The Clash famously sang, “Should I stay or should I go now?”. In light of the Supreme Court’s Article 50 judgment and the subsequent news coverage, one might wonder if that applies to Brexit and should be “Will we stay or will we leave now?”. As the saying goes, only time will tell and, in the meantime, we should look at other events in January. Continue reading
The TCC has started 2017 at quite a canter and has handed down a number of interesting judgments. One that particularly caught my eye was Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust v Logan Construction (South East) Ltd, which is another case on everyone’s favourite topic: payment notices and pay less notices. Continue reading
A barrister friend told me that, on his first day, he was told by his Head of Chambers that he should always behave like a gentleman – and that was all he needed to know about business ethics. That was a while ago and now most organisations have lengthy ethical policies with accompanying training for all staff.
I have run a number of short courses for industry professionals on creating and developing ethical policies. Two experiences stand out. Continue reading
In South Coast Construction Ltd v Iverson Road Ltd, the contractor obtained an adjudicator’s decision in its favour, awarding it nearly £900,000. The employer did not pay and so the contractor commenced enforcement proceedings in the normal way.
What made this case different to a standard adjudication enforcement claim was the fact that the employer served a notice of intention to appoint an administrator (NOI). The effect of this was to impose an automatic statutory moratorium of ten working days (paragraphs 43 and 44, Schedule 1B to the Insolvency Act 1986). Continue reading
One of the perennial issues in construction disputes, which often features on this blog, is how effective expert evidence is and the challenges for experts, lawyers and the courts when obtaining and using expert evidence.
Those of you with long memories will recall that this is something the Society of Construction Law (SCL) has been considering for a while now and I listened to Her Honour Frances Kirkham CBE speak on the subject in Birmingham last week. Continue reading
A developer client of mine recently asked me about “guaranteed maximum price” contracts. He had heard mention of them, was keen to keep overspends on his project to a minimum and was under the impression that they would set the contract sum in stone. Thinking this sounded too good to be true, he asked me whether this could be right. Continue reading
In a Cluedo-esque look at what caused a fire at Mead House in Appleshaw, I could say it was Professor Plum with the candlestick in the library or Miss Scarlet with the lead pipe in the conservatory (or even Colonel Mustard with the dagger in the dining room). What may not spring to mind is the pest control man with his poison bait in the bedroom. That isn’t quite Cluedo, but it is what the claimant argued in Palmer v Nightingale.
Intrigued? Then read on. Continue reading
The case of Palmer v Nightingale (decided by the TCC in November and published on Bailii a couple of weeks ago) was well timed as, in a sense, it was not unlike a classic mystery story. One that you would curl up with on a cold winter’s night. Fortunately no one was injured in the fire that gave rise to the case. The “victim” was a large Georgian house, which was badly damaged in an apparently spectacular conflagration – but who was the culprit?
The TCC had to cope with a variety of possible causes and there were several candidates, of which only one would lead to a guilty verdict (or, if you prefer, liability). Continue reading
The courts have recently taken the opportunity to remind parties about some of the things mediation may be able to do for their case. Mediation also now gets a specific mention in the new Construction and Engineering Protocol.
Here’s what has been happening. Continue reading
The ingenuity of the arguments parties raise in adjudication and adjudication enforcement never ceases to amaze me. However, sometimes they are simple and straightforward. As an example, take the judgment in Universal Piling & Construction Ltd v VG Clements Ltd.
Universal applied for declaratory relief to determine whether the second adjudicator had jurisdiction to deal with the dispute referred to him. Sensibly, the parties agreed that those adjudication proceedings should be stayed, pending the outcome of that Part 8 application. Given the outcome of the hearing (which was in November last year), I suspect the adjudicator has now reached a decision (but I’m giving the answer away). Continue reading
