Practical Law

Dylan Thomas, A Child’s Christmas in Wales: “It was snowing. It was always snowing at Christmas. December, in my memory, is white as Lapland, though there were no reindeers. But there were cats.” December has been another grey and damp month, with a few falls of snow (even here in London). It has been enough to keep most … Continue reading December 2017 digest: FIDIC, cases and a Christmas quiz →

John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath: “A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky … Continue reading November 2017 digest: adjudication, arbitration and payment →

Francis Bacon, The Essays: “Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only … Continue reading October 2017 digest: Construction Act review and B&PCs →

John Greenleaf Whittier, Barbara Frietchie: “Up from the meadows rich with corn, clear in the cool September morn…” We continued to produce new materials on NEC4 this month, with a new note and new Z clause on Option C of the ECC by Iain Suttie. Not to be outdone by a colleague, John Hughes-D’Aeth contributed 12 Z … Continue reading September 2017 digest: more NEC4 →

Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited: “If it could only be like this always – always summer, always alone, the fruit always ripe and Aloysius in a good temper…” August, often a quiet time, filled with lazy days (because of the school holidays) and a little bit of cricket. This year, August saw two notable judgments handed down out … Continue reading August 2017 digest: fitness for purpose and adjudication costs →

Patrick Stewart, on contract negotiations: “The studio have always claimed that the ship is the star of the show, especially when they are renegotiating contracts.” NEC4 isn’t quite in the same league as the USS Enterprise, but July was all about NEC4 at Practical Law Construction, as we worked hard to prepare new materials including … Continue reading July 2017 digest: NEC4, cases and comment →

Lord Denning in Packer v Packer [1953] 2 All ER 127: “What is the argument of the other side? Only this, that no case has been found in which it has been done before… [but] [i]f we never do anything which has not been done before, we shall never get anywhere.” Lord Denning may have said this … Continue reading June 2017 digest: Brexit, May, NEC4 and JCT (again) →

Just when you thought there could be no more surprises as Brexit unfolds, Theresa May popped out of No 10 to announce that there will be a general election on 8 June to bring “strong leadership” to the country. She explained that: “At this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in … Continue reading April 2017 digest: adjudication and NEC4 →

Elizabeth Gilbert: “The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying; the only thing more impossible than staying was leaving.” Although it is hard not to mention the government formally triggering Article 50 this month, it is not the purpose of this review to keep you up-to-date with the minutiae of Brexit events. For that, … Continue reading March 2017 digest: arbitration, Brexit and JCT →

Mitch Hedburg: “My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.” February has been a grey, wet month this year, with few high points, although we are sure that everyone is intrigued by the stories coming from across the Atlantic. Donald Trump may have only been the 45th President of the United … Continue reading February 2017 digest: rainy days and Donald Trump →

The Clash famously sang, “Should I stay or should I go now?”. In light of the Supreme Court’s Article 50 judgment and the subsequent news coverage, one might wonder if that applies to Brexit and should be “Will we stay or will we leave now?”. As the saying goes, only time will tell and, in … Continue reading January 2017 digest: Brexit, of course (and payment) →

David Bowie, Changes: “I watch the ripples change their size But never leave the stream Of warm impermanence and So the days float through my eyes” The government’s appeal to the Supreme Court on Article 50 will not be heard until next month (and the outcome may not be known until early next year), and … Continue reading November 2016 digest: Ch-ch-changes →

Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning: “The knowledge of man is as the waters, some descending from above, and some springing from beneath, the one informed by the light of nature, the other inspired by divine revelation.” Practical Law Construction celebrated its eighth birthday this month. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since we … Continue reading October 2016 digest: anniversaries and amendments →

EB White, Charlotte’s Web: “The crickets sang in the grasses. They sang the song of summer’s ending, a sad monotonous song. ‘Summer is over and gone, over and gone, over and gone. Summer is dying, dying.’ A little maple tree heard the cricket song and turned bright red with anxiety.” As in 2012, summer has ended … Continue reading September 2016 digest: JCT and adjudication →

Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee: “The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; the important thing in Life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” With test cricket and Rio 2016 both finishing this month … Continue reading August 2016 digest: Olympic success →

JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring: “‘So my plan is spoilt!’ said Frodo. ‘It is no good trying to escape you. But I’m glad, Sam. I cannot tell you how glad. Come along! It is plain that we were meant to go together. We will go, and may the others find a safe road! … Continue reading July 2016 digest: sporting moments and judgments abound →

Charles de Gaulle, who vetoed British accession to the European Economic Community (EEC) for years, speaking in 1967: “There is the Common Market, and for us, there is no problem. For you, there is one: you want to get in, and that is your problem.” Almost fifty years on, how times have changed. There was … Continue reading June 2016 digest: Brexit →

English proverb: “Ne’er cast a clout till May be out.” This phrase has been in use since at least the 18th century and is generally taken to mean that you shouldn’t be too keen to leave your winter clothes behind. There is a debate about whether the May reference is to the month or blossom … Continue reading May 2016 digest: Queen’s Speech and elections →

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Locksley Hall: “Forward, forward let us range, let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change.” This month saw a number of legislative changes that will impact on construction practitioners, including significant changes to costs management, new public procurement regulations (which Stella Mitchell and Kate Wall discussed) and amendments to the Construction Industry Scheme … Continue reading April 2016 digest: ch-ch-ch-ch-changes →

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland: “‘Take some more tea’, the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. ‘I’ve had nothing yet’, Alice replied in an offended tone, ‘so I can’t take more’. ‘You mean you can’t take less’, said the Hatter: ‘it’s very easy to take more than nothing’. ‘Nobody asked your opinion’, said Alice.” Some … Continue reading March 2016 digest: budget, payment and procurement →

The Old Farmer’s Almanac: “Groundhog found fog. New snows and blue toes. Fine and dandy for Valentine candy. Snow spittin’; if you’re not mitten-smitten, you’ll be frostbitten! By jing-y feels spring-y.” Although February is the shortest month, it often feels like one of the longest with its seemingly endless cold, grey days. Spring will (hopefully) … Continue reading February 2016 digest: payment, adjudication and Brexit →

Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush: “I leant upon a coppice gate When Frost was spectre-grey, And Winter’s dregs made desolate The weakening eye of day. The tangled bine-stems scored the sky Like strings of broken lyres, And all mankind that haunted nigh Had sought their household fires.”

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 … Continue reading December 2015 digest: adjudication, payment and a quiz →

John Clare, Remembrances: “Summers pleasures they are gone like to visions every one, and the cloudy days of autumn and of winter cometh on.” As November ends, so does autumn. It may mean the start of winter, but it also means it is time for the government’s Autumn Statement. This year, George Osborne said he was going … Continue reading November 2015 digest: Autumn Statement, penalties rule and dogs →

Ernest Hemingway: “For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.” Practical Law Construction turned seven this month. Over the last seven years, just like Ernest, we have done the best we can to keep our subscribers abreast of … Continue reading October 2015 digest: seven year itch! →

John Keats, Complete Poems and Selected letters: “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, close bosom-friend of the maturing sun.” One of the coldest summers for several years has ended. Less an Indian summer (which is described as a “period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in the Northern Hemisphere”), more a cool, damp … Continue reading September 2015 digest: prelude to autumn →

Sir Isaac Newton (attributed): “I don’t know what I may seem to the world, but as to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all … Continue reading August 2015 digest: payment notices and costs budgets →

F Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby: “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s judgment in Aspect v Higgins (that there is an … Continue reading July 2015 digest: Aspect (again), the Budget and comment →

Geoffrey Boycott, on the best way to play Shane Warne: “My tactic would be to take a quick single and observe him from the other end.” We haven’t had a sporting reference for quite some time in the monthly digest, but the Ashes are almost upon us. With England having won the one-day series against New … Continue reading June 2015 digest: Aspect v Higgins and an electronic filing pilot →

Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: “…one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them… anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account … Continue reading May 2015 digest: the Queen’s Speech, courts and comment →

