whether to take out professional indemnity insurance run-off cover, it is important to consider your company’s contractual and professional obligations:

i. Contracts may contain contractual obligations to maintain insurance for 6 or 12 years from completion of the services or practical completion. Therefore, it would be prudent to ensure professional indemnity run-off cover is in place until these periods have expired.

ii. In addition to your contractual obligations, you may also have professional obligations to maintain run-off cover, as a member of your professional body.

In the past, Courts have allowed claims to be brought against a professional in their personal capacity in the absence of professional indemnity insurance. If you enter into a contract knowing that you will be closing down your company and that you will not have run-off cover in place, then you risk a potential claimant bringing a personal claim against you (see the decision in Merrett v Babb).

3. Why it is important to protect your company against future claims that arise once it has ceased trading?

Contractual liabilities

Given the nature of construction-related projects, your company may have contractual liabilities that last for a number of years.

If any of the contracts entered into by your company have been executed as simple contracts under hand, then your contractual liabilities under that contract should last for 6 years from the date that any cause of action accrued i.e. there was a breach of contract. If your contract has been executed and delivered as a deed, then your contractual liabilities under this contract could last for 12 years from the date of breach of contract.

Alternatively, some contracts may incorporate bespoke limitation clauses which seek to limit the period of time in which a party can bring a contractual claim against your company. Examples would be clauses limiting your company’s liability to 10 years from the date the practical completion or from the date of completion of your services.

Following the judgment in Inframatrix Investments v Dean Construction, the Courts will try to give effect to bespoke contractual limitation provisions provided that they are clearly worded.

Before winding down your company, it is important to take a look at the contracts entered into by your company to determine how long professional indemnity run-off cover ought to be required.

Latent defects

Latent defects are a common problem in the construction industry. A latent defect is one that appears after a project has been completed and that is not discoverable at the time of its completion.

A claim in tort can take advantage of an elongated limitation period under section 14A of the Limitation Act 1980 which allows a claim in tort to be brought within 3 years of the date when the claimant had the ‘knowledge’ required to bring such an action and the right to bring such an action up to a maximum of 15 years from the date of damage.

As professional indemnity insurance is provided on a claims made basis, where a latent defect is discovered several years after completion of the project and a claim is made against your company, the professional indemnity insurers on risk at the time of the discovery of the defect will need to be notified, as opposed to the professional indemnity insurers on risk at the time the cause of action accrued i.e. when there was a breach of duty.

It is important to ensure that there is adequate run-off cover in place following the closure of your company because a latent defect may only be discovered several years after practical completion, at a time where your company has ceased trading. This is especially so where the client has not taken out a latent defects insurance policy for the project.

“Contribution” Claims

In addition to claims in contract and tort, it is possible for a defendant party to issue a “contribution” claim under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 (the 1978 Act) against any other parties involved in a project that also contributed to the alleged damage. Contribution claims are particularly common in construction disputes where parties are jointly and severally liable to the client. In those circumstances, a client would be able to bring a claim against only one of the parties it considers to be responsible for the damage, leaving the defendant party to recoup its losses from the other “contributing” parties by pursuing claims under the 1978 Act.

A claim under the 1978 Act can be brought up to two years after the right to contribution accrues, which is the date on which the liability of the original defendant is quantified either by settlement agreement or judgment. A party shall be entitled to recover contribution under the 1978 Act notwithstanding that they have ceased to be liable in respect of the damage in question since the time when the damage occurred. Therefore, the fact that any contractual or tortious claim against your company is now statute-barred would not prevent a party from being able to bring a “contribution” claim against your company, provided that this is done within the prescribed two-year period under the 1978 Act.

It is pivotal to consider the possibility of “contribution” claims arising on particular projects when considering professional indemnity run-off cover to suit your company.

Key Take Away Points

If you are considering closing your company, we recommend that you give careful consideration to your continuing contractual and professional obligations, the potential for claims to arise as a result of latent defects and the potential for “contribution claims”. It is prudent to maintain appropriate run-off cover, to ensure that you can meet any future contractual liabilities and also that you comply with the obligations of your professional body. By choosing not to purchase run-off cover once you have ceased trading, you will lose any benefit of having had any insurance in the past. You will therefore not be insured for any claims that may arise out of your past work, even if you had professional indemnity insurance at the time you provided the services.

