The Peak effect – issues

In the second part of their consideration of the prevention principle James Pickavance and Michael Mendelblat of Herbert Smith identify and analyse key points of contention arising from relevant cases.

This story is only available to subscribers to the printed edition of Construction Law. If you have a subscription please log in to read the rest of the story.

Notices become the payment trigger

The changes to JCT’s contracts demanded by the revised Construction Act are explained by Victoria Peckett of CMS Cameron McKenna. JCT has in general sought to maintain the status quo in its contracts as far as possible.

This story is only available to subscribers to the printed edition of Construction Law. If you have a subscription please log in to read the rest of the story.

Could changes mean fewer disputes?

Our contracts monitor Michael Phipps, Principal of Thurston Consultants, examines the payment provisions of JCT’s standard building contract with quantities. All the hard work of fitting payment provisions of the Construction Act to a standard form has been done, he says.

This story is only available to subscribers to the printed edition of Construction Law. If you have a subscription please log in to read the rest of the story.

Reports from the courts: December 2011

Our regular round up of the court decisions of most interest to construction is provided by Will Buckby and Andrew Croft of Beale & Co, focussing on a case involving the impact of a variation on a bond; and one which clarified the procedure for pre-action disclosure applications.

This story is only available to subscribers to the printed edition of Construction Law. If you have a subscription please log in to read the rest of the story.

Amendments to the Public Procurement Regulations

On 17 August 2011, the government published the Public Procurement (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2011, SI 2011/2053 (the 2011 Regulations).

This story is only available to subscribers to the printed edition of Construction Law. If you have a subscription please log in to read the rest of the story.

State of play table: 166

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.

This story is only available to subscribers to the printed edition of Construction Law. If you have a subscription please log in to read the rest of the story.

Unwritten contracts – a good idea?

Guest editor Hamish Lal of Jones Day is sceptical about hopes that removing the need for contracts to be in writing to bring them under the scope of adjudication will lead to cost savings for smaller companies. Litigation might work out cheaper for some.

This story is only available to subscribers to the printed edition of Construction Law. If you have a subscription please log in to read the rest of the story.

Legal terms explained: Economic duress

Parties often complain that they were forced to agree unfavourable terms. Applying commercial pressure does not necessarily constitute economic duress. The previous view was that where economic duress had occurred, the consent of the innocent party to enter into the contract had been vitiated.

This story is only available to subscribers to the printed edition of Construction Law. If you have a subscription please log in to read the rest of the story.

News in brief: December 2011

A TCC ruling will force contractor PC Harrington to pay an adjudicator’s fees despite his ruling being judged unenforceable. Mr Justice Akenhead said adjudicator Philip Doherty was entitled to £22,000 plus VAT from the contractor. which lost its case at adjudication against Tyroddy, which had claimed money owed for reinforcement works, but succeeded in having the decision ruled unenforceable.

To read more of this and every other news story on this site, please log in with your Construction Law membership account details. If you don't have an account, you can get free access to the news on this site and receive a free newsletter on Fridays by creating a Newsletter account. See the panel to the right.

Subscribers to the printed magazine get access to the entire Construction law website.

Safety record improves

The latest statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show construction injuries at work have fallen by 25% since 2007–2008, while fines for health and safety breaches have risen by 22% in the past year.

To read more of this and every other news story on this site, please log in with your Construction Law membership account details. If you don't have an account, you can get free access to the news on this site and receive a free newsletter on Fridays by creating a Newsletter account. See the panel to the right.

Subscribers to the printed magazine get access to the entire Construction law website.

+ More