Structural engineer John Nolan has been elected deputy chairman of the Construction Industry Council.

John Nolan is in line to take over as chairman of the Construction Industry Council (CIC) in June 2016 when incumbent Tony Burton completes his two-year term.

Professor Nolan is a past president of the Institution of Structural Engineers and is a fellow of both that institution and the Institution of Civil Engineers. He is also a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor of Innovation at the University of Birmingham and a vice president of Moseley Rugby Club.

Nolan started his career as a labourer and progressed to set up two engineering consultancies, one of which, Nolan Associates, he still chairs.

Professor Nolan said: “I am delighted to be appointed as the new deputy chairman of CIC and to be part of the team working alongside Tony Burton and chief executive Graham Watts. The challenges and the opportunities facing the built environment are considerable and game-changing for the industry. As business picks up speed following a very difficult recession we must ensure that we have the leadership and the skills in place to deliver excellence.”

Tony Burton said that Professor Nolan’s “wide ranging experience, skills and considerable reputation will be a great asset going forward”.

CIC is the representative forum for professional bodies, research organisations and trade associations for professional services providers in the UK construction industry.

The boss of a London roofing firm boss has been fined for safety failings after four workers were put at risk of falling while replacing a roof.

Rajveer Goraya, trading as Taj Construction Roofing, was managing four workers as they replaced the roof of a house in Stanmore, City of London magistrates heard.

When an inspector from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) visited the site on 11th July 2013 there were no safety measures in place to prevent the workers from falling.

The trial heard that the workers had used only ladders to access the roof and there was no scaffolding or any other means in use to prevent falls.

Rajveer Goraya, 42, of Laburnum Road, Hayes, was fined £5,000 with £13,743 costs after being found guilty of breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

After the hearing HSE inspector Jack Wilby said: “Work on a roof without safety measures to prevent people falling, such as scaffolding, is unacceptable.”

Brick chimneys are at high risk of rainwater penetration and frost damage, this is due to their exposed position on dwellings. Frost can damage both the mortar and bricks themselves if they are not sufficiently frost resistant. The greatest risk is the brickwork at the top of a chimney; once damage has occurred, it is often difficult and costly to rectify due to problems with gaining access to the chimney to carry out repair work.

To significantly reduce the risk of water penetration, avoid saturation and subsequent frost damage; you need careful consideration at the design and material selection stages, along with correct installation on site.

The follow things should be considered when looking at this:

• A coping should have a projection beyond the brickwork together with a drip which stops water tracking back under the projection on to the brickwork.
• Copings which throw rainwater away from the brickwork are the preferred option. Ideally, a coping should be in one unit to avoid having vertical joints through which rainwater will eventually penetrate.
• All copings should be bedded on DPCs
• If a flaunching is selected, it needs to have good tensile strength and durability. A 1:3 cement sharp sand mix is therefore recommended and should be trowelled to form a smooth hard surface.
• Bricks used in a chimney stack should be frost resistant.
• Cappings should be laid in a durable mortar mix M12 designated mix, the same mortar mix should be considered for the whole stack.
• M6 mortar mix may be suitable for brickwork protected by a coping.
• Sulfate-resisting cement should be used in the mortar if smoke billowing engulfing the chimney stack is likely to occur.
• All mortar joints should be fully filled. Where there is a risk of regular wetting of the brickwork, a low sulfate-resistant brick is advised to reduce efflorescence and sulfate attack.
• Pointing should be bucket handle or weather struck. Recessed and projecting joints which could hold water should not be used.