This is the seventh new year since I started writing this blog (and my seventh new year piece!). It feels like a lot has changed in those seven years, but has it really? The coalition government may have come and gone, and we may be used to George Osborne’s austerity plans (whether we like them or not), but how far has the construction industry moved from where it was in 2009?
I thought it would be interesting to see. Continue reading
Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:
“‘Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?’ he asked.
‘Begin at the beginning’, the King said, gravely, ‘and on till you come to the end: then stop.’”
As one year ends, so another year begins. Practical Law has been reflecting on events in 2015 and looking forward to 2016. Continue reading
William Shakespeare, Sonnets:
“How like a winter hath my absence been, from thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!
What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! What old December’s bareness every where!”
It was more than 40 years ago that Lord Denning said that cashflow was the “lifeblood” of the construction industry. It still is, and non-payment is still an issue (as so many adjudication enforcement cases testify). Recently the TCC has been looking at payment and (specifically) the consequences of failing to serve a pay less notice. Payment issues were at the fore of the dispute in RMP Construction Services Ltd v Chalcroft Ltd. Continue reading
J K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
“‘Are you planning to follow a career in Magical Law, Miss Granger?’ asked Scrimgeour.
‘No, I’m not,’ retorted Hermione. ‘I’m hoping to do some good in the world!'”
The second half of 2015 has seen a number of interesting decisions affecting construction and engineering practitioners. For ease, we have divided them into adjudication cases and “other” cases. Continue reading
Call me Scrooge but, at this time of year, it’s nice to have a reminder that doing things jointly does not always bring benefits.
The case of SSE Generation Ltd v Hochtief Solutions AG (a decision of the Scottish Outer House) is a festive lesson in the importance of the joint names insurance defence. Continue reading
Adjudication‘s key selling point is that it is relatively quick and low-cost compared to other forms of dispute resolution, such as High Court litigation. However, the costs are not inconsiderable, and with adjudicators rarely given the power to award parties their own costs, successful parties in adjudication rarely recover those costs.
This year we have acted for many responding parties in adjudications involving claims for payment where the referring party has also sought to recover its costs of the adjudication proceedings through another route. These claims for costs have been based on section 5A of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 (the Late Payment Act), as amended by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013 (which have been in force since 2013).
Every claim failed for the reasons set out below. Continue reading
Should Santa pay his Christmas parking fine? Do you know your stockings from your extensions? Our Christmas quiz is back, so go ahead and test your legal knowledge.
For answers to all the questions, see our answers document. Continue reading
With Christmas fast approaching (along with terrible cracker jokes – I’m sorry, and thank you for reading on), you might be forgiven for missing the costs decision in Van Oord UK Ltd and Sicim Roadbridge Ltd v Allseas UK Ltd (OSR and AUK respectively). However, it provides a useful consideration of whether, and if so when, a defendant’s Part 36 offer can amount to a claimant’s Part 36 offer (with the attendant cost enhancements). Continue reading
With the festive season in full swing, thoughts invariably turn to the New Year and along with expectations and good intentions comes the prospect of regulatory changes. These include the Business Contract Terms (Restrictions on Assignment of Receivables) Regulations 2015 (the Regulations), which are expected to come into effect in early 2016.
The Regulations aim to make it easier for small and medium sized business to access cheaper and alternative methods of finance, by nullifying any contractual provision which purports to prohibit or restrict a supplier’s right to assign their invoices.
Given that most construction contracts contain restrictions on assignment by suppliers of goods or services, awareness of these new measures for construction clients and suppliers alike is key. Continue reading
Just a few weeks ago, I wrote that section 105(2) of the Construction Act 1996 should be consigned to George Orwell’s fate worse than death, Room 101. It seems that Coulson J has similar feelings, although he expressed it rather differently in round two of the dispute between Severfield (UK) Ltd and Duro Felguera UK Ltd. Continue reading
