On 18 March 2010, leading speakers, from the London Olympics to Crossrail, shared their experience of how to make the NEC form work for you.
Here are my highlights from the event:
Introduction: the OGC’s endorsement
The UK government, through the OGC (Office of Government Commerce), has endorsed the use of the NEC3 suite of contracts for public sector procurement. The OGC states that the suite satisfies the Achieving Excellence in Construction criteria. Continue reading
I have been working in our Abu Dhabi office for about a year now. During this time I have come across a number of legal issues in the construction and engineering context that are very different from those we are familiar with in the UK.
This post highlights some of the UAE law issues that parties new to operating in the region should be aware of, including:
Trying to understand what the words in a contract mean is what we do every day. Lord Goff said that:
“In point of fact, if not the meat and drink, then at least the staple diet, of the Commercial Court can be summed up in one word – ‘construction’. Commercial lawyers, Solicitors, Barristers and Judges spend a very substantial part of their time interpreting contracts.” (Commercial Contracts and the Commercial Court (1984) L.M.C.L.Q. 382) Continue reading
The first thing to remember is don’t Google it! But don’t panic either, it’s not as bad as it sounds. “Hot tubbing” or “concurrent evidence”, as it is less scarily known, is a method of giving evidence where both experts (or witnesses of fact) sit in the box together and the tribunal chairs a discussion between them.
The format differs from case to case, but the judge or arbitrator will ask questions as part of the discussion and counsel for either side may join in. The parties can also suggest questions for the tribunal to ask. Continue reading
When I teach the RICS training for expert witnesses, the room always goes silent when I ask whether expert witnesses should be sued if they are negligent. I then say that, unlike barristers or solicitors, they are immune from such claims.
Expert immunity may be a thing of the past if the Supreme Court upholds the views expressed by a judge who recently allowed an appeal on this point (see Jones v Kaney below). Continue reading
The past 18 months have been tough for the construction industry, with many existing development projects put on hold. You only have to look around any major city to see sites locked up, cranes standing still and part-built properties.
The good news is that things are slowly beginning to move again, with major developers (such as Land Securities) recently announcing that they are to press ahead with construction on several London projects that were put on hold as we went into recession.
Depending on what stage the development was at when it was mothballed, there are various issues to consider, which may make restarting construction much easier. Continue reading
To what extent is a deed of novation necessary in order to novate a contract? Can there be a valid novation without a formal deed of novation?
Given that, from 1 April 2010, the e-working pilot scheme will become permanent, allowing parties to submit claims and take subsequent steps in the litigation electronically, now seems a good time to review what we have learnt so far from the pilot.
The recently released judgment of Edwards-Stuart J in Geoffrey Osborne Limited v Atkins Rail could have a major impact upon adjudication enforcement and substantially affect the enforceability of adjudicators’ decisions.
It raises two important issues:
Towards the end of 2009, I wrote a post on the tension between notice provisions and extensions of time. This elicited some very interesting comments, but, most interestingly of all, no-one said “Oh come off it – how many cases are there where the notice provision is strictly enforced?”.
If courts or tribunals decline to enforce notice provisions, much of the tension alluded to within my last piece would fall away. Continue reading
