A Newsletter from CROSS-UK containing reports on structural safety issues.
Note: this Newsletter was published by CROSS (Confidential Reporting on Structural Safety). Since March 2021, Confidential Reporting on Structural Safety is renamed Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures (CROSS).
Newsletter content
Litigation on divided responsibilities
Divided design responsibilities, says a reporter, are a common source of litigation.
Quality of some imported steel components
Concerns are raised that the construction industry is procuring many materials such as steel plates, structural sections, and metal castings from outside the UK and that these are often found to have some issues in meeting specification.
False CE certificates
This report is about falsified documents in circulation within the EU purporting to be CE certificates.
Documentation for imported large diameter steel pins
A reporter raises concerns over the possibility that foreign steel with poor, confusing or misleading documentation, is being used on safety critical structures in the UK.
Wall collapse from building in city centre - who is responsible?
A 4-4.5m high wall, approximately 18m long, and nearly 40t of bricks collapsed into a road crushing three empty vehicles.
Certification of steel sheet piling
A Government Agency raises concerns about the authenticity of documents provided for steel sheet piles produced by an overseas manufacturer.
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Many thanks for this Newsletter, another excellent read and take my encouragement for CROSS and your work. Perhaps it's an old joke for you over there but I can use that line from Report 284 about 'CE standing for Caveat Emptor' in some major presentations coming up focussing on engineering for precast design & construction (with acknowledgement to CROSS of course!). Report 229 re divided responsibilities reminds me of new legal regulations rolling out across Australia (terms proposed by the Federal Govt to be passed in each State parliament) covering safety in precast construction wherein aside from a lot of 'shoulds' there are only 2 'musts' there MUST be consultation where design responsibilities are staged or divided, and designers MUST eliminate construction risk from their design if reasonably practicable. So both of these must be verifiable as part of discharging obligations. As a profession we need to be much better at seeing, communicating and selling the value of what we offer & do - and that it's a smarter & more certain spend than the alternative of risking untold litigation when things go wrong.