Practical Law

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 … Continue reading Experts in construction disputes: room for improvement? →

According to Edwards-Stuart J in the TCC, it may be when there is an implied term. In what might have been an unremarkable situation, Edwards-Stuart J has given what some would describe as a remarkable judgment. I refer to Manor Asset Ltd v Demolition Services Ltd, as discussed by John Hughes-D’Aeth last week.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/51) (CDM 2015) are in force from 6 April 2015. Putting aside the CDM 2015’s transitional arrangements, it is not immediately clear whether a client may appoint a principal designer for only the first part of the project.

The human impact of this winter’s extreme weather has been telling. Householders, farmers, businesses small and large have all been affected. Many building sites will be waterlogged, if not flooded, hindering heavy plant access and causing myriad practical issues, if work is to continue. Urgent repair and remediation projects must start straight away, often with … Continue reading Floods, storms and tempests: what does your contract say? →

The Chinese year of the snake has just started. Hello to the year of the snake, goodbye to the year of the dragon. This got us thinking: perhaps it’s time to slay a construction law dragon. There’s a common saying among lawyers and commentators that NEC contracts are rarely before the courts. We’re not sure … Continue reading NEC contracts are considered by the courts →

This time last year most construction practitioners were preoccupied with the amendments to the Construction Act 1996 (which had just come into force) and the impact of those amendments on their business. One year on, we decided to look at whether, in fact, 2011 was all a bit like Y2K, with the impact far less than was anticipated and with … Continue reading Were the Construction Act 1996 amendments another Y2K? →

This post uses a recent case to consider whether a draft collateral warranty, signed as a deed, can be used by an employer in place of a formal engrossment. Can an employer complete the missing details and use the collateral warranty to give rights to a beneficiary? Might a contractor be able to stop the … Continue reading Can the employer use signed draft documents in place of fresh engrossments? →

On 12 April 2011, the SCL held one of its regular meetings. The subject was the forthcoming changes to the Construction Act 1996, under the title “Payment under the new Construction Act: practical dilemmas“. The meeting was chaired by Tony Blackler, with Rupert Choat and John Riches speaking. The changes to the Construction Act 1996 (in the … Continue reading 6 months to go: should we fear the Construction Act 1996 changes? →

It’s been interesting to follow some of the debate in the legal press and online about whether there is a new line of authority developing in England and Wales about concurrent delay under a construction or engineering contract. To simplify, concurrent delay refers to a period when two events have occurred, both of which delay the progress … Continue reading Concurrent delay after De Beers v Atos →

The HSE recently released its provisional offshore safety statistics for 2009/10 and the figures may raise some concern in the industry. The number of fatalities has risen (after a good year in 2008/9). In addition, the combined fatal and major injury rate rose for the first time since 2001/2. The numbers don’t look good, but what … Continue reading Health and safety issues in offshore extraction and the construction sector →

A recent Court of Appeal decision set many construction practitioners thinking about how the parties communicate and give notices to each other. In particular, when a statute or contract requires a company to give a notice or sign a document, do the execution rules of the Companies Acts always apply?

CABE (the Commission for Arcitecture and the Built Environment) has published Simpler and Better, a report which argues for the introduction of a minimum design standard for homes, combined with better, leaner regulation of new homes through (for example) the planning and building regulation systems.

Be wary. It is not easy to escape from an unprofitable contract (or “bad bargain”). Unprofitable contracts The construction industry may now be leaving its own long recession behind (or it may not). Whatever your particular experiences of the recession, it may have left you with contracts that are unprofitable (or, at least, less profitable) … Continue reading Loss of profit – escaping from a bad bargain →

Question: What do Paul Morrell and Sir John Betjeman have in common? Answer: They might both like to demolish Slough town centre. The poet famously said: “Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough! It isn’t fit for humans now, There isn’t grass to graze a cow. Swarm over, Death!”

This week, we have reported on another Court of Appeal decision on a letter of intent. (Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal gave judgment in RTS v Muller.) The case (Whittle v Hollywood) sounds very rock and roll…

PLC Construction recently received an enquiry asking for information about EPCM contracting. Our thoughts below give an overview of how EPCM contracting operates and what distinguishes it from other forms of procurement, particularly EPC contracting.

