REUTERS |

We have published episode 19 of The Construction Briefing podcast featuring the Practical Law Construction editorial team.

This month, Michelle and Yassir discuss:

  • A number of building safety developments, including the building safety developers’ contract, various consultations and the judgment in LDC (Portfolio One) Ltd v George Downing Construction Ltd and another.
  • Three adjudication enforcement judgments (Sudlows Ltd v Global Switch Estates 1 Ltd, LJR Interiors Ltd v Cooper Construction Ltd and A & V Building Solutions Ltd v J & B Hopkins Ltd).
  • Notices of dissatisfaction in Ravestein BV v Trant Engineering Ltd.
  • Energy Works (Hull) Ltd v MW High Tech Projects UK Ltd and others.

Finally, they refer to the Equal Representation in Adjudication Pledge, which launches later this month and aims to increase the number of female adjudicators.

The Construction Briefing is an alternative way of learning about key developments in construction law, with our editorial team discussing some of the wider issues those developments raise.

You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (like Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts and Spotify), enabling you to download and listen to all episodes on the go on your phone. Alternatively, you can use our audio and video RSS feed to access the latest edition as soon as it is published.

REUTERS | Leonhard Foeger

I advise many clients involved in construction projects who are on the cusp of a dispute. While they take legal advice on the merits of their position, my clients usually continue to seek to reach an amicable solution with their counterparty through direct negotiation as well as continuing to liaise on a day to day basis to get the job finished.

In this context, my clients regularly ask, “Should my email be without prejudice?”

Although the law in this area is relatively settled, the question continues to throw up difficulties. I have been involved with several cases where one party has attempted to put material before a judge or adjudicator that the other side says is inadmissible because it was made without prejudice.

The recent Privy Council case of A&A v Petroleum Co of Trinidad & Tobago sheds some light on this perennial problem. Continue reading

REUTERS | Gleb Garanich

Some years ago I wrote a number of blogs about the long-running legal battle between Gary Paice and Kim Springall (property developers) and MJ Harding (the building contractor). That really was the case that kept on giving, and I’m not sure we’ve had two parties provide such rich blog pickings since.

However, I think there might be a favourite to take this most coveted of crowns in the form of the disputes between Sudlows Ltd (the contractor) and Global Switch Estates 1 Ltd (the employer). Although we are only on the second reported TCC enforcement judgment (some of you may recall I wrote about the last one in January 2021), they have had six adjudications and, given that it is clear from the latest judgment handed-down by Waksman J in December 2022 that the parties are still some £16.5 million apart, I suspect we may see more of them in the future.

I appreciate that many of you may already be aware of this very well written judgment, and some commentators are clearly of the view that it could have a significant impact on serial adjudications.

But is that really the case or does the judgment turn on its facts? I want to explore that, and consider what lessons adjudicators in particular can take from this judgment. Continue reading

REUTERS |

In a previous blog, I explored one aspect of the statutory reallocation of risk for the costs of works to remedy building safety issues in the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022). The focus of that blog was the new landlord’s certificate, designed as a tool for the landlord to communicate with leaseholders as to whether it is “responsible” for defects, or whether it meets the “contribution condition” in the BSA 2022. In this blog, I will focus on the second element of this new framework, the “qualifying lease certificate” or “leaseholder certificate”. Continue reading

REUTERS | Arnd Wiegmann

Hello to 2023

Happy new year everyone.

Once again I am reflecting on what I’d like to see and, looking at my 2022 list, I think I could probably include all of them again apart from three:

  • Clarity regarding starting a true value adjudication when you haven’t satisfied a smash and grab obligation (because that one has been sorted out by O’Farrell J in Bexheat Ltd v Essex Services Group Ltd and Roger Ter Haar QC in AM Construction Ltd v The Darul Amaan Trust).
  • A return to normality. Well, just when we thought we were beginning to move past Brexit and the COVID pandemic, Russia invaded Ukraine and turned the world upside down again. I’m not sure I know what “normal” is anymore, so how can you wish for it??
  • West Ham qualifying for Europe again (and more on this later).

However, as I also predict some of my 2022 wish list will be realised in 2023, I’m not going to repeat them. Continue reading

REUTERS |

Are you a construction practitioner wondering what might happen in 2023? If so, then wonder no more. Instead, listen to episode 18 of The Construction Briefing, in which Michelle Rousell and Yassir Mahmood of Practical Law Construction discuss what they think the big issues for 2023 are. They involve collateral warranties and building safety, both in the courts and through more legislative developments.

The Construction Briefing is an alternative way of learning about key developments in construction law, with our editorial team discussing some of the wider issues those developments raise.

You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (like Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts and Spotify), enabling you to download and listen to all episodes on the go on your phone. Alternatively, you can use our audio and video RSS feed to access the latest edition as soon as it is published.

REUTERS | Regis Duvignau

The recent judgment of the TCC in St James’s Oncology SPC Ltd (Project Co) v Lendlease Construction (Europe) Ltd and another provides a fascinating commentary on the importance of drafting a building contract that is tailored to deliver the needs of the employer and the end-user.  Continue reading

REUTERS | Russell Cheyne

In Thomas Barnes & Sons plc v Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, the TCC had to consider whether there was a concurrent delay and if so how did that affect the parties’ rights under the contract. The delay to the works in this case entitled the employer to terminate the contract and engage a third party to complete the works. Continue reading

REUTERS | Toby Melville

I think all of the attendees of the FIDIC 2022 International Users’ Conference in London in November 2022 were delighted to be able to congregate in person, after two successive years of an on-line conference due to general pandemic restrictions. I know I was – not least because it meant I didn’t have to contend with any “you’re on mute” moments during my presentation on industry feedback and early use of FIDIC Green Book 2021.

It is six years since FIDIC unveiled the pre-release of the 2017 Yellow Book, and in this conference it felt like we’ve moved away from the training and explanations of how the 2017 suite works as compared to the well-regarded 1999 suite of contracts. Instead, this conference focused on the use of the contracts: how both the 1999 and 2017 suites have withstood the (many) tests that COVID, the war in Ukraine and global inflation have thrown up and the challenges these raise for projects. In addition, this conference launched the 2022 reprint of the 2017 Red, Yellow and Silver Books, which have all been updated and now include some (not insignificant) amendments to the original 2017 versions. Another launch at this conference was the enormous FIDIC Contracts Guide 2022. Continue reading

REUTERS |

In episode 17, Michelle Rousell and Yassir Mahmood from Practical Law Construction consider a number of topics:

  • The interaction between adjudication enforcement and section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996 in Northumbrian Water Ltd v Doosan Enpure Ltd and another [2022] EWHC 2881 (TCC).
  • Confusion over CE marks.
  • The private sector construction playbook.
  • More building safety developments, including a building safety levy consultation, more SIs and Practical Law’s updated resources to reflect proposed changes to building control and building regulations.

The podcast ends with a cautionary tale about using social media.

The Construction Briefing is an alternative way of learning about key developments in construction law, with our editorial team discussing some of the wider issues those developments raise.

You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (like Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts and Spotify), enabling you to download and listen to all episodes on the go on your phone. Alternatively, you can use our audio and video RSS feed to access the latest edition as soon as it is published.