Legal

The Supreme Court has ruled that most collateral warranties are not construction contracts and therefore are not subject to adjudication.  On Monday (8 July) the five Supreme Court judges unanimously found that Abbey Healthcare, the tenant of a 65-bedroom care home in north London, could not enforce an adjudication against…

The number of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigations into falls from height in construction has dropped starkly, Construction News can reveal. Prospect, the union representing HSE inspectors, warned that the organisation has scaled back its investigations across all types and abolished its construction division. Data obtained by CN under…

Keltbray has dropped back into the red, partly due to ongoing costs related to its case against the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over the level of its fine for colluding over tender prices between 2013 and 2018. The multidisciplinary specialist swung to a pre-tax loss of £1.2m in the…

A building control company which last month saw its high-risk building inspection work taken over by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has been sanctioned by a professional disciplinary panel, it has emerged. In results published last Wednesday (26 June), a disciplinary panel for the CIC Approved Inspectors Register (CICAIR) said…

A Reading-based contractor has been fined £30,000 after the death of a delivery driver. Father of four Levi Alleyne, known as Chunky, was electrocuted while delivering crushed concrete to a construction site where BBM Contracts was principal contractor. He died after the crane arm of his lorry came into contact…

The High Court has ordered a tier two contractor to pay £102,000 to a plumbing subcontractor following a dispute about works on a Bouygues-led university project in West Sussex.  Mechanical, electrical and plumbing subcontractor J&B Hopkins was appointed by Bouygues as the subcontractor for the University of Brighton’s Moulsecoomb Campus…

Tilbury Douglas has failed in a legal claim that Arup should pay it £6m because of defective designs at a mixed-use development in Edinburgh. The contractor had alleged that Arup produced designs that were “incapable of implementation” on the revamp of the former Haymarket railway yard in central Edinburgh. But…

The latest edition of the Joint Contract Tribunal’s (JCT’s) Minor Works Building Contract family has moved its optional fluctuation clause online. Minor Works is designed for use on short-lasting, small and simple construction projects in the public and private sector, according to the JCT. The same form can be used…

Laing O’Rourke can continue with a claim for breach of contract against an adviser it employed on a defective PFI mental health hospital, a judge has ruled. The contractor is suing consultant Sweett for £20.4m over independent testing work carried out by cost and management firm Nisbet, which Sweett acquired…

“Pain/gain” clauses to spread construction risk between clients, contractors and the supply chain will be included in the JCT’s forthcoming target cost contract. A member of the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) drafting subcommittee has lifted the veil on the Target Cost Contract (TCC 2024) document before its official full release…