Elizabeth Bentley, Ode to Spring: “Welcome, sweet season of delight, What beauties charm the wond’ring sight.” April has been a quiet month in terms of construction current awareness. In part, this may have been because the pre-election purdah period started on 30 March and the TCC’s Easter term only began on 14 April. One wonders if this is … Continue reading April 2015 digest: CDM 2015 (again), PD 51J and PAPs →

Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace: “Writing laws is easy, but governing is difficult.” It is less than six weeks to the general election. While the media’s current focus is on the live TV debates and who will take part and when, quietly in the background the government has been getting its house in order. This … Continue reading March 2015 digest: adjudication, CDM 2015 and an election →

Algernon Charles Swinburne,  Atalanta in Calydon: “For winter’s rains and ruins are over and all the season of snows and sins… And in green underwood and cover, blossom by blossom the spring begins.” The first signs of spring may still feel a long way off but 6 April isn’t. In case you are unaware of the date’s … Continue reading February 2015 digest: CDM 2015 and public procurement →

TS Eliot, Four Quartets: “Time present and time past, are both perhaps present in time future, and time future contained in time past.” January’s news is usually dominated by looking forward pieces, setting out what we expect to happen in the year ahead. This year was no exception and here is what we expect to … Continue reading January 2015 digest: looking forward, it’s all about CDM 2015 →

Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility: “Lady Middleton… exerted herself to ask Mr Palmer if there was any news in the paper. ‘No, none at all,’ he replied, and read on.” It is often said that today’s news is tomorrow’s fish ‘n’ chip paper (even if only metaphorically, since they use white paper nowadays!). Whether that … Continue reading December 2014 digest: Autumn Statement, NIP 2014 and pay less notices →

John Clare, Remembrances: “Summer’s pleasures they are gone like to visions everyone, and the cloudy days of autumn and of winter cometh on. I tried to call them back but unbidden they are gone, far away from heart and eye and forever far away.” The weather is always close to our hearts and no more … Continue reading November 2014 digest: autumn, ANBs in adjudication and “plebgate” →

Plautus: “Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words.” How time flies. This month, Practical Law Construction celebrated its sixth birthday. It doesn’t seem like five minutes since we launched the service but, since then, we have covered all of the key developments in the construction industry, with an eye on the practical implications. As … Continue reading October 2014 digest: happy sixth birthday to us →

Dylan Thomas, Collected Poems: “And I rose in rainy autumn, and walked abroad in a shower of all my days…” September has been a warmer and drier month than on average, but autumn is now in full swing and the leaves are starting to turn and fall. That means the Michaelmas court term is about … Continue reading September 2014 digest: autumn leaves and misty mornings →

Lord Byron, Don Juan, st.42: “The English winter – ending in July, To recommence in August.” As the quote suggests, August has not been the warmest of summer months this year and autumn feels as if it is approaching fast. The end of endless sunshine seemed to coincide with the start of the school holidays and, … Continue reading August 2014 digest: autumn approaches →

John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America: “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” Just like June, July has continued to be hot and sunny and to offer us a veritable feast of sport, with the World Cup finals (and Germany as the ultimate victors), Wimbledon, international … Continue reading July 2014 digest: Denton and JCT →

Thomas Carew, A Song: “Ask me no more where Jove bestows, when June is past, the fading rose; For in your beauty’s orient deep, these flowers, as in their causes, sleep.” June represents the start of summer, with roses in bloom and the summer solstice. June 2014 has been one of the warmest on record, which … Continue reading June 2014 digest: cricket, Wimbledon and the World Cup →

Robert Louis Stevenson, Epilogue of the Cigar Divan: “These are my politics; to change what we can; to better what we can; but still to bear in mind that man is but a devil weakly fettered by some generous beliefs and impositions.” Although last month’s digest was all about change, an important change for construction … Continue reading May 2014 digest: all change at the TCC →

Bob Dylan, Times they are a changing: “Come writers and critics who prophetize with your pen, keep your eyes wide, the chance won’t come again And don’t speak too soon for the wheel’s still in spin, and there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’ For the loser now might be later to win, for the times … Continue reading April 2014 digest: “the times they are a-changin” →

Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Question: “I dreamed that, as I wandered by the way, bare winter suddenly was changed to spring.” This month, with the vernal equinox on 20 March, winter officially turned to spring in the northern hemisphere. It was a time when day and night were the same length and it heralded the start of warmer and sunnier days … Continue reading March 2014 digest: spring time →

Wikipedia: “An aurora (from the Latin word aurora, “sunrise” or the Roman goddess of dawn) is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere).” February is sometimes described as a bridge … Continue reading February 2014 digest: Jackson reforms, adjudication and auroras →

William Wordsworth, Resolution and Independence: “There was a roaring in the wind all night, the rain came heavily and fell in floods, but now the sun is rising, calm and bright.” Our monthly digest often starts with a weather-related quote, and this month is no exception, what with all the rain and flooding that the … Continue reading January 2014 digest: flooding and future events →

As it is almost upon us, what better way to start December’s digest than with a little bit of Slade’s Merry Christmas everybody: “So here it is merry Christmas Everybody’s having fun Look to the future now It’s only just begun” December is often a month of reflection, not only for the events in December, but … Continue reading December 2013 digest: Merry Christmas everybody →

John Clare, Autumn: “The summer-flower has run to seed, and yellow is the woodland bough; And every leaf of bush and weed is tipt with autumn’s pencil now.” Weather-wise, November has seemed milder and calmer than normal. We may have had a bit of wet and windy weather at the start of the month, with some cold days … Continue reading November 2013 digest: adjudication, insolvency and “plebgate” →

Practical Law Construction: Before two-thousand-and-eight You had a lot on your plate On law to advise Words blurring your eyes What was to be your poor fate? Now in two-thousand-thirteen We’re five years old and still keen All those tweaks to the Acts Myriad cases and facts We make sure that the best bits are … Continue reading October 2013 digest: happy fifth birthday to us →

Jennifer Hanson, Collateral Damage: “The sweet September rain chased away the sun Darkened up my skies as sorrow sweetly hung.” As autumn approaches, so does the start of the Michaelmas court term. While the majority of court users may have been enjoying the summer recess (and the end of  a wonderful summer), a small team went before Akenhead J … Continue reading September 2013 digest: it was all about collateral warranties →

Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: “I have answered three questions, and that is enough’, said his father; ‘don’t give yourself airs! Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?’” July 2013 may have been the third warmest and third sunniest on record (and the driest since 2006), but it all went … Continue reading August 2013 digest: Ask and the Ashes →

JM Barrie, Peter Pan: “When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.” This time last year we were all talking about the Queen’s jubilee celebrations and the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games … Continue reading July 2013 digest: another summer of sport and the Royal family →

Robert Louis Stevenson, A Christmas Sermon: “To be honest, to be kind – to earn a little and to spend a little less…” These words may have been written at the end of the nineteenth century but still ring true today, especially in light of the Chancellor’s latest spending review. While he may argue he … Continue reading June 2013 digest: spending review and infrastructure investment →

William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate; Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” We ended last month’s digest with a reference to the weather. It seems our jubilation at the sun’s … Continue reading May 2013 digest: BIM, BIM and more BIM →

AA Milne, When we were very young: “They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace – Christopher Robin went down with Alice.” The Palace guards may change daily but we all know that the pace of change is much slower in the legal world. That said, the sweeping reforms of the civil justice system, which came into force … Continue reading April 2013 digest: it’s all change this month →

Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass: “I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says ‘Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again’.” It may officially … Continue reading March 2013 digest: will the winter ever end? →

John Steinbeck: “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” These words may seem apt this month, with its cold grey days. Snowdrops have appeared, which is a sure sign spring is on its way. While we wait for longer, warmer days, we also await the “big bang” of the Jackson … Continue reading February 2013 digest: snowdrops and spring →

Christina Rossetti, In the Bleak Midwinter: “In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, long ago.” Christina’s words seem apt for the weather the country has experienced this month. While our thoughts may … Continue reading January 2013 digest: bonds, guarantees and privilege →

