Disputes are increasing; cash is short. Where does that leave you and your project?
We live in troubled times. The commercial property and construction industries have been particularly affected. In the construction industry, two trends are noticeable:
Responding parties often argue that they have been the victim of an ambush by the referring party, but what is an ambush and why does it matter?
This post continues from my thoughts last week. (For more general legal information on pandemic influenza, click here.)
Contracts and clauses
When I first started in the law, force majeure clauses were not discussed at any length in most contract negotiations. However, in recent years (and especially after the foot and mouth crisis of 2001) people have started looking at them in much more detail. Continue reading
Claims are commonplace and all those involved in construction and engineering projects will be familiar with the disputes that can arise on a project. Continue reading
The issue used to be whether the adjudicator had jurisdiction to award interest under the Scheme for Construction Contracts. There were conflicting interpretations as to whether an adjudicator had a statutory standalone power to award interest (like a judge or arbitrator) or whether he could only award interest if a right existed. Continue reading
I felt a bit rough over the weekend and told my wife that I was a bit concerned as to whether I was a man with swine flu. The rather unhelpful riposte from the Mrs was that I may well have got the words in the wrong order.
We have seen plenty of health scares over the years and it is difficult to know whether this is something transient – people are just being cautious – or something that will have a serious impact. Let’s hope it’s transient and that the fears of a return (in stronger form) in the autumn turn out to be an abundance of caution. Continue reading
Everyone who is familiar with the Construction Act 1996 knows (or should know by now), that certain contracts are excluded from its payment and adjudication provisions. This includes the top tier contract between the local authority (usually) and the project company in PPP/PFI deals. Continue reading
“Timber!”
However loud or often I say it, will anyone really listen to the warning?
Site can be a dangerous place. Much of what goes on in or around a construction site is, or at least has the potential to be, dangerous. There is a lot of heavy, powerful equipment being moved around, used and stored. While some of the parties who interact on site will have a contract with each other, in fact, many of them don’t. Continue reading
The Government is abandoning its plan to build three “titan” prisons, each of which would have housed 2,500 inmates.
The decision, announced by Justice Minister Jack Straw, is a blow to the construction industry as the prisons were expected to cost around £1.2 billion, much of which would have been spent on construction. Instead, the Government now plans to build five smaller prisons, each housing 1,500 inmates. Only two of these prisons will go ahead immediately. Continue reading