Practical Law

Private finance initiative (PFI) projects tend to be long-term, usually lasting for a period of 25 years or more. There is an active secondary market for equity interests in PFI projects: original project developers exit and new longer term investors hold projects to maturity. Notwithstanding this longer-term investment horizon, as time goes on, it is … Continue reading How to avoid PFI contract expiry risks →

The final account is normally a wrap-up of the contractor’s valid claims for extra payment. It’s particularly helpful if claims were not submitted or assessed as works progressed. So, what happens if the contract doesn’t have a final account procedure but there are claims outstanding once the works are finished? Can a final account procedure … Continue reading A final account problem – JSM Construction v Western Power →

A contract can be a long term commitment. Over the course of a contract, things happen. Circumstances change. Force majeure clauses generally allow parties to allocate contractual risk, by limiting liability, excusing performance or providing for termination, if unusual or unfortunate circumstances arise. However, the recent case of Seadrill v Tullow reminds us that it is … Continue reading Risky business: Offshore drilling and using force majeure as an exit route →

In Lejonvarn v Burgess, the Court of Appeal upheld the first instance decision (which Oliver Pearson blogged about) that an architect/project manager providing services gratuitously and in the absence of a contract owes a tortious duty to exercise reasonable skill and care in performing those professional services. The Court of Appeal also clarified the relevant test … Continue reading With friends like these… Lejonvarn v Burgess: the parable for construction professionals continues →

Being a lawyer in 2015 is, for the most part, a 24/7, modern and instant affair. Drafts of contracts are exchanged in seconds, letters drafted and exchanged without the need to wait for the post (or DX) to be collected and pleadings served remotely in the early hours. Clients benefit too, as they can reach … Continue reading Electronic working in the TCC: is the ball in our court now? →

Most of us are only too familiar with the argument (so beloved of contractors) that “time is at large”. We also know that it is rarely successful. The principle by which time becomes at large was recently commented on by Ramsey J in Bluewater Energy Services BV v Mercon Steel Structures BV and others: “The principle … Continue reading Time to change “time at large”? →