Public procurement in Northern Ireland never seems to be far from the news, often for the wrong reasons. We have seen four high-profile cases in the last year:

Speculation is growing over who will be appointed to the role of Chief Construction Adviser, a role the Government has announced it wants in place by November 2009.

We understand that the Ministry of Justice is carrying out an informal pre-consultation with members of the construction industry over the Law Commission’s proposals to reform the Limitation Act 1980. It has asked for responses by 20 September 2009.

With the country in the midst of the worse economic decline for decades, insolvency is often in the headlines. The construction industry has seen more than its fair share of insolvencies, with a number of high profile companies falling victim to the recession. We have seen some big names disappear (David McLean, Mann Construction, Pettifer Construction to name but a few). … Continue reading Consultation on business rescue procedures →

We recently attended a seminar at Pinsent Masons’ offices, presented by Sam Boyling and James Clarke. The topic was defective work; something that is all too familiar to those involved in the construction industry. Defects can range from de minimis items often included in a snagging list at practical completion (PC), to undetected problems, such as issues with … Continue reading Defective work in construction projects →

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has published a report, The State of the Nation: Defending Critical Infrastructure, on the security of the UK’s key infrastructure networks. The report pulls no punches, stating that “without reform, the UK is in danger of not having the infrastructure it needs to operate.”

The Greater London Authority has published the draft Revised London View Management Framework Supplementary Planning Guidance (the draft framework). In simple terms, this sets out a strategy to “preserve London’s character and built heritage” by protecting the viewing corridors of key landmarks (such as St Paul’s Cathedral) and World Heritage Sites (such as the Tower of London) through limiting the … Continue reading More protection for views of London’s landmarks? →

The JCT announced the headline changes in Revision 2 2009 to its Standard Building Contract and the Design and Build Contract on 18 May 2009. It also confirmed that it would publish revised guides to the two contracts, showing which clauses have changed from the Revision 1 June 2007 versions. As we keep our maintained resources up … Continue reading JCT Revision 2 2009: more of the contract changes emerge →

Since the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill 2008 (the Bill) was published last year, a number of amendments to its construction provisions have been proposed (see blog post). At the end of the committee stage in the House of Lords, the Government made it clear that it would not support any of the proposed amendments. … Continue reading LDEDC Bill: insolvency amendments back on the table →

Crossrail is clearly important news for London. It will be Europe’s largest construction project and its effects will be widespread:

The Government has announced the locations nominated as the sites for the next generation of nuclear power stations in England and Wales

The recent case of Furmans Electrical Contractors v Elecref Ltd concerned a construction dispute over only a few thousand pounds. Although it made no headlines, this case raises an interesting question – one which you are best avoiding going to court to answer.

In the House of Commons last night, during the adjournment debate on blacklisting in the construction industry, the Government Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs, Mr Pat McFadden, confirmed that the Consulting Association, run by Ian Kerr, will be prosecuted under the Data Protection Act 1998 for compiling its database of blacklisted individuals.

The Government has rejected proposed amendments to the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill 2008 (LDEDC Bill 2008) as it completed its committee stage in the House of Lords (see our Legal update). The LDEDC Bill 2008 begins the report stage on 17 March 2009.

The seventh list of amendments to the LDEDC Bill 2008, which amends the Construction Act 1996, were published today (the next Grand Committee hearing is tomorrow).

A coalition of politicians and industry trade bodies has launched the “Get Britain Building” campaign. The campaign promotes a ten point plan:

Construction News has reported that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) from across Britain are winning work from the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).

In December 2008, at a “prompt payment summit”, the Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, launched a new Code of Practice aimed at increasing the speed of payments to small companies (SMEs). This summit followed an earlier Government commitment to pay its suppliers within 10 days.

We wrote an update on last week’s judgment in Balfour Beatty Construction Northern Limited v Modus Corovest (Blackpool) Limited.

Alliancing matters to clients, contractors and professional consultants. It can deliver what was once thought undeliverable, but it can also exclude innovative SMEs (small and medium enterprises) from projects that they might otherwise transform.

I am delighted to bring you PLC Construction. The breadth of the launch site is built on the labours of PLC Construction’s professional support team, with incredible support from within PLC and from many contributors, so a huge thank you to all. I hope you enjoy the site. Here are some of its highlights: