The existence of section 12 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (PWA) is often overlooked and yet its importance should not be. It confers on both a building owner and an adjoining owner the right, in certain circumstances, to require the other to give security for the expenses that may be incurred when works are carried out on their land or to their property.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge:
“The one red leaf, the last of its clan, that dances as often as dance it can,
Hanging so light, and hanging so high, on the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.”
The last of the autumn leaves are falling and winter is well and truly here. It seems that it isn’t only the birds that have migrated and wildlife that is heading into hibernation; at the time of writing, we have had only one judgment from the TCC this month. That is not to say that all the courts have been quiet. We have reported on the new exception to the without prejudice rule; estoppel and mistake; incorporating terms into a contract; and the Scottish court’s judgments on reasonable endeavours and reasons in an adjudicator’s decision (and clause 38 of the TeCSA rules). Continue reading
Nowadays, it is common to see businesses advertising themselves as being 24/7, meaning they are open all day, every day. But are they truly 24/7 businesses, manned regardless of the time or day, or is it just a euphemism for being there when you need them, within reason? Continue reading
Even in the best of times insolvencies are part of the construction industry but, until now, they have not been a major part of this recession. However, do the high profile collapses of Connaught and Rok signal a change and, if they do, what can clients do to protect their interests?
I’m sure most adjudicator’s would agree that reasons are part and parcel of their decisions. We may not be required to provide reasons, unless requested to do so (for example, see paragraph 22, Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998) but, in practice, when we are making findings on issues of law or fact, it is unusual for adjudicators not to set out the reasoning behind those findings. It ensures your thinking is clear and logical, and providing reasons also assists the parties in understanding why you have reached the conclusions that you have in your decision. Continue reading
There’s no getting away from the fact that the changes to Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (Construction Act 1996), to be made by Part 8 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 (LDEDC Act 2009), are important. However, while some things will change, many things will stay the same.
Don’t ignore the amendments and hope they will go away. The ostrich approach, sticking your head in the sand, will quickly backfire. So, what should you do? Continue reading
I sometimes wonder if anyone ever gives thought to when the clock starts ticking and an adjudicator’s fees start accruing. It came up in conversation recently, particularly the question of what happens immediately after an adjudicator receives the papers in an adjudication. Continue reading
We learnt from Fun Boy 3 and Bananarama that “it ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it… and that’s what gets results”. But how, you might wonder, does that help us enter the arcane world of delay analysis?
I went to a seminar last week on City Inn v Shepherd and learnt much the same thing as Bananarama taught us from one of the speakers – Alan Whitaker – who was Shepherd’s expert witness. Alan’s view was that he had to “get into what the project was all about” and, according to the judge at first instance, he did precisely that: Continue reading
I was recently asked whether I think there are any construction disputes that are unsuitable for adjudication.
My answer was simple: no, but…
Imagine you’re stuck on the hard shoulder with a puncture. Do you use the get-you-home tyre you have in the boot, even though it means you can’t go over 50 mph, or do you wait around for a brand new high performance racing slick tyre that can cope with the speed limit (and more)?
The answer, of course, depends on the circumstances and it’s exactly the same when choosing which construction contract to use. In these times of austerity, contracts need to be exactly the right fit for projects as, indeed, do the professional services advising on those contracts. Continue reading
