In late 2014 two TCC decisions (Harding v Paice and ISG v Seevic) considered the effect of failures to serve payment and pay less notices in response to applications for payment....
Clarkslegal’s Construction team is pleased to confirm the recent recruitment of Victoria Kempthorne, a newly qualified solicitor, and Stanley Kamalu, a paralegal/trainee, to their ever-expanding team of construction, engineering and energy professionals....
Liquidated damages clauses are commonly used in construction contracts as a solution to deal with specified breaches. However, the courts have refused to enforce liquidated damages which are deemed to be a penalty....
I attended an event last month hosted by the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA), in which industry leaders (and me!) gathered to discuss a couple of pertinent questions for the construction industry:...
In a recent case, the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) has provided some guidance on the legal doctrine known as “estoppel by convention”....
The recent Goldswain case gave the High Court the opportunity to summarise the relevant case law relating to the extent of a consultant’s duty to warn its client in relation to the potential failings of other parties or of the client itself....
As is quite often the case in relation to building developments, a consultant will provide preliminary services to the developer in expectation of being awarded a contract to provide consultancy services for the entire project. In such circumstances, it can be difficult to ascertain who is liable for the cost of the consultant’s initial services, if the anticipated contract does not materialise....
MW High Tech Projects UK Ltd v Haase Environmental Consulting GmbH [2015] EWHC 152 (TCC)...
Employers are increasingly asking for "BIM" to be included in the services provided by consultants and contractors, but very few of them know what they are asking for and very few consultants and contractors can actually provide it! The problem arises out of defining exactly what "BIM" is for the purposes of the project in question....
Parties to a construction contract, much like any other contract, may find themselves embroiled in a dispute at some point during the life of the contract. For disputes ‘arising under` a construction contract, adjudication is a compulsory procedure (it cannot be contracted out of), developed in order to provide a speedy (usually adjudicators must render their decision within 28 days of appointment) and cost efficient resolution to a dispute, on an interim basis. The reason that it is ‘interim` is that the decision of the adjudicator is binding on the parties temporarily, or at least unless, or until the underlying dispute is determined through litigation, arbitration or by agreement....
What happens in a residential construction contract where the value of defects might exceed the amount of Retention being withheld by the Employer? Is the Employer limited to the stated percentage of Retention, or, if not, how is the sum of what can be withheld established?...
John Wevill, a leading construction lawyer with over 15 years` experience in the field, has been appointed as Partner within Clarkslegal`s construction and energy team....
A number of construction contracts contain what are known as "conclusive evidence" clauses...
Building Information Modelling is its official label; but BIM is essentially about effective sharing and management of information for the collective benefit of all involved on a construction project....
The recent High Court case of 199 Knightsbridge Development Ltd v WSP UK Ltd deals with the standard of care owed by professionals...
If you are funding a development, or your development is being funded by others, you will, most likely, have come across the phrase "step-in rights". What are step-in rights and why do development funders want them?...
When undertaking a modern development, where all the parties (employer, contractor, sub-contractors) are committed to collaborate in good faith (or, at least, the contracts say they are), it seems sensible to protect that team ethos through the procurement of a project insurance policy...
This matter came before the Technology and Construction Court to, amongst wider issues, interpret the obligations of a contractor to provide the employer with ancillary documentation in the form of sub-contractor collateral warranties, a parent company guarantee and a performance bond following the termination of an NEC3 contract for the development of retail space...
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has delayed its proposed revocation of the Site Waste Management Plans Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/314) in England....
This is the conclusion reached by the all-Party Commission of Inquiry into Sustainable Construction and the Green Deal....