Whether you choose voluntary strike-off or an MVL, you will need to consider any actual and contingent liabilities (and again maintain adequate run-off insurance cover).

We appreciate that many engineers are finding it difficult to purchase run-off cover at an affordable price and on a basis which does not require annual renewal, leaving the risk that it might not be available in the future. It is therefore essential that you speak to your insurance broker about what options are available. You should also seek financial advice from an accountant/insolvency practitioner about what closure process is most appropriate and take legal advice on any potential liabilities and obligations your company may have.

Should you have any queries or are seeking advice on the matters raised in this article, please do not hesitate to contact James Hutchinson (J.Hutchinson@beale-law.com) or Sophie-Rose Bowen (S.Bowen@beale-law.com).
James Hutchinson
Sophie-Rose Bowen

Article

Land Contamination and Development – Guidance from Scottish Regulators

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Article provided by Sarah Hamill, Contaminated land Officer, West Dunbartonshire Council

It is common knowledge that the UK’s industrial history has left us with a legacy of sites with land contamination issues. Everyone is keen to see this legacy dealt with and so the opportunities that development and regeneration of these sites provide are welcomed. Even during these difficult times we are fortunate to still see development and regeneration sites coming forward however with this comes a wide range of reports. As a regulator we receive reports ranging from The Good, to the Bad and even to the Ugly, and there is nothing that frustrates us more than when we receive sub standard reports which fail to address the main issues of addressing land contamination.

Improving the quality of reports relating to land contamination is a popular topic across the contaminated land community and was the subject of a virtual panel discussion hosted by Environment Analyst on 19th January and also a roundtable discussion at the recent Brownfield Land Scotland Virtual Conference (2nd-3rd February). There were several suggestions on how we could ‘raise the bar’ but the one theme that carried through was that as a community (regulators, consultants, contractors) we all have a role to play to educate the developers of what is required. It is evident that many developers do not fully appreciate the importance of dealing with issues from the ground up and so the ground investigation (especially the assessment of the environmental risks) is often an after thought. This can mean that by the time the ground is suitably investigated the design and layout of the development has been decided and so the measures required to deal with what is found can often disrupt the proposals and programme.

As a community we have a responsibility to better engage and inform developers. Pre-application discussions are a good way to do this as this can mean that the ground conditions are considered and sometimes even addressed at an early stage. However, while we may be seeing an increase in pre-application discussions the majority of these are for large scale developments. We therefore have a responsibility to ensure that small scale developers also understand what may be required so that they can assess the potential implications of this to their project. To be faced with numerous conditions at the planning stage may be overwhelming especially when they did not even consider it as an issue.

To try and resolve this, Scottish regulators produced a guidance for developers booklet that was published in 2010. The purpose of this was to highlight the key issues that need to be considered when embarking on projects where land contamination may be an issue as well as highlighting the standards expected by Scottish Local Authorities. The problem with this was that it was a snapshot of guidance at that time with no one organisation taking ownership of it. A revised version was then published in 2019 after a major overhaul of the content as it was felt that a more detailed piece of guidance was necessary including more information on what is, and more importantly, what is not accepted. This time however we were fortunate to be able to do this under the remit of Environmental Protection Scotland (EPS) meaning that the most up-to date version could be made available on their website so that any changes and updates could be easily made.

https://www.ep-scotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ConLanDevGuide_12-Aug19-FINAL.pdf

While the original document was titled ‘Guidance for Developers’ this updated version has been written to also benefit local authority officers, consultants and contractors when preparing and/or reviewing site investigations, risk assessments, remediation strategies/schemes and verification plans/reports. This document is recognised and used by the majority of Scottish Local Authorities and is also endorsed by both SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) and REHIS (Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland). To ensure developers are aware of it many authorities ask that it is included in the Planning packs that is sent out with other planning information. EPS had scheduled a launch day for May last year where developers were invited to attend, however the COVID lockdown resulted in this being delayed. It is however still their intention to run this as, possibly as a ‘virtual’ webinar event. In the meantime we would appreciate if everyone could help to promote this document and encourage developers to take cognisance of this especially when working in Scotland.

