News

Contracts guidance marks step towards outlawing retentions

Construction lawyers have welcomed new guidance on the use of retention clauses under NEC forms of contract, which emphasises that a retention fund may not always be required on projects. However they question the value of proposed alternative protections for clients, particularly on smaller schemes.

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Adjudication enforced in £22.5m water treatment facility dispute

Tilbury Douglas Construction and Doosan Enpure have been ordered to pay a water company almost £22.5 million after failing in an attempt to challenge a prior adjudication in a dispute arising from problems on a water treatment facility project in Northumberland.

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Chipboard firm fined over £2m for ‘preventable’ worker death

A manufacturer of wooden chipboard used commonly in the construction industry has been fined over £2 million after safety failings led to the death of an employee in Scotland, which “could have been prevented” according to prosecutors.

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Construction industry playbook takes aim at poor productivity

Greater collaboration, longer term contracting and fairer allocation of risk on projects are among the key principles of a private sector construction ‘playbook’ published by a cohort of businesses to help tackle “stagnant” productivity in the sector. Lawyers have welcomed the document.

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Grenfell inquiry hears of a culture of ‘blame shifting and defensiveness’

Organisations with an involvement in the Grenfell Tower prior to its devastating fire in 2017 have been roundly criticised during closing statements of the Inquiry. Counsel to the Inquiry, Richard Millett KC described a culture of “dissociation, blame-shifting and defensiveness” by many “to cover up incompetence, lack of skill and experience, false and unverified assumptions, and plain carelessness or lack of engagement”.

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Room for improvement in construction adjudication

Adjudication continues to be an effective dispute resolution method in the construction sector, according to a new report. But suspicions of bias by practitioners in the eyes of some parties risk undermining its perceived legitimacy, while a lack of diversity among adjudicators is also highlighted as a cause for concern.

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Hard times ahead could lead to more insolvencies and disputes

Output from the construction sector is set to fall next year, according to new data, with legal professionals warning that squeezed profit margins could lead to more insolvencies and supply chain disputes. Forecasts from the Construction Products Association show that output overall is set to fall by 3.9% in 2023; a sharp downward revision from the -0.4% it predicted this summer.

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University seeks £14m in faulty brickwork lawsuit

Contractor Laing O’Rourke and architect John McAslan + Partners are involved in a dispute with the University of Manchester over allegedly defective brickwork cladding on three buildings at its campus south of the city centre.

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Contractor faces dispute over defects to printing facility

Buckingham Group is fighting a legal claim from a major newspaper publisher which blames the contractor for groundworks defects on the site of a printing works in Thurrock, Essex. The firm undertook the design and construction of the facility which completed a decade ago.

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Inaction on site safety results in fine for house builder

A string of health and safety failings on construction sites across north west England have landed building firm Mullberry Homes with a £116,666 fine. Investigations found issues with the company’s planning, management and monitoring of worker safety.

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