Legal

Stuart Byles is director at fit-out and refurbishment contractor Pexhurst   The Building Safety Act (BSA) 2022 has now been in force for almost a year. However, the release of the JCT Design and Build Contract 2024 in April has highlighted a significant disconnect between standard-form construction contracts and the comprehensive…

Sinead Cuthill is an associate and Dan Coppel is a partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath Merger and acquisition activity in the UK construction sector has declined from its peak in 2022, frustrating would-be buyers and sellers, as well as the bankers, brokers, lawyers and accountants who service the…

Alex Delin is a construction partner at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors The Technology and Construction Court (TCC) has released a decision, Bell Building Ltd v TClarke Contracting Ltd [2024] EWHC 1929 TCC, concerning the supply and installation of sub and superstructure works (subcontract works). The works were carried out by Bell…

Elouisa Crichton (pictured) is an employment law partner at Dentons. Additional input from construction law partners Akin Akinbode and Mark Macaulay, and managing construction practice development lawyer Tracey Summerell The government recently announced plans to allow workers the right to request a four-day working week, as an extension to existing…

A panel of industry luminaries met this week to discuss the Latham report, 30 years after it was published. The discussion touched on the increasing complexity of disputes and the quality of adjudicators, asking whether reform is needed to meet the lofty goals originally set out by Latham. It’s been…

James Mapley is an associate at Devonshires Solicitors  Contractors likely winced upon reading the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s damming assessment of Rydon’s performance as the primary contractor on the refurbishment of the building prior to the blaze that engulfed it in 2017. ‘Failed’, ‘inexperienced’, ‘complacent’ – these descriptions are diametrically opposed…

Tim Seal is head of construction at law firm Ridgemont July marked the 30th anniversary of Sir Michael Latham’s 1994 seminal report Constructing the Team. As such, now is a good time to reflect on how one of its recommendations – the introduction of statutory adjudication – is faring today.…

Simon Shaw is a senior associate at Mayer Brown  On 17 May 2018, Dame Judith Hackitt declared that the Building Regulations regime in the UK was “not fit for purpose”. Following this, there have been a number of cases and legislative changes relating to fire-safety matters for the industry to…

Pictured left to right: Alison Short, partner, Richard Black, partner, and Jennifer Fitzmaurice, principal associate PSL, Eversheds Sutherland Construction in the UK is heavily reliant on the importation of goods and materials. Unfortunately, the process of sourcing, acquiring and paying for goods has recently been beset by problems, such as…

Adrian Bingham is a partner and Olivia Barrett is a trainee solicitor at Collyer Bristow There has long been recognition that claimants’ rights of action should not remain open indefinitely. The first statute to address this systematically was in 1623, and its six-year limitation period for contracts and actions of…