Technology is affecting the way claims are made and dealt with in many different ways. It is making it easier not only to find out relevant information but also to present it to those who need it, whether that be lawyers, experts, commercial decision makers, or adjudicators/judges....
Build UK recently published six recommendations to its members as to provisions which it says should not be included in construction contracts. In this article we look at what the recommendations are, why they have been made, and what impact (if any) they may have on negotiations....
A good chunk of the TCC’s business concerns the enforcement of arbitration awards. It is well known that there are very limited circumstances in which it will refuse to do so. One such ground is where the adjudication award was procured by fraud and we reported last year on the unsuccessful attempt in Gosvenor v Aygun....
In Swansea Stadium Management Company Ltd v City & County of Swansea and another [2019] EWHC 989 it was held that a notice or certificate of making good defects is conclusive that identified defects have been made good....
The Court of Appeal has provided useful guidance on the meaning of Practical Completion in Mears v Costplan (2019). We wrote about the first instance decision in this case in our previous article available here....
The construction sector is changing. The Hackitt Report and subsequent “Building A Safer Future” Implementation plan, digitisation, BIM and off-site manufacturing are all influencing methods and approaches to new building....
In construction projects it is not uncommon for an employer to terminate the contract before the works are completed. In Triple Point Technology Inc v PTT Public Co Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 230, the Court of Appeal reviewed the law on liquidated damages provisions in relation to delay and considered whether liquidated damages are recoverable in the event of termination. ...
A group of lawyers, property professionals and environmental consultants called for indoor air quality measures to be made legally enforceable during a roundtable discussion chaired by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA)....
In M Davenport v Greer, one of the first cases to follow the court of Appeal’s decision in S&T v Grove (which we discussed here), the TCC held that an employer could not use a “true value” adjudication decision as a defence or set off to enforcement proceedings for an earlier decision in favour of the contractor....
From 10 January 2019 it become possible for architects to apply under a Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa. Previously architects could only follow the Tier 2 route, where they would have to be sponsored by a licenced Sponsor, who would have to meet the Residence Labour Market Test (RLMT) before making an offer of employment to the migrant and prior to the migrant coming to the UK....
Construction analysis: In December 2018, the government published its implementation plan for fundamental reform of the building and fire safety regulatory system. ...
In January 2019, a new international standard for Building Information Modelling (BIM), BS EN ISO 19650 1&2:2018 “Organization of information about construction works – Information management using building information modelling”, was published....
Adjudication is a relatively quick and cheap way of determining a construction claim. It is temporarily binding, meaning that with limited exceptions, it will be enforced by the courts unless and until it is overturned in subsequent litigation....
There is a lot of talk about the “Internet of Things”, or IoT. But what does that actually mean – and what does that mean for the construction industry...
The term ‘practical completion’ is not defined in many industry standard forms of building contract, such as the JCT, which can lead to uncertainty and disputes as to whether works are in fact practically complete. Very often therefore, project specific definitions are incorporated by amendments to the standard forms. There have been two very recent cases on the meaning of ‘practical completion’ and we now consider the key issues arising....
The recent Judgment of the High Court in Katara Hospitality (a company incorporated in Qatar) v (1) Gerard Guez and (2) Jacqueline Rose [2018] EWHC 3063 (“Katara Hospitality”) highlights the importance of ensuring the proper and valid execution of an instrument and also serves as a timely reminder of the importance of ensuring that the scope of an instrument is expressly set out if it is to be successfully relied upon....
2018 has been a rollercoaster year for construction. The collapse of Carillion casting light on unfair payment practices, abuse of retentions and the woeful profit margins. The Hackitt Report in May 2018 identifying the need for an industry-wide cultural shift away from cost focussed agendas and towards prioritising good quality service and products, facilitated by a full-life “golden thread” of digital information....
Some significant issues in relation to the application of liquidated damages for delay have been considered in the recent case of GPP Big Field LLP & Anor v Solar EPC Solutions SL (2018). GPP Big Field LLP and GPP Langstone LLP (together and separately “GPP”), as employer, entered into five EPC contracts with Prosolia UK Limited (“Prosolia”), the contractor, for the construction of solar power generation plants in the UK. ...
In October 2018, the CITB (Construction Industry Training Board) produced a new research report detailing a skills plan for the construction industry (“Unlocking Construction’s Digital Future: A skills plan for industry”). The report investigates the role technology could play in the construction sector....
One of the final acts of Coulson J before his elevation to the Court of Appeal was to sound the death knell for smash and grab adjudications. We report here on his first instance decision in Grove v S&T. ...