I am hearing this continually:

“The world is a different place”

In the context of the work that I do here are a few examples/stories to show the change from the boom years to now (no names):

Probably around 2004 or so (mid boom):

Friend was building house and was at the property seeing how things were going. Architect/Engineer shows up for site inspection (neither were expecting each other (using Architect/engineer to be fair). Friend can see the Architect/Engineer turn up in the car and waves to him from the first floor. Architect/Engineer doesn’t see him, quickly winds down car window, looks out at house. Site inspection done – drives off.

Probably around 2006 – end boom-time

I was speaking to a client recently where I was explaining the current difficulty of ensuring compliance with Part L of the Building Regulations. Client reminisced over friend who drew all the money down from bank and Architect/Engineer hadn’t undertaken a single inspection.

2009 – The world is changing

Whilst supervising the build of a house in County Mayo, I realised that ‘The times were a changin” when a bank employed another architect/engineer to inspect the work and to ensure that the certificates matched the current work. (Too Little, Too Late)

2010-date – Recession biting hard

If you can get money out of a bank for a building project, I’m hearing countless stories of banks holding back contingencies, final payments etc…

Next post to be more positive, promise…