Monthly Archives: December 2013

REUTERS | Bobby Yip
December 19, 2013

December 2013 digest: Merry Christmas everybody

As it is almost upon us, what better way to start December’s digest than with a little bit of Slade’s Merry Christmas everybody:

“So here it is merry Christmas
Everybody’s having fun
Look to the future now
It’s only just begun”

December is often a month of reflection, not only for the events in December, but for the rest of the year too. While we have published a list of key construction and engineering cases from the last six months, the dispute team has set out its top ten tips of the year and the arbitration team has selected its highlights for international arbitration. If you have a few spare minutes, why not try our Christmas wordsearch and see whether you’ve been keeping up-to-date. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Tobias Schwarz
December 17, 2013

CIOB’s Contract for use with Complex Projects: take the plunge!

There was considerable press comment earlier in the year on the appearance of the Chartered Institute of Building’s (CIOB) Contract for use with Complex Projects (CPC 2013). The promoters hailed it as an important step in improving the approach to time management. However, some commentators wondered if it was too complex for everyday use. No doubt more feedback will be forthcoming once it has been adopted on site for suitable projects.

Continue reading →

REUTERS | Jason Lee
December 11, 2013

Is cost management by the courts working?

Cost management in the courts has been around now for some time. In the TCC, we have had extended pilots dating back to 2010 and, since April 2013, the new provisions courtesy of section II of CPR Part 3 and PD 3E have been in place.

With this backdrop, I am often being asked whether I think cost management is working. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Herwig Prammer
December 10, 2013

E-mail arrangements over Christmas and the new year

White Christmas:

“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.”

Following business as usual this week, Practical Law Construction will send its last e-mail of 2013 next week, to arrive in your inbox on Thursday 19 December 2013. We are then taking a break until the new year. The first e-mail of 2014 will be sent to arrive in your inbox on Friday 3 January 2014. This e-mail will include reports of all developments since 19 December 2013.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

REUTERS | Brian Snyder
December 4, 2013

Penalty clauses: genuine pre-estimate of loss versus commercial justification

In April this year I looked at the “new test” (set out in Cavendish Square Holdings BV and another v El Makdessi) for determining whether or not a contractual provision is a penalty. Last week, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision at first instance, and struck out the relevant clauses as penalties. In doing so, the court went some way towards clarifying the law on penalties. Although the Cavendish case is not a construction case this decision is relevant to everyone negotiating liquidated damages clauses in construction contracts.

Continue reading →

REUTERS | Paulo Whitaker
December 4, 2013

Court of Appeal finds implied term in construction contract

The Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Aspect Contracts (Asbestos) Ltd v Higgins Construction plc on 29 November 2013. The judgment determines by what cause of action and by what date a paying party that is dissatisfied with the substance of an adjudicator’s decision needs to issue proceedings to seek to recover that payment.

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