Category: construction industry

“I’m forever blowing bubbles” but I’m biased! – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted April 10th, 2018 in bias, construction industry, judiciary, news, recusal by tracey

‘Bias and apparent bias is a subject that has cropped up many times on this blog, whether it was an adjudicator “phoning a friend“, an arbitrator (allegedly) being appointed too many times by the same referring party (although that isn’t one of mine!) or a judge getting upset over his lost luggage (who wouldn’t be?). It seems anyone involved in court or tribunal work is vulnerable to an accusation of it. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I’m commenting on another example of behaviour that gives rises to the charge.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 10th April 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

English court delivers landmark judgment on project insurance coverage – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 29th, 2018 in construction industry, contracting out, insurance, news by tracey

‘The High Court has handed down a judgment deciding that a sub-contractor on a construction project was not entitled to coverage from the project insurance policy.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 28th March 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Witness “was not a reliable historian” – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted March 27th, 2018 in construction industry, evidence, news, witnesses by tracey

‘I like reading Fraser J’s judgments. Where else would you get phrases such as “banter in a public house during consumption of a gallon of ale (or lager)” and “quite apart from any illumination of the wisdom (or otherwise) of discussing (still less agreeing) incentive payments of such extraordinary size at an evening of drinking in the Horse & Groom”, nestled in among legal analysis? (He was talking about Blue v Ashley, which I’m sure was an interesting informal business meeting!).’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 27th March 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Court casts doubt on who bears risk of obtaining planning permission – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 23rd, 2018 in construction industry, contracts, news, planning, time limits by tracey

‘The employer under a standard form construction contract is not under an absolute obligation to obtain planning permission or conservation consent before the works can go ahead, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 22nd March 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Metropolitan Police admits role in blacklisting construction workers – BBC News

Posted March 23rd, 2018 in construction industry, London, news, police, trade unions by tracey

‘Scotland Yard has admitted Special Branch officers passed information to a controversial network that blacklisted construction workers. It follows a six-year battle to find out if the Metropolitan Police supplied the intelligence on trade unionists.’

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BBC News, 23rd March 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Oral construction contracts and issues in adjudication enforcement – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted March 21st, 2018 in construction industry, contracts, dispute resolution, enforcement, news by tracey

‘Two recent judgments illustrate the difficulties that oral contracts can cause in adjudication enforcement proceedings. The first was Jefford J’s judgment in Hart v Ideal and the second (although actually the first in time) was Fraser J’s judgment in Dacy v IDM (which had also been before Jefford J a couple of years earlier).’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 20th march 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Trading standards team at Royal Borough secures its longest-ever sentence – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 16th, 2018 in construction industry, fraud, news, sentencing by tracey

‘The Trading Standards team at the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead has secured its longest-ever sentence after a rogue builder was jailed for six years.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 16th March 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Reminder that adjudicator’s appointment lapses if no decision – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted March 15th, 2018 in arbitration, construction industry, contracts, fees, news, remuneration by tracey

‘Some judgments seem destined to be blogged about (at least by me) and Baldwin v J Pickstock Ltd is one such judgment. It’s all about the adjudicator’s decision (or lack of), whether there was an extension of time for reaching that decision and whether the adjudicator had properly resigned and should be paid for the work he did (even though he did not reach a decision). It’s not quite Cubitt Building & Interiors v Fleetglade, but it does demonstrate how adjudicators need to be alive to banana skin tactics, even those coming from the referring party!’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 13th March 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Law firm that should have warned property investor clients of “Mafia risk” fails in Supreme Court bid – Legal Futures

Posted March 9th, 2018 in appeals, construction industry, contracts, duty of care, law firms, news, sale of land, Supreme Court by tracey

‘A law firm with offices in Italy and England has reached the end of the line in challenging a ruling that it was under a duty to warn British and Irish property investors of the risks of investing in a part of Italy associated with organised crime.’

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Legal Futures, 9th March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Does Grove v S&T herald the dawn of a new regime for payment notice disputes? – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted March 8th, 2018 in arbitration, construction industry, contracts, news, notification, remuneration by tracey

‘Unless you have been hiding under a rock (or have been on holiday somewhere), you can’t have failed to notice that Coulson J has handed down his last substantive TCC judgment. So much has already been written about Grove v S&T and what it means for the construction industry that there’s barely been room for anything else on my Twitter and LinkedIn feeds. There really is nowhere to hide from all the commentary.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 6th March 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Smash and grab adjudication ‘essentially over’ after TCC judgment – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 2nd, 2018 in construction industry, contracts, delay, dispute resolution, enforcement, news by tracey

‘A well-reasoned judgment by Mr Justice Coulson could put an end to the trend of “smash and grab” adjudications, where the payee pursues the other party for the full amount where no valid payment or pay less notice is served.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 1st March 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Regulator begins new sector-focused crackdown on cartels – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 28th, 2018 in competition, construction industry, financial regulation, news, whistleblowers by sally

‘The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will target “industries that are at a greater risk of cartels forming” as part of a new campaign to crack down on anti-competitive behaviour.’

