Category: construction industry

Appeals on a point of law in arbitration and adjudication – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted July 11th, 2018 in construction industry, dispute resolution, news by tracey

‘One of the recurring themes on this blog is looking at what happens in arbitration and drawing parallels with what happens in adjudication. It is something that really interests me as I act as both adjudicator and arbitrator. This week is no different and I am looking at the judgment in Fehn Schiffahrts GmbH & Co KG v Romani SPA, where the Commercial Court allowed an appeal on a point of law under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 and remitted the award back to the three-person tribunal.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 10th July 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Losing out on loss of bargain when terminating in reliance upon contractual rights – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted July 5th, 2018 in construction industry, contracting out, contracts, damages, insolvency, news, telecommunications by tracey

‘In the wake of the Carillion insolvency, many sub-contractors are likely to be investigating their rights to terminate their contracts with a now defunct main contractor. Looking for a clean break, they may be tempted by the explicit termination rights that standard form building contracts often contain, and that may be deployed in the event of main contractor insolvency. On the surface, terminating appears as simple as writing to the liquidator citing the relevant provision, and declaring the contract to be at an end. However, a potential trap awaits the unwary. Unwitting sub-contractors may inadvertently forfeit any right to claim loss of bargain damages, that is, the loss of profits that would have been made had the contract carried through to completion. This is potentially a highly lucrative right, particularly if the sub-contractor is at the start of a multi-year project that was expected to generate significant future earnings. This result arises from the case of Phones 4U Ltd (in administration) v EE Ltd.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 4th July 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Determination of preliminary points of law by courts in arbitration and adjudication – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted June 5th, 2018 in arbitration, construction industry, news, ships by tracey

‘The Palladium is a mighty fine looking “superyacht”. It is an impressive 95 metres long and has all the features one would expect on such a luxury craft, including a helicopter landing pad and swimming pool. A Google search suggests that the yacht is worth circa $200 million, so one can see that a defect in the paint finish would be costly to rectify. It is this defect that ultimately led the parties to an arbitration, for which a five-week hearing was set.

The case ended up before the court because, during the arbitration, an issue arose as to whether the yacht builder’s without prejudice settlement offer had been accepted by the purchaser in correspondence. The purchaser contended that a binding settlement had been reached, which the builder denied.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 29th May 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Nearly, but not quite: the difficulties of resisting payment of an on-demand guarantee – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted May 17th, 2018 in banking, construction industry, fraud, guarantees, news by tracey

‘It is notoriously difficult to resist payment following a call on an on-demand guarantee or bond. Generally, nothing less than a seriously arguable case of fraud by the beneficiary will suffice. The stringency of this test is backed by strong policy arguments militating in favour of protecting the integrity of the banking system. However, even where a seriously arguable case of fraud is made out, the balance of convenience may weigh against injunctive relief, as demonstrated recently in Tetronics (International) Ltd v HSBC Bank plc.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 16th May 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Retention proposals take shape: analysing the text of the Aldous Bill – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted May 16th, 2018 in bills, construction industry, contracts, deposits, news by tracey

‘For many years, parts of the construction sector have pushed for improvement of the market’s treatment of retention monies. Post-Carillion and its devastating impact on suppliers, however, matters may have reached a tipping point. On 9 January 2018 – a few days before the construction giant’s collapse – the backbencher Peter Aldous introduced the Construction (Retention Deposit Schemes) Bill under Parliament’s Ten Minute Rule. Given the importance of government support in mustering a majority in the House of Commons, relatively few Private Members’ Bills (PMB) become law. To this end, proponents of the “Aldous Bill”, not least the Waveney MP himself, have been busily promoting its merits within the industry and rallying support among politicians ahead of it being debated by MPs at the second reading.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 15th May 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

20 years of statutory adjudication – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted May 16th, 2018 in construction industry, dispute resolution, enforcement, news by tracey

‘The Construction Act 1996 turned 20 this month, which means that for the last 20 years the UK’s construction industry has been subject to its statutory adjudication and payment rules. I was just a couple of years out of university 20 years ago, so I’ve never really known a world without these things (something that Lucy Garrett QC noted in her video for Practical Law). I remember doing presentations to clients in the months leading up to May 1998 on the implications of the Act and, in particular, the payment and withholding notices regimes. It seems a long time ago now! Looking back, a lot has happened since May 1998 and I thought that I would highlight just a few aspects of adjudication. Given the volume of case law and the limited space I have here, this is by no means a comprehensive review.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 15th May 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Council wins High Court battle over viability and amount of affordable housing – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 1st, 2018 in construction industry, housing, local government, news, planning by tracey

‘A Planning Court judge has ruled in favour of the London Borough of Islington in a long-running dispute over a major development which it has said will provide insufficient affordable homes.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 30th April 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Cash flow tensions in adjudication enforcement – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted April 27th, 2018 in construction industry, dispute resolution, enforcement, freezing injunctions, news, stay of execution by tracey

‘Much has been written about Fraser J’s judgment in Gosvenor London Ltd v Aygun Aluminium UK Ltd, with both Tim Sampson and Abdul Jinadu discussing various issues on this blog. What I thought was interesting about the judgment was how it illustrates the tension between adjudication and the principle embodied within it of keeping cash flowing, and how a successful challenge on enforcement may stop it. Ironically, this is often at a time when a party most needs cash to keep flowing.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 24th April 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

An unplanned surprise: Implied planning obligations – Clin v Walter Lilly – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted April 13th, 2018 in construction industry, contracts, news, planning by tracey

‘Recently, in the course of reviewing a proposed building contract for an employer, I had cause to consider how responsibility for obtaining planning consents had been addressed. Or rather, whether it had been addressed at all. Jean-François Clin v Walter Lilly & Co Ltd is a forceful reminder to effectively deal with this issue. The Court of Appeal held that, in the absence of an express term to the contrary, a term was implied into the parties’ contract requiring the employer to obtain planning permission for redevelopment of the property and, generally, making the employer responsible for obtaining necessary consents.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 11th April 2018

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

“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.’

Full Story

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.’

Full Story

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!).’

Full Story

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.’

Full Story

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.’

Full Story

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).’

Full Story

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.’

Full Story

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!’

Full Story

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.’

Full Story

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.’

Full Story

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.’

Full Story

OUT-LAW.com, 1st March 2018

Source: www.out-law.com