As is known there are some differences on how land contamination issues are assessed across the nations (in particular in relation to the water environment) and so this guidance has been written specifically for Scotland. In saying that there are also key issues discussed that apply across the UK (e.g verification) and so this document may act as a useful reference for all. Feedback on this document is welcomed and so if after reading it you have any comments then please do email them into admin@ep-scotland.org.uk under the subject title ‘Land Contamination and Development’ so that this can then be forwarded onto members of the steering group.

Article Report Laboratories

AGS Laboratories Working Group – Update

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Will Fardon, who is the new Leader of the AGS Laboratories Working Group, has provided an update on the top issues the Laboratories Working Group discussed at a recent meeting which took place virtually in January 2021.

New Working Group Leader
Will Fardon has recently taken over as Laboratories Working Group Leader. Will is currently the Technical Sales and Training Manager for i2 Analytical and Will’s background is predominantly within the environmental chemistry and lab testing industry.

As the new Leader of the Labs WG, Will hopes to build on the work done within the group in recent years and expand the discussions on a broad range of subjects across the full selection of analytical areas that contribute within the industry, and also help expand the reach of the group to a new and wider audience.

Sample Qualities / Quantities
A document on sample qualities and quantities is being finalised by the Laboratories WG. This document should assist with obtaining the correct sample qualities / quantities from clients.

BS EN ISO 17892-12
Following discussion within the Laboratories WG, a proposal has been put forward to change the current requirements for the measurement of wear of the cone penetrometer in standard 17892-12.

Increasing member participation
The Laboratories Working Group continues to look for new participants from members and to also encourage more people within the industry to become members of AGS. The aim of the Laboratories Working Group moving forward is to represent all laboratories, bringing more focus to geotechnical and geo-environmental testing. We hope though meaningful discussion and diverse input from across the industry we can help to drive positive change and also provide an increased amount of educational material to our members.

If you do wish to join the AGS Laboratories Working Group, please contact the AGS Secretariat at ags@ags.org.uk.

News

AGS Magazine: December 2020 / January 2021

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The Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists are pleased to announce the December 2020 / January 2021 issue of their publication; AGS Magazine. To view the magazine click here.

This free, publication focuses on geotechnics, engineering geology and geoenvironmental engineering as well as the work and achievements of the AGS.

There are a number of excellent articles in this issue including;
AGS Yellow Book Photography Competition – Page 4
AGS Upcoming Webinars – Page 8
Contamination in Ground Investigation – Page 16
Professional Indemnity Insurance Update – Page 20
Q&A with David Hutchinson, formerly of Network Rail – Page 26

Advertising opportunities are available within future issues of the publication. To view rates and opportunities please view our media pack by clicking HERE.

If you have a news story, article, case study or event which you’d like to tell our editorial team about please email ags@ags.org.uk. Articles should act as opinion pieces and not directly advertise a company. Please note that the publication of editorial and advertising content is subject to the discretion of the editorial board.

News

New AGS Members in 2020

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The AGS is pleased to announce that in 2020, five member organisations, one affiliate organisation and one practitioner member were accepted by the Membership Panel and approved by the Executive. Fourteen students and graduates were also accepted as new AGS members. The new member organisations are Story Contracting Ltd, Ardmore Point Ltd, Cognition Land and Water Ltd, G7 Geotech Ltd and Jackson Drilling. The new affiliate organisation is Worldsensing and the new practitioner member is James Harrison.

AGS Membership is open to geotechnical and geoenvironmental companies who employ specialist who can provide competent services and affiliate companies who provide support services and supplies to the members. Students and Graduates can also become members of the AGS. Full details of membership criteria can be found at http://www.ags.org.uk/about/become-a-member/

Article Contaminated Land

UKAS Inspection Bodies Surveying Contaminated Land for Asbestos

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The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is establishing a pilot programme for the development of accreditation for ‘ISO 17020:2012 for the surveying of contaminated land for the presence of asbestos’. Essentially, asbestos surveyors (conversant with building surveys relating to management, refurbishment or demolition) could be undertaking the work of a contaminated land professional – without the relevant training, experience, competency or accreditation for investigating potentially contaminated land.

