Just a few weeks ago, I wrote that section 105(2) of the Construction Act 1996 should be consigned to George Orwell’s fate worse than death, Room 101. It seems that Coulson J has similar feelings, although he expressed it rather differently in round two of the dispute between Severfield (UK) Ltd and Duro Felguera UK Ltd. Continue reading
Recent weeks have brought two further decisions concerning an unreasonable refusal to mediate. The message from the courts on when to deal with a request to mediate is now clear: parties are expected to respond promptly. The message on how parties should respond is more opaque.
The courts, with Halsey v Milton Keynes no doubt in mind, have not gone as far as to say parties cannot ever refuse to mediate. However, unless a statute permits a party to say no (as I discussed previously in the context of the ADR Regulations 2015), the likelihood of a court now finding that a party has validly and reasonably refused to mediate does seem remote. Continue reading
Following business as usual this week, Practical Law Construction will send its last email of 2015 next week, to arrive in your inbox on Thursday 24 December 2015. We are then taking a break until the new year.
The first email of 2016 will be sent to arrive in your inbox on Thursday 7 January 2016. This email will include reports of all developments since 23 December 2015, as well as Practical Law’s looking forward to 2016 pieces.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year from Practical Law.
In Bloomberg v LP v Malling Pre-Cast Ltd, a judgment that well illustrates the decline of “business common sense” as an aid to contractual interpretation, Fraser J considered the interplay between section 1(3) of the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 and a clause limiting liability in a contractor’s collateral warranty. Continue reading
Let me take you back almost 12 months to my blog on ISG v Seevic. I left you with the following question:
“What would have been the case if this had been the final payment, rather than an interim payment?”
Would the same principle apply so that Seevic was not entitled to refer a dispute concerning the merits of the final payment to adjudication?
Well, almost 12 months later we may (see below for my caveat) have the answer from the Court of Appeal. Continue reading
In Marks and Spencer plc v BNP Paribas Securities Services Trust Company (Jersey) Ltd, the Supreme Court has clarified the law on implied terms. In doing so, it appears to have consigned Lord Hoffmann’s decision in Attorney General of Belize v Belize Telecom Ltd to history. Continue reading
In Van Oord UK Ltd and another v Allseas UK Ltd, Coulson J showed that the TCC isn’t afraid to roll up its sleeves and get its hands dirty when considering disruption and prolongation claims arising from unforeseen ground conditions, among other things.
This type of claim is often very difficult to prove and this judgment demonstrates that a contractor must be able to make out its case on liability, causation and quantum and have the evidence to support that case. Continue reading
In Harding v Paice and another, the Court of Appeal has held that an adjudicator’s previous decision that, because an employer failed to serve a pay less notice, he was obliged to pay the amount stated in a contractor’s final account, is no bar to the employer starting a further adjudication to determine the true value of the final account. In doing so, the court upheld Edwards-Stuart J’s judgment in Harding v Paice and another. Continue reading
Countless generations have sung along to the Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas, with its simple lyrics and cumulative effect. We all know how it goes:
“On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me
a Partridge in a Pear Tree.”
A new gift is added each day (turtle doves, French hens, calling birds, gold rings, geese a-laying, swans a-swimming, maids a-milking, ladies dancing, lords a-leaping, pipers piping and (finally) drummers drumming), although, perhaps, it is not so easy to remember after a little Christmas sherry!
There may not seem to be much of a connection between the carol and Coulson J’s judgment in Van Oord UK Ltd and another v Allseas UK Ltd (about the laying of an on-shore gas pipeline in the Shetland Islands), but bear with me on this one. Continue reading
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 to “rebuild Britain”, which may be good news for the construction industry. Continue reading