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....
In a rare case involving collateral warranties, in Parkwood Leisure Ltd v Laing O`Rourke Wales and West Ltd earlier this year the High Court considered whether a collateral warranty was a construction contract and, therefore subject to the right to adjudicate...
On-demand bonds are experiencing a revival in these recessionary times. They have the advantage of being able to be called upon immediately and are generally perceived as a "must-have" security document for most clients entering into construction contracts...
The last few years have been challenging for the construction sector to say the least. Since the Recession started the existing market has become more and more competitive. Construction output is at an all-time low, The Green Deal is floundering, promised infrastructure investment seems slow to materialise, which in turn stalls recovery in the sector as a whole....
There was talk of a new revolution at Clarkslegal and Kier Construction`s recent seminar, where a panel of top industry experts gave delegates a detailed insight into the impact that Building Information Modelling (BIM) is expected to have across the construction and housing sectors from here on....
A very significant recent case, Walter Lilly v Mackay [2012] EWHC 1773 (TCC) has provided the construction industry with some much needed guidance and clarity in relation to treatment of many of the common elements of construction disputes: extensions of time, concurrent delay and loss and expense....
Construction projects are technical in nature and are often hugely complex. The contract needs to reflect this complexity and will involve some negotiation even where a standard form contract is to be used....
The Government Construction Strategy requires that a Level 2 Building information modelling (BIM) (with all project and asset information, documentation and data being electronic) is in place and in use on construction and infrastructure projects by 2016 at the latest....
Jurisdictional challenges are the order of the day in adjudications. These jurisdictional questions can be a hard fought issues running parallel with the Adjudicator`s main purpose of deciding whether a contractor should be paid the sums claimed, in what is after all a fast track summary process that is aimed at addressing the contractor`s problems of cash flow when an employer refuses to pay them....
In the recent case of PC Harrington Contractors Limited v Tyroddy Construction Limited, the Technology and Construction Court (Mr Justice Akenhead) had to decide whether an Adjudicator`s decision was in breach of the rules of natural justice in failing to consider the defence to the claim for payment of retention or did the defence amount to a new dispute outside of the dispute referred....
The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 comes into force on 1 October 2011. This Act amends the existing Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 known as the Construction Act. The Construction Act was intended to improve payment practices within the UK construction industry. The future changes follow the same agenda, widening the application of the Construction Act to unwritten contracts and offering enhanced protection from unfair payment procedures....