Longtail liability and limitation

Insurance expert John D Wright of JD Risk Associates explains the working of liability insurance policies, in particular the issues thrown up by their longtail liability nature.

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No blame culture underpins alliances

Cecily Davis of Fieldfisher looks forward to increasing investment in the UK’s creaking infrastructure and argues that a new approach to procurement is needed. A recent best practice guide suggests the way forward for an alliancing approach, she argues.

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Shifting the burden of proof

Barrister Charles Thompson of Hardwicke Chambers considers what the rights to return of adjudication moneys are following conflicting appeal court rulings. Crucially, the burden of proof in later proceedings is not altered by an adjudication decision.

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Managing design risk

Colette Morgan-Ford of Pinsent Masons examines how some standard form contracts handle design risk and warns about some pitfalls for the unwary. Careful management of these risks is essential, she cautions.

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Unwise approach costs insurer

Ann Levin and Kemi Adekoya of Herbert Smith Freehills explain the background to an appeal court ruling that is thought to be the first time it has considered the wording of a type of insurance policy in common use in construction.

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Few draft, but many use

Our contracts monitor Michael Phipps, Principal of Thurston Consultants, concludes his analysis of JCT’s management contract with some recommendations on how it – or any other standard form – could be improved further.

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Reports from the courts: May 2015

Our review of the recent court cases of most interest to construction from Andrew Croft and Simii Sivapalan of Beale & Company includes a decision that backed an adjudicator’s award and an amended award; and one that highlights the need to take special care with contracts that contain both a strict obligation as well as a general obligation.

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Digital built Britain

The government has published a Strategic Plan for Level 3 Building Information Modelling (BIM), otherwise known as ‘Digital Built Britain’. The plan follows up on the success of the 2011 government Construction Strategy, which mandated the use of Level 2 BIM on all public sector projects by 2016, thus significantly contributing to savings of £804m in construction costs in 2013–14.

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State of play table 199

This table, prepared by Clyde & Co, provides a regularly amended guide to new and proposed legislation that will affect the construction industry. In addition to EU Directives and UK legislation, the table includes notes highlighting discussion papers issued by both government and non-government organisations, and commentary on the latest developments.

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Legal terms explained: Third party rights

Third party rights The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 (CRTPA) was enacted to reform the legal rule of ‘privity of contract’ which says that, even if a contract is made with the purpose of conferring a benefit on someone who is not a party to it, that person (a third party) has no right to sue for breach of contract.

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