Canadian demolition back in the news for all the wrong reasons…again.

There was a time, just a few short months ago, when China was well on its way to securing the DemolitionNews.com Worst Demolition Nation award for its ongoing contributions to the irreversible tarnishing of this business of ours.

But, just as we were starting to think that the Chinese had established an unassailable lead, up steps Canada with a last-ditch attempt to snatch a surprise victory. First we had an impressive (and we use the word loosely) double near-miss on a single Vancouver site. Then, last week, we had an Edmonton company throwing its weight behind the country’s bid for poor demolition world dominance by dumping another building in a busy street.

And now, just to prove that there’s more to the Canadians than unexpected and unplanned collapses, along comes Avenue Construction which proceeds to demolish a former meat packing plant without a permit, depositing asbestos about the place like maple leaves in a national procession.

The Chinese had better watch their backs; the Canadians are coming!

One company’s demise is another’s potential gain.

In the past two years or so, far too many in our business have been bitten by the unseen threat of recession. However, there have been times in recent weeks when it appeared that the danger had at long last subsided.

But, just when we all thought it was safe to go back in the water, the unexpected collapse of the Controlled Group serves as a timely reminder that demolition’s garden is far from rosy right now; and while the light at the end of the tunnel is now visible once again, it remains frustratingly out of reach.

No-one likes to see a company fail, particularly one in the close-knit demolition community – The business may be highly competitive but we all feel the blast wave when another company falls.

However, it is the human cost of such failures that are, perhaps, hardest to take. Controlled Group employed a number of highly-trained and highly-skilled individuals that have now seen all their hard work vanish in an instant.

As many of you are aware, DemolitionNews.com was instrumental in the creation of demolition-jobs.co.uk, a recruitment website that allows demolition professionals to advertise their availability to work to potential employers. Thanks to the backing of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors, the site is free to both employees and employers. We would, therefore, urge all the former Controlled Group employees to make their way over to demolition-jobs.co.uk to list their details.

At the same time, we have already received impressive CVs from the company’s former business development director and contaminated land remediation specialist which we will gladly forward to prospective employers.

So if you have been caught up in the Controlled Group collapse, please be sure to register at demolition-jobs.co.uk. If you’re one of the fortunate UK demolition companies that is still on the recruitment path, please check out demolition-jobs.co.uk – the site currently contains details of a number of experienced industry professionals seeking roles ranging from operative to supervisor and contracts manager levels and it might just contain the details of your next employee. And if you’re specifically seeking an experienced demolition business development person or a contaminated land remediation specialist, please drop a line to manthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk and we’ll get those CVs over to you.

Details start to emerge from failed Yorkshire-based contractor.

News is starting to filter out of the rubble of the collapsed Controlled Group which was forced to call in the administrators on Friday of last week.

Although no official statement has yet been made, DemolitionNews.com can exclusively reveal that the company’s highly experienced business development director Alison Knowles has salvaged the company’s Oracle surveying and health and safety arm. “I did not want to see it die after so much work getting it accredited,” she says.

While her former colleagues at Controlled Group are forced to find alternative employment, Knowles – whose CV includes stints with other notable UK contractors Cuddy Group and EDS – is now seeking financial backing for Oracle.

“My situation now is that I need to either find a backer to help me grow Oracle or find a company that needs my skills and would be interested in taking Oracle on for its own ends,” Knowles concludes.

Nairobi businessman sees home destroyed just weeks before he was due to move in.

Residents of Spring Valley in Nairobi watched in horror as demolition crews moved in and turned an almost complete, eight-bedroom house into a heap of rubble, claiming it was built on a road reserve. The house belonging to businessman Mike Maina Kamau was pulled down in a morning operation led by Roads Minister Franklin Bett and senior ministry officials.

“We are working on the Northern Bypass and this property is built inside a road reserve. Our repeated warnings to the owner to vacate have been ignored. That is why we decided to demolish it,” said the minister.

Mr Bett warned other buildings on the road reserve would also be pulled down to pave way for the construction of the 21 km bypass.

But the owners of the property, which also has a swimming pool, gym and sauna, dismissed the minister’s claims, adding the land was legally acquired. “This building is legally recognised by the Ministry of Lands and the City Council of Nairobi and we have all the documents to prove that. The demolition is illegal and we will seek for damages in court,” said Maina’s brother, Kennedy Wainaina.

Maina’s lawyer, John Mburu, said his client was distressed at the loss of his property.

“My client had invested his hard-earned money to build a home for his family, but an illegal move by the Ministry of Roads has deprived him of his right,” he said.

Read more here.

Confusion reigns as Delta says that AED won’t be handling the blast.

According to the old adage, “there’s many a slip twixt cup and lip” or, in more modern parlance, don’t count your chickens will they’ve hatched. But we would have thought that a blasting company that effectively buys a contract that is then partially handed over to a more local demolition contractor might justifiably expect to be involved when the final blast arrives.

But, according to another old adage (there really is an adage for every occasion), assumption is the mother of all cock-ups and so it has apparently proved on the on-off contract to demolish the Bellaire Bridge that has apparently left Eric Kelly and the AED team out in the cold.

In May, former bridge owner Roger Barack sold the Bellaire Bridge to AED for $1. Shortly after, AED sold the bridge to Krystle Chaklos of Delta Demolition, for $25,000. Given that the bridge is to be shot in early October, we naturally thought that explosives experts AED had the blasting contract in the bag.

Not so, according to reports in the Wheeling News-Register. “We are no longer working with Eric Kelly – not anymore,” Delta’s Lee Chaklos said. “We did not have a contract. We’re going to be putting the blasting out for bid.” Chaklos did not provide a reason for dropping AED from the project and declined additional comment.

An unidentified spokesman in AED’s office said Monday the company “was working on it” and that Kelly was in meetings pertaining to the bridge project.

Chaklos said change in blasting subcontractors won’t affect his timeline for taking down the bridge, which is now set to come down Oct. 1.

We’re currently trying to speak to Eric Kelly to get his take on this but, in the meantime, you can read more here.

Leading UK contractor moves to dispel panic over redundancy consultations.

Thompsons of Prudhoe has entered a consultation period on possible redundancies, but says it has not yet decided whether any are to be made.

The Northumberland firm has given 30-days notice of possible cuts to more than 80 of its 320 workers, but director John Burdon said that this was due to a legal requirement to inform all staff working in areas that may encounter reductions.

He said: “We have to notify quite a large number of people, even though there wouldn’t be anywhere near that number, if any. We haven’t even decided yet if anyone will be made redundant. This process is something we have to do to comply with legislation and treat our workers fairly. We find it’s a pity we have to do this as a lot of employees may be worried when they have no need to be.”

Thompsons has been involved in demolition projects such as the former Tyne Tees Studios, the Howard Street Bridge and Gateshead town centre’s multi-storey ‘Get Carter’ car park.

Read more here.

Australian officials forced to apologise over enforced home demolitions.

John Brumby, premier of Victoria, has apologised to residents who were not told their houses would be demolished to make way for the State Government’s transport plan. Up to 50 homes in Footscray and Sunshine will have to be demolished as part of the regional rail upgrade.

Brumby released the details at a business luncheon on Monday, but some residents did not learn about the plan until told by journalists.

“I’m sorrry that those people weren’t contacted,” he said. “They should have been, that’s why we moved the event. We moved the event so that people could be contacted and given that information before being advised by the media.”

Read more here.

Engineers from Controlled Demolition Inc. complete first stage of bridge implosion.

As we reported earlier today, Pennsylvania Turnpike officials and engineers from Controlled Demolition Inc. used an explosion to raze a recently replaced bridge over the Allegheny River in Allegheny County just a few minutes ago.

Thanks to the good people at Controlled Demolition Inc., the team behind this implosion, you can now see the blast in all its glory by clicking here.

Contractor storms out of city council meeting over “blight fight” fund allocation.

A City Council meeting grew tense Monday when a local businessman fighting for a piece of $2 million in blight fight contracts stormed out of the room while shouting expletives.

The council approved the blanket demolition contract that seven companies will share over the next year. The decision came on the heels of a number of contractors complaining to the council about their exclusion from that list.

One of those with grievances was James W. Owens, owner of Saginaw’s Owens Contracting Services, Inc.
He complained the city disqualified his business from the bidding because officials claimed he owed City Hall money. “I don’t owe the city nothing,” Owens said. “If I do, prove it.”

When Saginaw Development Director Odail Thorns addressed the issue and said the city had mailed out information about unpaid bills, Owens rose quickly from his seat near the center of the room, barked expletives within two feet of Thorns, turned and stormed out of the council chambers while continuing to swear.

Police Chief Gerald H. Cliff also rose from his seat in the back of the room but sat back down when Owens exited.

Three contractors at the meeting expressed frustration at being left out of the contract. Some had issues with a point system City Hall used to rank 12 bidding companies. Five of the businesses, including Owens’ company, were disqualified for various reasons.

Read more here.

Wakefield-based contractor latest to fall victim to recession.

Controlled Group, the multi-disciplined, Yorkshire-based contractor, has slipped into administration. According to our sources, the company made the official announcement on Friday of last week but no official statement is available at this time.

Furthermore, while it is believed that the company has appointed a firm of administrators, no details are currently available.

We will, of course, be following this one with considerable interest and will bring you further news as it breaks.