Band Aid’s, Do they know it’s Christmas time: “And in our world of plenty, we can spread a smile of joy! Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time.” The holiday period is almost upon us, and so is a period of reflection, not only for the events in December, but for the rest … Continue reading December 2012 digest: reflecting on a year gone by →

William Wordsworth, Resolution and Independence: “There was a roaring in the wind all night, the rain came heavily and fell in floods, but now the sun is rising, calm and bright.” Our monthly digest often starts with a weather-related quote, and this month is no exception, what with all the rain and flooding that the … Continue reading November 2012 digest: adjudicators’ fees and severing their decisions →

John Clare, Remembrances: “Summer’s pleasures they are gone like to visions everyone. And the cloudy days of autumn and of winter cometh on. I tried to call them back but unbidden they are gone.” In the 1970’s, the Two Ronnies made famous a sketch about four candles, or was it fork handles? During October, PLC … Continue reading October 2012 digest: fork handles, four candles and adjudicators’ fees →

Elbert Hubbard: “Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer the goal.” The sun has finally set on an amazing summer of sport, with the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games held earlier this month. Again, … Continue reading September 2012 digest: sun sets on sporting achievements →

Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.” We are partway through the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and, so far, the British team has exceeded … Continue reading August 2012 digest: arbitration, adjudication and litigation →

Shakespeare’s The Tempest: “Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices That, if I then had waked after long sleep, Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming, The clouds … Continue reading July 2012 digest: let the Games begin! →

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, To the Queen: “Her court was pure; her life serene; God gave her peace; her land reposed; A thousand claims to reverance closed, in her as Mother, Wife and Queen.” As a nation, we are obsessed with the weather. Regular readers of this digest will know that it features prominently here too. … Continue reading June 2012 digest: a diamond jubilee and the jet stream →

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby: “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” Summer has finally arrived and, after all the rain over the last couple … Continue reading May 2012 digest: Queen’s Speech and bonds →

From Walt Disney’s Bambi: “Drip drip drop, little April shower, what can compare with your beautiful sound? Beautiful sound, beautiful sound, drip, drop, drip, drop.” The spring blossom is falling like snow because of the showers and winds that many of us are experiencing at the moment. It may be good news for gardeners and farmers, … Continue reading April 2012 digest: showers, fires and IT issues →

Algernon Charles Swinburne, Atalanta in Calydon: “For winter’s rains and ruins are over, and all the season of snows and sins; … And in green underwood and cover, blossom by blossom the spring begins.” March heralds the start of spring. It’s a month that is traditionally associated with the vernal equinox, the move to British … Continue reading March 2012 digest: the environment, the budget and spring →

Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Sensitive Plant: “And spring arose on the garden fair, like the spirit of love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on earth’s dark breast rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.” Spring is here, with the first signs of flowering bulbs, buds breaking through and birdsong in the air. With thoughts of … Continue reading February 2012 digest: spring is in the air →

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Work Without Hope: “And Winter slumbering in the open air, wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!” Before we turn our attention to events in 2012, it is sensible to start with two cases from the very end of 2011 (and ones that (almost) got away). After last month’s digest was … Continue reading January 2012 digest: implied terms, party walls and procurement →

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 everywhere!” During December, we continued where we left off at the end of November, with more new and updated content. We published seven … Continue reading December 2011 digest: new content and a Christmas quiz →

Percy Bysshe Shelley, Hymn to intellectual beauty: “There is a harmony in autumn, and a lustre in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!” As November ends, so does autumn. The days are getting shorter and the nights are lengthening as the … Continue reading November digest 2011: new standard documents and adjudication →

Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass: “I mean, what is an un-birthday present? A present given when it isn’t your birthday, of course. Alice considered a little. ‘I like birthday presents best’, she said at last.” Amazingly, this month saw PLC Construction turn three. Back in 2008 when we launched, the industry was in the … Continue reading October 2011 digest: our third birthday →

TS Eliot, Little Gidding: “What we call the beginning is often the end, and to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we all start from.” We are on the home straight when it comes to the Construction Act 1996 changes coming into force. As 1 October fast approaches, we … Continue reading September 2011 digest: D-day for Construction Act changes and costs pilot →

