I recently resigned on day 27 of an adjudication (you may recall that adjudication under the Construction Act 1996 is supposed to be a 28-day process). You may be wondering why I resigned so late in the day. Continue reading
REUTERS | Petar Kujundzic
September 18, 2009
Resigning part way through an adjudication
REUTERS | Jason Lee
September 15, 2009
The Olympic Park: something to sing about in these otherwise depressed times
Last week, those participating in TeCSA’s technical training course, “Building Stadia: from the start to the finishing line!” were extremely fortunate to be given the opportunity to tour the Olympic Park. This included being taken into the bowl of stadium itself and driving up the 100 metre “track”!
REUTERS | Ricardo Moraes
September 14, 2009
Another fine mess you’ve got me into: can you pass on a criminal fine in a contract?
There is a legal textbook which illustrates the varying tests of responsibility in relation to a glass of water falling off a table.
- Deliberate act – a man hits the glass with a baseball bat and it falls to the ground and smashes.
- Recklessness – the man is dancing wildly around the room and knocks the glass off the table with a high kick.
- Negligence – the man is sitting at the table having an animated conversation and knocks the glass over with his elbow.
- Strict liability – the man is lying on the floor asleep at one end of the room. The glass is on a table at the other end of the room and it falls off for no apparent reason.
I suppose that the more imaginative amongst you might argue that the last example may well qualify as force majeure, but let’s not overcomplicate this… Continue reading
REUTERS | Neil Hall
September 11, 2009
ODA reports UK businesses benefit from work at the Olympics site
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has announced that more than 1,000 UK businesses have already benefited from the London 2012 Olympics, winning over £5 billion of contracts to prepare the infrastructure and venues for the games. Continue reading
REUTERS | Adrees Latif
September 11, 2009
Appointing the nominated adjudicator under TeCSA adjudication rules
The appointment of the adjudicator was in the news earlier this year in Bovis Lend Lease v Cofely Engineering, when the court had to consider what the correct procedure for nominating an adjudicator was under the sub-contract. Continue reading
REUTERS | Brian Snyder
September 4, 2009
Who will be the new Chief Construction Adviser?
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. Continue reading
REUTERS | Navesh Chitrakar
September 4, 2009
So much to do, so little time (in adjudication)
Edward Davies has written a blog post about time, and the balance lawyers have to strike between giving their advice in the timescale required by the client, and also ensuring that they take sufficient time to ensure that that advice is correct.
In an adjudication context, as an adjudicator, time is the most challenging aspect of all. Continue reading
REUTERS | Navesh Chitrakar
September 2, 2009
The construction industry: a dangerous place to work?
The construction industry has an unenviable health and safety record. In the year to 31 March 2009, there were 53 construction site deaths. Although this number was lower than the previous year (when there were 72 deaths), the construction industry remains one of the most dangerous industries to work in.
REUTERS |
September 1, 2009
Unreasonable skill and care: do we expect too much in a soundbite world?
When I was at university each department produced a T-shirt with what we would now call a “corporate strap-line”, intended to convey the essence of their area of expertise. I have to confess that I can’t remember what the law department’s T-shirt said; we are talking over 30 years ago.
The best of all the T-shirts was from the psychology department which featured a pair of piercing blue eyes with the words “we understand you” printed below… Continue reading
REUTERS | Mike Blake
August 28, 2009
August 2009 digest: the ODA, the ICO, NEC3 and cricket
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 August, it rains honey and wine.” Continue reading