“A volcano is just a mountain with hiccups.”
We are unsure where this quote originates, but it was probably of little comfort to the thousands of travellers affected by April’s biggest story, the Icelandic volcanic eruption, which dominated the news and even managed to push the general election off the front pages for a few days. Continue reading
If you were asked to carry out works to a small part of a large building on the basis that you had to insure the whole building for its full reinstatement value, at a disproportionate cost to the value of the works, would you take the job?
This is the issue that is currently facing many tenants and their contractors in multi-let buildings, and one which we have come across a number of times recently. Continue reading
A construction or engineering contract, in particular a sub-contract, often allows the contractor to order the sub-contractor to stop work. This often appears as a contractual right to order the sub-contractor to suspend work immediately (or to suspend after a short notice period) following which, if work does not resume within six or twelve months, the sub-contract may also terminate.
While one contract may be different from the next, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has shone a spotlight on one non-construction law aspect of these circumstances, namely what happens if an instruction to stop or suspend work forces the sub-contractor to make its employees redundant. Continue reading
Unless you have been trapped overseas by the volcanic eruption in Iceland for the last week or so, you will have seen the furore that Edwards-Stuart J’s judgment in Yuanda v WW Gear has caused and the column inches that have been written about it.
Last week I discussed the possibility of an end to Tolent clauses, but another aspect of that judgment is also worthy of a mention; the position of multi-party disputes post-Yuanda. Continue reading
Provisional sums are a mystery to many construction and engineering lawyers, often thought of as the domain of quantity surveyors, rather than legal advisers. In fact, a building contract’s treatment of provisional sums can have a profound impact on the overall cost and speed of a project. Continue reading
On Tuesday evening, Kings College London hosted the KCCLA and Sweet & Maxwell Twelfth Annual Lecture: NEC v JCT – Same problems different solutions.
The lecture was delivered debate style, with Mr Justice Ramsey chairing speakers on behalf of the JCT (Peter Hibberd and Peter Aeberli) and NEC (David Thomas QC and Dr Jon Broome). The speakers battled it out to convince the audience which was the better contract, covering a variety of issues. Continue reading
It doesn’t seem that many weeks since I was writing about Edwards-Stuart J’s decisions in the TCC on adjudication enforcement. Just last week, he gave a landmark decision in Yuanda v WW Gear. This case has received a lot of coverage and, having read the judgment, I can see why. Continue reading
As the new broom in the TCC, Edwards-Stuart J has carried out some important spring cleaning and, in Yuanda v WW Gear, he has delivered possibly the most significant decision in construction law so far this year.
Given the current limited supply of development funding from traditional financial institutions, developers are looking for alternative sources, both to kick start new projects and to finish off projects where their existing credit limits have been exceeded.
A possible alternative source of funding may come from contractors. Some contractors appear willing to dip into their reserves in order to maintain work (and goodwill with clients) at the expense of short term cash flow. We have recently seen evidence in the market that both developers and contractors are actively seeking such arrangements. Continue reading
Is the cost of litigating large and complicated construction disputes getting out of hand? One only needs to look at the litigation that the redevelopment of Wembley stadium has generated for some recent, extreme examples. Continue reading