William Shakespeare, Richard II: “His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last, for violent fires soon burn out themselves.” August saw some of the worst civil commotion in decades, with riots in a number of English cities. Once the violence and looting was over, the clean-up began. The impact goes much wider than just the … Continue reading August 2011 digest: riots, the clean-up and cricket →

JM Keynes, The End of Laissez-Faire: “The important thing for Government is not to do things which individuals are doing already, and to do them a little better or a little worse; but to do those things that at present are not done at all.” Last month we were still awaiting an effective date for … Continue reading July 2011 digest: effective dates, new Schemes and more adjudication cases →

As Benjamin Disraeli said in 1867: “Change is inevitable. In a progressive country change is constant.” June has been a month of changes, not only with shifts in the weather (obviously, Wimbledon started, and everyone knows it nearly always rains during Wimbledon), but also with details of the changes to the industry’s main suite of standard … Continue reading June 2011 digest: JCT contract changes and the rain →

“Never cast a clout until May is out.” This is a centuries old phrase that is generally taken to mean one shouldn’t discard winter clothing until the end of May. This year has been a bit different, with another record warm and dry month. To many of us, winter coats are a thing of our … Continue reading May 2011 digest: more bank holidays →

Martin Luther: “There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.” No summary of April would be complete without mentioning William and Kate’s wedding. Kate’s dress has a lot to live up to, but we can only speculate on what it may be like, going to press two days … Continue reading April 2011 digest: a royal wedding and bank holidays →

Harold Macmillan: “The wind of change is blowing through the continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact.” The political unrest that has been spreading through the middle east dominated the headlines at the start of March but was overtaken by the catastrophic natural disaster in Japan, subsequent concerns … Continue reading March 2011 digest: political unrest, a Tsunami and the Budget →

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Afternoon in February: “The day is ending, the night is descending; the marsh is frozen, the river dead. Through clouds like ashes, the red sun flashes, on village windows that glimmer red.” February is sometimes described as a bridge between January and March, a month that connects winter to spring. Some days are wet, some … Continue reading February 2011 digest: Scottish Scheme, BSF judicial review and corporate manslaughter conviction →

Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child’s Garden of Verses: “In winter I get up at night and dress by candle-light. In summer, quite the other way – I have to go to bed by day.” January nights are some of the longest of the year, its days some of the coldest. It’s a time of year … Continue reading January 2011 digest: concurrent liability in contract and tort, and economic loss →

In the words of “Let It Snow”: “Oh the weather outside is frightful, But the fire is so delightful, And since we’ve no place to go, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” It has been a cold and snow-filled December. “Let it snow” may have been the last thing people were thinking as large parts of … Continue reading December 2010 digest: Let it snow! →

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 … Continue reading November 2010 digest: duty of care in tort and third party rights →

On Money, money, money, Abba sang: “I work all night, I work all day, to pay the bills I have to pay, ain’t it sad. And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me, that’s too bad.” Money was high on the agenda in October as the coalition government delivered its long-awaited spending … Continue reading October 2010 digest: spending cuts, quangos and health and safety →

As Truman Capote said: “Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.” It was all change at the TCC this month. Not only did Akenhead J’s time as the Judge in … Continue reading September digest: it’s all change for the TCC and Building Regulations →

Aristotle said: “The end of labour is to gain leisure.” August is traditionally the month when people take a holiday, and yet this month it has not been at all quiet on the legal front (although the furore over the judgment in City Inn v Shepherd seems to be over). 

In the words of Henry James: “Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” This time last year, all the talk was about who would win the Ashes (we did); last month the focus was on the World Cup (Spain won); and now it seems … Continue reading July 2010 digest: ODA, BSF and third party rights →

Freddie Mercury from Queen: “And we have no such thing as a budget anymore. Our manager freaks when we show him the bill. We’re lavish to the bone.” This month saw the government deliver its emergency budget. If only the country’s economics were as straightforward as being a rock star once was.