UKAS has held discussions with a number of parties regarding accreditation including representatives of the AGS, the National Brownfield Forum and SAGTA. These parties have raised considerable concerns principally because the proposals fail to understand the contaminated land investigation process.

UKAS has failed to address these concerns and the AGS Contaminated Land Working Group now feel we need to take this issue to our members and we are asking for your feedback by answering the poll below.

If you wish to provide further comments please do so.

The results of this poll will be shared with UKAS. The poll will close on 15th January 2021.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3CDNTDN

Article Data Management

Striding into the Future with AGS 4.1 – The Official Launch

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Members of the AGS Data Management Working Group recently held a webinar marking the official launch of AGS 4.1. Sponsored by Datgel and Geotechnical Engineering, the webinar, entitled, Striding into the Future with AGS 4.1, took place on Tuesday 8th December in front of a live audience including consultants, clients, ground investigator contractors and software vendors.

Over 520 delegates registered to attend the event which was viewed across the world in countries including Australia, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Germany and Estonia.

Event presenters included Jackie Bland (IT and Data Manager at Geotechnics and AGS Data Management Working Group Leader), Mark Bevan  (Associate Director, Data Management Team Leader at Structural Soils), Paul Chaplin (Data Manager, Ground & Water at WSP UK Ltd), Leon Warrington (Principal Hydrogeologist), Romain Arnould (Global Product Owner Digital Applications at Fugro), Peter Hepton (Principal Geotechnical Engineer and Ground Investigation Engineering Manager at SOCOTEC UK), Phil Child (Senior Consultant, Geotechnical Information Management at Bentley Systems) and Julian Lovell, (Managing Director, Equipe Group and AGS Chair).

After a successful webinar on 8th December 2020 AGS 4.1 is now available free of charge for download from www.ags.org.uk/data-format. The original AGS 4.0 document has been completely reviewed and AGS 4.1 represents a substantial update to the Data Dictionary including significant modifications to 14 existing groups and more importantly adding 24 new groups and 788 headings to introduce the following new subjects:

  • Major improvements for handling geoenvironmental data and environmental containers
  • Advanced laboratory testing
  • Drillers descriptions
  • Field geohydraulic testing
  • Wireline geophysics

To support the release of AGS 4.1, we have launched a new website found at www.ags.org.uk/data-format to facilitate:

  • improved discussion board interaction
  • published a road map for the future of the AGS Data Format
  • added a new searchable change log for the updates to AGS 4.1
  • improved search and download facilities for groups and headings, abbreviations, units and data types
  • easier route to proposed new headings, abbreviations, units and data types
  • easy access to previous versions of the format for reference purposes

We are immensely proud of the enormous effort the group has put into both AGSi and AGS 4.1 this year and would like to thank each member of the Data Management Working Group for their dedication to the industry, not forgetting our thanks also to their companies for the work-time donated to the AGS in 2020. The group will be having a well-earned rest over Christmas and the New Year before moving on to plans for the postponed Data Conference now happening on 22nd September 2021 at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham.

If you missed this webinar, the recording is now live and available for free view on the AGS website which can be viewed HERE. Alternatively, it is available on the AGS’ Vimeo channel HERE.

Article Data Management

AGSi Launches Worldwide

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On 25th November, the AGS hosted a webinar entitled, Exchange of Ground Model and Interpreted Data – Introducing AGSi. The event, which was generously sponsored by Jacobs, marked the official launch of AGSi, which has been developed by the AGS Data Management Working Group.

Members of the AGSi sub-working group presented on the new exchange format released as beta during the webinar. Event presenters included Jérôme Chamfray (Chief Geo-Digital Engineer at Jacobs), Neil Chadwick (Independent Consultant & Digital Geotechnical Specialist), David Farmer (Geotechnical Engineer at Arup), Osvaldas Tylenis (Senior Software Engineer at Bentley Systems), Tony Daly (Managing Director at Amageo) and Julian Lovell, (Managing Director, Equipe Group and AGS Chair).

