Will there ever come a time when parties can stop arguing over whether all of their contract terms are in writing?
Some may argue that this time will come (maybe next year) when the amendments to the Construction Act 1996 come into force. That’s because part of the proposed amendments do away with the section 107 requirements (agreements in writing). Continue reading
If a high net worth individual wants to carry out work to their house, or even intends to build a new house, what form of building contract might you recommend for their works? Continue reading
This may be a children’s playground taunt, most commonly associated with accusations of dishonesty (it is actually paraphrased from William Blake’s poem, “The Liar”) but, in recent months, the courts have dealt with a number of cases where one party has alleged the other is guilty of fraud (or something akin to fraud). Continue reading
We all know that we need to improve energy use in new houses and buildings, so why should we care about existing housing stock? On 10 June, the Construction Products Association (CPA) published An Introduction to Low Carbon Domestic Refurbishment, a guide that answers that question and might even provide some inspiration for the wider construction industry.
Construction lawyers and construction companies now seem to take it for granted that construction contracts have to be regulated, without the freedom to contract other industries enjoy.
Should that always be the case? Continue reading
Yesterday evening the Construction Projects Knowledge Management Association invited Mr Justice Ramsey to speak to members and their guests at Keating Chambers. The topic for discussion was the impact of the electronic age on documentation, in terms of:
Both the topics pre-date the Jackson report and much has been written about them. That said, there remains a tendency for practitioners to view them as reforms for the future, rather than part and parcel of the here and now. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
Last month I wrote about rule 6 of Coulson J’s “seven golden rules of adjudication“; his road-map for maximising a party’s chances of having an adjudicator’s decision enforced. This week I thought I would concentrate on rule 2, which I think also merits a comment. Continue reading
The title sounds like an exam question, but is there any truth in the statement?
Since 2008 and the decision in Cantillon v Urvasco, the TCC has been considering the knotty problem of what to do with an adjudicator’s decision when part of the decision is unenforceable for some reason or other. Long gone are the days when it is a simple “all or nothing” on enforcement. Continue reading
Of the various areas of law that make up what is known as “construction law”, I think it is fair to say that negligence and whether a certain loss is recoverable is perhaps the most complex and one which, still today, many years after a snail was found in a bottle of ginger beer, gives rise to the most uncertainty.
That uncertainty concerns, amongst other things, the question of whether the damage caused is to “other property” (when the loss is normally recoverable) or to “the thing itself” (when the loss is not normally recoverable, as it constitutes economic loss). Continue reading