Legal

Matt Grellier is head of construction and engineering at Slater Heelis  Vowing to curb a further rise in inflation – currently heading towards a dismal 11 per cent – on 16 June, the Bank of England voted in favour of raising interest rates by a quarter of a point. But,…

A single weak link in the supply chain could cause a big headache for construction firms under new procurement rules on carbon emissions. Keith Cooper investigates

Dave Cahill (right) is head of UK construction and Adam Power is construction PI lead at Miller Insurance The construction market has seen a sustained period of difficulty, with many companies facing or having faced insolvency. Some argue that much of the supply chain has never fully recovered from the…

Neil Hargreaves is managing director of Knauf Insulation It is simultaneously the biggest change to building energy efficiency standards in a generation and a mere stepping-stone towards bigger change to come. But, while construction in England and Wales focuses on the details of the new Building Regulations England Part L…

Peter Vinden is chief executive of corporate advisory firm Gateley Vinden Conventional thinking on the rights of beneficiaries seeking redress under collateral warranties has shifted dramatically, following a landmark Court of Appeal judgement handed down in the case of Abbey Healthcare (Mill Hill) Limited v Simply Construct (UK) LLP on…

Catherine Welch (left) is a partner in the construction and engineering team, and Tom Llewellyn a partner in the dispute resolution team, at law firm RWK Goodman With the government’s COVID-19 furlough scheme and other forms of support now long gone, contractors near the edge of a financial precipice are…

Tim Claremont (left) is a partner and Gavin Hoccom is a senior associate at law firm Browne Jacobson The Building Safety Act 2022 received Royal Assent at the end of April. The government has described its contents as “the biggest changes to building safety regulation in a generation”. For once…

Gareth Lewis is chief executive of Mace Construct In April, we saw the most significant piece of legislation affecting the UK construction industry in a generation become law – the Building Safety Act. While the 262-page act represents a challenge to an industry that can sometimes be slow to evolve,…

Carolyn Davies is an associate at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys Now that the Building Safety Act 2022 has arrived, stakeholders need to understand what changes will be affecting the construction industry, and when. The act stands at 256 pages but there is more to come, as further ‘meat’ will…

Ryan Dawson is IR35 programme manager at insurance broker Kingsbridge  When IR35 tax reforms came into force in April 2021, several construction firms introduced blanket bans on the use of contractors classed as personal service companies (PSCs). Given that the industry has a long and well-established history of engaging successfully…