The virtual event was attended by delegates in USA, Canada, Brazil, India, South Africa, Australia, Russia, Malaysia, Europe and beyond.  Over 650 delegates registered for the free webinar, which was attended by specialists from various backgrounds including ground specialists, data scientists and software developers.

AGSi is a new format which has been created for anyone involved in the construction or sharing of ground models, whether they be geological, geotechnical, hydrogeological or geo-environmental, or as a solution for anyone who has found themselves looking for:

  • An industry standard non-proprietary method for transferring a ground model and/or interpreted geotechnical parameters to another organisation.
  • A way of importing your ground model into a BIM model that does not involve lots of reprocessing or data loss.
  • A common data format for ground information that your analysis software can understand, making automation of design workflows much easier.

The AGSi documentation is now live and can be accessed via the AGS website, under AGS Data Format (see below extract).

The AGSi sub-working group is looking for volunteers to contribute further in the development of the format so if you are a software developer, ground specialist with some coding experience or interested to learn more please reach out using the AGSi documentation site or by emailing ags@ags.org.uk.

If you missed this webinar, the recording is now live and available for free view on the AGS website which can be viewed HERE. Alternatively, it is available on the AGS’ Vimeo channel HERE.

Article Instrumentation & Monitoring

AGS Webinar: Critical Links in Ground Engineering

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Tags: Featured

On 4 November 2020, AGS held the first of what is expected to be a series of Webinars and Seminars under the title “Critical Links in Ground Engineering”.

The subject of the November Webinar was Instrumentation and Monitoring (I&M), with a future Webinar expected to be about Laboratory Testing.

The Webinar lasted for four hours, including a short break in proceedings, with an audience which comprised of nearly 70% consultants and I&M specialists, about 20% contractors, and just over 10% client organisations and academics.

The Webinar was introduced by Julian Lovell, Chairman of AGS, who also – in his capacity as Managing Director of the Equipe Group – contributed to proceedings with a concluding presentation addressing the UK’s strategy to develop training for installation and monitoring technicians which dovetails in with the development of Vocational Qualifications and compliance with the Standards.  Wider issues of education, training and qualifications were also included in this presentation.

Jonathan Gammon, as Leader of AGS’s I&M Working Group and Non-Executive Director / Advisor at Geotechnical Observations Limited, gave the first presentation, describing the scope and types of I&M and identifying the role of I&M as a critical link in Ground Engineering.

Philip Child, Senior Consultant, Geotechnical Information Management, at Bentley Systems followed with a presentation entitled “Data – Overhead, Deliverable, or Opportunity” which tackled the challenging issue of I&M data management and proposed an alternative way of thinking about data.  Attention was given to the specifics of working with monitoring data and the possibilities it provides.

Presenting live from New Zealand in the middle of the night there, Paul Burton, Executive Leader at Geotechnics (New Zealand) described the I&M situation in Australasia, providing a personal perspective on the challenges of I&M work in this region and introducing a valuable global dimension to proceedings.

Andrew Ridley, Managing Director of Geotechnical Observations Limited, then tackled the subject of international standards for geotechnical monitoring, tracing in particular their development and content from 2010 to the present day.  Standards currently in preparation, as well as those anticipated in the future, were identified, as were Technical Committees that have been formed to address I&M.

Opportunities were given to question the presenters during the Webinar.  Matters raised during the Q&A sessions included: responsibility for data interpretation; shortcomings of some Cloud platforms; the ability of AGS Format to accommodate the whole range of instruments and monitoring techniques now available; appropriate training of site staff and the skills set required; data formats developed in other countries in other languages; global growth of I&M and challenges in securing rapid delivery of instruments; the ability to access I&M data collected by others, with reference to national I&M databases available to all; liabilities associated with relying on I&M data provided by others; the specification of correction methods for instruments such as inclinometers; the durability of instruments and increased demands on their longevity.

The work of AGS on matters of relevance to I&M, including the revision of the UK’s “Yellow Book”, was described by Julian as he brought the Webinar to a close.

