‘Recent case law has shown how careful parties need to be when drafting a liquidated damages (LDs) regime. The case of Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd v Peel L&P Investments and Property Ltd provides yet another example of what can happen if there is any ambiguity in the drafting.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 5th October 2022
‘At the end of last month, Tom Coulson and Amy Armitage discussed the decision of Martlet Homes Ltd v Mulalley & Co Ltd, the first decision from the TCC on fire safety defects following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. This decision is highly significant for the construction industry, given the number of similar cases which are either progressing through the courts or at the pre-action stage. Although the judge emphasised the fact-specific nature of the dispute, this decision provided some insight on the court’s likely approach to some of the significant issues that affect cladding disputes.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog , 24th August 2022
‘I appreciate that some of you might be reading this blog on your summer holidays, so you may well have far better things to be doing with your time (ordering another piña colada perhaps?). I will therefore keep the blog short – what might be termed a “blogette”. As one would expect over the summer break, there haven’t been many reported TCC cases recently and so the case I want to discuss today is from June, namely ML Hart Builders Ltd (in liquidation) v Swiss Cottage Properties Ltd, which is a judgment of Mr Roger Ter Haar QC sitting as a deputy High Court judge.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 17th August 2022
‘Getting the notice right is important for all construction contracts and NEC is no exception. Failing to issue a notice as required under the contract can have serious consequences and in NEC this is often an issue that arises in relation to the obligation to notify compensation events within an eight week period (clause 61.3 of NEC4 ECC). Another key issue arises in respect of the obligation to issue a notice of dissatisfaction within 28 days of an adjudicator’s decision, as a failure to do so will mean that such decision becomes final and binding, and cannot be challenged by referring it to the tribunal (clause W2.4(1) of NEC4 ECC). Three recent decisions have considered notices of dissatisfaction under NEC, highlighting the importance of getting it right.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 10th August 2022
‘Judith Hopper and William Cursham analyse a recent ruling where a High Court judge awarded a housing association substantial damages in a claim relating to defective cladding.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th August 2022
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Cladding disputes have been ubiquitous in recent years. They are a consequence of the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in June 2017, which led to a wave of inspections, investigations and scrutiny across the UK as building owners sought to ascertain whether or not their buildings were similarly defective. That process has resulted in numerous disputes relating to all sorts of different buildings – whether residential or commercial, old or new, publicly owned or private developments – which have kept practitioners extremely busy over the past five years.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 28th July 2022
‘Construction companies contracted to design and build cladding systems for buildings may have to pick up the cost of replacing those systems in light of a new ruling by the High Court in London.’
OUT-LAW.com, 25th July 2022
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘I was lucky enough to be asked to give a recent case law update lecture for the Adjudication Society. At the end one of the delegates asked a very sensible question, namely to what extent do matters decided by an adjudicator concerning an interim valuation bind later valuations. It’s an issue that I’ve been asked about before, and it’s also one of those that can promote polarising debate, with some extreme positions taken.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 5th July 2022
‘In its decision in Bresco v Lonsdale, the Supreme Court confirmed that insolvent companies have the statutory and contractual right to adjudicate construction disputes, even if that claim is affected by insolvency set-off.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog , 29th June 2022
‘Sometimes it feels that, as an adjudicator, you are damned if you do and are also damned if you don’t. In this case – Liverpool CC v Vital Infrastructure Asset Management (Viam) Ltd (In Administration) – it was both what the adjudicator did do and what he didn’t do that led the judge to issue a declaration that his decision was unenforceable. But how did the judge, HHJ Stephen Davies, arrive at this point?’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 21st June 2022
‘A group of 10 construction firms illegally colluded to rig bids for £150 million of major contracts, according to provisional findings by the UK competition watchdog.’
The Independent, 24th June 2022
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The general rule created by section 111 of the Construction Act 1996 is well known: in the absence of a pay less notice, the notified sum is to be paid without set-off or deduction. Although this is capable of causing problems for an employer in the short term, any overpayments can usually be corrected in future payment cycles (whether interim or final) or by a true value adjudication (following S&T (UK) Ltd v Grove Developments Ltd).’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 15th June 2022
‘Construction claims usually arise out of a breach of contract, because it is easier to establish liability than under a tortious claim. However, where there is no contract or the contractual limitation period has expired, or a contracting party is insolvent or is uninsured, parties may have no choice but to bring a claim in tort.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog , 14th June 2022
‘This briefing considers debate about responsibility for paying for fire safety works on blocks of flats in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. It covers provisions in the Building Safety Act 2022.’
House of Commons Library, 9th June 2022
Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
‘Chris Bryden and Georgia Whiting write in the April edition of Construction Law, examining case law surrounding the role of expert witnesses, which suggests a worrying trend towards a loosening of the established principles of how experts should behave, and are instructed.’
4KBW, 4th May 2022
Source: www.4kbw.co.uk
‘A prosecution brought by Thanet District Council has seen a building materials company fined £400,000 over an incident that left one employee with life-changing injuries and a second suffering from deep cuts and lacerations.’
Local Government Lawyer, 16th May 2022
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘In the third and final blog in our series looking at common queries on the roll out of EV infrastructure (see our previous blogs on progress and challenges and landlord and tenant issues) we focus on construction, planning and tax aspects.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 11th May 2022
‘An additional bank holiday has been created in the UK this year to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Does this entitle a contractor to claim an extension of time? A client recently asked this question in the context of a project using the JCT Design and Build Contract 2016. It certainly throws up a number of issues.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 4th May 2022
‘While defendants in adjudication enforcement proceedings often assert jurisdictional defences as a matter of course, Eyre J’s judgement in BraveJoin Co Ltd v Prosperity Moseley Street Ltd is a reminder that – in practical terms – they will rarely succeed, particularly where they rely on the absence of a crystallised dispute.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 11th April 2022
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