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OUT-LAW.com, February 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Interpretation of PFI contracts: the long and winding road – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted February 27th, 2018 in construction industry, contracts, local government, news, private finance initiative by tracey

‘Do long-term contracts need to be construed in a particular way? Do contracts that require the parties to work together and cooperate over a period of many years have their own special rules? Do they demand special treatment when it comes to questions of contractual interpretation? Those are some of the questions raised by the judgment in Amey Birmingham Highways Ltd v Birmingham City Council, in which the Court of Appeal had to grapple with the complexities and oddities of a PFI contract.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 27th February 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Harbour View, contractor insolvency and the importance of a guarantee expiry date – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted February 21st, 2018 in construction industry, guarantees, insolvency, news, time limits by tracey

‘One of the interesting features of the recent decision of Coulson J in Ziggurat (Claremont Place) LLP v HCC International Insurance Company Plc is the effect on a guarantee of a contractor becoming insolvent many years after a construction project has been completed. In Ziggurat, the amended ABI model form of guarantee bond had not yet expired. This allowed the employer to make a claim under the guarantee arising out of the contractor’s insolvency, notwithstanding the fact that the contractor’s employment had already been terminated and the project had achieved practical completion.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 21st February 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Planning policy consultation to finally begin a year after Government housing paper was published – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 12th, 2018 in construction industry, consultations, housing, news, planning by tracey

‘Changes to England’s planning policy could finally come into effect this summer, more than a year after initial legislation was published, as housebuilders pin difficulties getting more homes built on the complicated system.’

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Daily Telegraph, 12th February 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Deliberate breach of faculty conditions – Law & Religion UK

Posted February 6th, 2018 in Church of England, construction industry, ecclesiastical law, news, repairs by tracey

‘In 2014 we posted “Ignorance of the Faculty Jurisdiction Rules is no excuse…”, and expanding on this theme, “Risks of disregarding the faculty jurisdiction” in June 2016. The recent case Re St Peter & St Paul Pettistree [2017] ECC SEI 6 concerned a “deliberate and avoidable” breach of the terms of the faculty by a professional on the list of DAC-approved architects.’

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Law & Religion UK, 6th February 2018

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Has the “rough justice” principle of adjudication been extended too far? – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted February 6th, 2018 in arbitration, construction industry, news by tracey

‘I haven’t blogged about alleged breaches of natural justice for a while, so here goes with the first reported judgment from Joanna Smith QC, who was sitting as a deputy High Court judge in the TCC. In my view, the judgment in Victory House General Partner Ltd v RGB P&C Ltd is very well written: it is clear, concise and very readable. Before diving into the natural justice issues, I should just mention the warning about using Part 8, a warning that Jefford J first gave last year in Merit Holdings Ltd v Michael J Lonsdale Ltd. I looked at that judgment at the time and note Victory House is another example of a case where the TCC is trying to crack down on what the judges perceive to be an abuse of the Part 8 process.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 6th February 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Sub-contractor insolvency – what lengths would you go to? – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted January 24th, 2018 in construction industry, contracts, insolvency, news by tracey

‘Over the past few months, a number of large construction companies have been making headlines for facing severe financial difficulties. However, sub-contractor insolvency can also cause considerable problems for other parties on construction projects who have contractual relations with that party.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 24th January 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Ziggurat: the crumbling edifice of surety bonds – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted January 19th, 2018 in construction industry, contracts, insolvency, news, surety by tracey

‘I read the decision in Ziggurat with some incredulity. I hadn’t intended to trespass on Karen Spencer’s territory, and overall I’d agree with her conclusion that the amendments made to the ABI form seem to have confused rather than clarified matters. I’d also agree with Roddy Cormack’s comment that more radical surgery is needed if the employer wishes to secure earlier payment following the contractor’s insolvency. But I did want to offer some thoughts on what the decision tells us about wider issues in the surety bonding market.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 17th January 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Final account payments: welcome guidance from the TCC – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted December 21st, 2017 in construction industry, contracting out, contracts, news, remuneration by tracey

‘Nearly 20 years after the Construction Act 1996 was introduced to stamp out bad payment practices, you would be forgiven for thinking there must be a voluminous pile of case law in relation to the all-important final account. But you would be disappointed. While there is plenty of guidance from the TCC on interim payments, the courts have not had much to say about final accounts, particularly post 2011. This is why Systems Pipework Ltd v Rotary Building Services Ltd is so welcome. Coulson J draws together the authorities on interim and final account payments and concludes (in a characteristically clear and to the point judgment) that the same rules apply to both.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 20th December 2017

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com