Additional Polls identified that just under 20% of attendees had a Civil Engineering professional qualification and almost 60% had a Geology professional qualification.  Countries represented stretched around the Globe from South America to New Zealand, so this was truly an international event.

Valuable feedback was received after the Webinar.  This was the first AGS Webinar for which payment was required.  On the day it was also competing for attention with the GE Awards, commencing immediately after the end of the Webinar, and the BGA AGM and Technical Presentation that evening.  So, it was very encouraging to find that it was rated overall at just over four stars out of five and 90% of the audience found it to be the correct length.  All agreed that they had gained new knowledge applicable to their work and a four-and-a-half stars out of five rating was given to attending future AGS webinars and recommending these Webinars to others.  Very helpful suggestions for the improvement of future Webinars and for future Webinar topics were also provided and have already received attention from AGS’s Executive.

The Critical Links in Ground Engineering webinar recording is now available for view on the AGS website by clicking HERE. This webinar is three hours long and is available at the reduced AGS member rate of £72, or the non-member rate of £108. All prices include VAT.

We’d like to extend our thanks to our brilliant line-up of presenters who made this event possible; Jonathan Gammon, Phil Child, Paul Burton, Dr Andrew Ridley and Julian Lovell. Thank you also to our five webinar sponsors; Geotechnical Observations, Geosense, Measurand, RST Instruments and Senceive.

Article

SiLC perspective on publication of Environment Agency guidance Land Contamination Risk Management (LCRM)

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Tags: Featured SiLC

By Dr. Tom Henman, Deputy Chair, Professional & Technical Panel, SiLC PTP

After a delay due to Covid-19, Land Contamination Risk Management (LCRM) was finally published by the Environment Agency in October 2020. LCRM replaces CLR11 Model Procedures for the Management of Land Contamination as guidance and the framework for all who are involved in or responsible for managing risks from land contamination in England.

The overall approach to risk management and remediation in LCRM is the same as the withdrawn Model Procedures for the Management of Contaminated Land (CLR11). However, two key elements are prominent in LCRM –which are particularly relevant to SiLC – relating to competence and the National Quality Mark Scheme for Land Contamination Management (NQMS).

LCRM makes prominent reference to the NQMS, which is a voluntary scheme set up by the National Brownfield Forum, and designed to improve confidence in the quality of land contamination reports. Suitably Qualified Persons (SQPs) who sign-off NQMS reports are accredited through the SiLC examination process and the SiLC Professional and Technical Panel is a strong advocate of the NQMS.

As well as highlighting the value of applying the NQMS to reports, LCRM also stresses the importance of identifying any uncertainties and limitations of data and any possible consequences. This is a mandatory requirement for sign-off of reports registered under the NQMS.

LCRM also states the expectation that those undertaking land contamination assessment and remediation will be competent at all stages. This means having the appropriate knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications in each specific area of LCRM and the type of contamination being dealt with. For planning related assessments, LCRM also refers to the National Planning Policy Framework definition of a competent person, i.e. ‘with a recognised relevant qualification, sufficient experience in dealing with the type(s) of pollution or land instability, and membership of a relevant professional organisation’. The SiLC Register was developed precisely with these considerations in mind, so this emphasis on competence is welcomed. Both SiLC and SQPs registered under the NQMS are referenced specifically in LCRM as appropriate qualifications to demonstrate competence.

Overall, SiLC welcomes the new guidance and its emphasis on high quality assessments by competent professionals as well as the application of the NQMS. For more information about the SiLC Register, please visit www.silc.org.uk.

Notes on SiLC:

The Specialist in Land Condition (SiLC) Register scheme was designed to support the recommendations of the Urban Task Force in 1999 and to recognise the skills of those working in the broader land condition sector.

A registered SiLC is a senior practitioner who has a broad awareness, knowledge and understanding of land condition issues, providing impartial and professional advice in their field of expertise. Entry to SiLC is gained through examination, which is held bi-annually. The SiLC Register brings together professionals from a broad range of backgrounds who advise on land condition matters.

The SiLC Register is run and administered by a Professional and Technical Panel (PTP), which comprises representatives from the supporting professional bodies and senior professionals. The PTP develops and implements the registration process and is the ruling committee for individual registrations.