The Tiger by William Blake: “Tiger, tiger, burning bright In the forests of the night” May’s news was dominated by the election, the first full coalition government since the end of the Second World War and the first power-sharing deal between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. We reported on the construction industry’s reaction, the government’s coalition … Continue reading May 2010 digest: NEC Z clauses, third party rights and tigers →

“A volcano is just a mountain with hiccups.” We are unsure where this quote originates, but it was probably of little comfort to the thousands of travellers affected by April’s biggest story, the Icelandic volcanic eruption, which dominated the news and even managed to push the general election off the front pages for a few days.

Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the USA (attributed): “Nothing is easier than spending the public money. It does not appear to belong to anybody. The temptation is overwhelming to bestow it on somebody.” March saw the Government deliver its (final?) Budget. As there was little in the Budget for the construction industry, the reaction to it was muted. … Continue reading March 2010 digest: the Budget and the Scheme for Construction contracts →

An English proverb says: “If February give much snow, a fine Summer it doth foreshow.” Regular readers of PLC Construction’s monthly digest will have noticed that it has been dominated by bad weather and environmental issues in recent months. That hasn’t changed in February, with the continuing wintry weather and the launch of PLC Environment’s CRC Survival Kit, which provides … Continue reading February 2010 digest: adjudication practice develops and PLC launches its CRC survival kit →

Sara Coleridge, Pretty Lessons in Verse: “January brings the snow, Makes our feet and fingers glow.” January is described by Wikipedia as “the coldest month of the year within most of the Northern Hemisphere…”. We are sure no-one would contradict this. Snow and ice, freezing weather and failed transport systems once again dominated the news at the … Continue reading January 2010 digest: more cold weather, Jackson LJ and CRC →

In the bleak midwinter: “In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, long ago.” Last month it was exceptional rainfall, this month it was snow and freezing temperatures. Given the weather the country … Continue reading December 2009 digest: snow, COP 15 and terrorism insurance →

In the words of Guns N’ Roses (in November Rain): “‘Cause nothin’ lasts forever Even cold November rain” or, if we want to be a bit more highbrow, in the words of Sir Walter Scott: “November’s sky is chill and drear, November’s leaf is red and sear.”

“The Witches’ Spell” from Macbeth, by William Shakespeare: FIRST WITCH: Round about the cauldron go; In the poison’d entrails throw: Toad that under cold stone, Days and nights has thirty-one. Sweltered venom, sleeping got, Boil thou first i’ the charmèd pot. ALL: Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. October has been … Continue reading October 2009 digest: ’tis the month of Halloween →

John Keats, Ode to Autumn: “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun” September marks the end of summer and the start of autumn; and while it has been warm (and mostly dry) after our wet and cool summer, it has nevertheless brought a chill wind to the leading contractors fined … Continue reading September 2009 digest: autumn leaves, bid-rigging and public procurement →

As anyone who has holidayed in the UK this summer will know, we have not had the barbecue summer that the Met Office promised. July was provisionally the wettest month on record in England and Wales and it feels like August has followed suit. If only a Spanish proverb was true: “When it rains in … Continue reading August 2009 digest: the ODA, the ICO, NEC3 and cricket →

Alice Cooper sang “School’s out for summer“. Not only did July mark the start of the school holidays, it also marked the start of the summer vacation for the Royal Courts of Justice. Before the break, the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) had a variety of issues before it:

June saw the JCT publish its official “guides” to the changes included in the 2009 revisions to its standard form contracts. Unlike previous JCT guides, these do not give a detailed description of the changes made by the 2009 Revisions. We’ve been looking at the JCT Standard Building Contract, 2005 edition (SBC05). To assist construction … Continue reading June 2009 digest: Cabinet reshuffles, heatwaves and Wimbledon →

After a lull since Christmas, the TCC has sprung into action again and enforced more adjudicators’ decisions. Of wider interest (both within and oustide the construction and engineering sector), the TCC also confirmed that a mediator could be called as a witness in a claim that a settlement agreement was signed under economic duress (albeit, … Continue reading May 2009 digest: the TCC, litigation costs, swine flu, JCT Revisions, LDEDC in Commons →