Category: construction industry

Construction industry disputes – Panopticon

Posted July 26th, 2013 in confidentiality, construction industry, contracts, local government, news, public interest by sally

“The balance of public interest was ‘very strongly’ in favour of maintaining the confidentiality of documents in order to “protect the course of justice” both in Jackson v Info Commissioner, EA 2012/0263, FTT Decision on 19 July 2013, and in ‘many other such disputes’ said Judge Hughes. The value of the disclosure of the material was limited. The adverse impact of disclosure on dispute resolution was substantial. Judge Hughes concluded: ‘If there were to be change in the arrangements underpinning construction dispute resolution then this should be explored through a careful process of public debate and consultation leading to an amendment of the statutory framework.'”

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Panopticon, 26th July 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Urban I (Blonk Street) Ltd v Ayres and another – WLR Daily

Posted July 12th, 2013 in appeals, construction industry, contracts, delay, law reports, sale of land by tracey

Urban I (Blonk Street) Ltd v Ayres and another: [2013] EWCA Civ 816;   [2013] WLR (D)  271

“Where, in the case of a time provision which was an innominate term, a completion notice had not been served on the contract-breaker, the other party only became entitled to terminate the contract thereafter if and when the delay was such as to go to the root of the contract, that was to say it deprived the other party of substantially the whole benefit which it was intended it should have under the contract.”

WLR Daily, 5th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Discharge of Guarantees – The Doctrine of “Purview of the Guarantee” – Is There a “Get Out of Jail Free Card” For Guarantors? – Littleton Chambers

Posted July 10th, 2013 in construction industry, contracts, guarantees, news, summary judgments by sally

“Well–drawn guarantees contain comprehensive ‘anti-discharge’ provisions, designed to prevent a guarantor being discharged from liability by any post-guarantee amendments to the principal transaction or extensions of time to pay or other indulgence given to the principal debtor without the guarantor’s knowledge or consent. This right to be discharged is generally known as the rule in Holme v Brunskill (1878) 3 QBD 495) after the leading case that set out the mature principle. Banks and others have continuously refined these ‘anti-discharge’ provisions to try to make sure that the rule in Holme v Brunskill is stripped of its effect.”

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Littleton Chambers, 9th July 2013

Source: www.littletonchambers.com

Aspect Construction (Asbestos) Ltd v Higgins Construction plc – WLR Daily

Posted June 4th, 2013 in arbitration, construction industry, contracts, damages, law reports by sally

Aspect Construction (Asbestos) Ltd v Higgins Construction plc [2013] EWHC 1322 (TCC); [2013] WLR (D) 211

“A construction contract did not contain an implied term that a party to the contract, unsuccessful in adjudication, was entitled to have a final and binding resolution of the dispute determined by litigation.”

WLR Daily, 23rd May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Ampurius Nu Homes Holdings Ltd v Telford Homes (Creekside) Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted May 29th, 2013 in appeals, construction industry, contracts, delay, law reports by sally

Ampurius Nu Homes Holdings Ltd v Telford Homes (Creekside) Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 577; [2013] WLR (D) 202

“In determining whether a breach of a contract had been repudiatory an important factor to be taken into account was whether, although serious, the breach had been remedied before the injured party had purported to exercise a right of termination of the contract. Likewise, if there had been delay in performance of an ongoing obligation, it might be possible for the delay to be made up by faster performance. The court had to consider the position as at the date when the injured party purported to terminate. In the absence of time being of the essence, delay would only become a repudiatory breach if it were so prolonged as to frustrate the contract.”

WLR Daily, 23rd May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Barratt Homes Ltd v Dŵr Cymru Cyfyngedig (Welsh Water) (No. 2) – WLR Daily

Posted April 5th, 2013 in appeals, construction industry, housing, law reports, nuisance, sewerage, water companies by sally

Barratt Homes Ltd v Dŵr Cymru Cyfyngedig (Welsh Water) (No. 2) [2013] EWCA Civ 233 ; [2013] WLR (D) 131

“The breach by a sewerage undertaker of its duty under section 106 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to permit connection of a private sewer to the public sewer did not give rise to a liability in nuisance.”

WLR Daily, 27th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Westfields Construction Ltd v Lewis – WLR Daily

Posted March 12th, 2013 in construction industry, contracts, jurisdiction, law reports by sally

Westfields Construction Ltd v Lewis [2013] EWHC 376 (TCC); [2013] WLR (D) 93

“Occupation of a property was an ongoing process and could not be tested by reference to a single snapshot in time in determining whether a property owner was a ‘residential occupier’ for the purposes of section 106 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.”

WLR Daily, 27th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Essex Police sued over Lee Balkwell cement mixer death – BBC News

Posted February 4th, 2013 in complaints, construction industry, corporate manslaughter, human rights, news, police, unlawful killing by tracey

“Essex Police is to be sued over its investigation into the death of a man found
with multiple injuries in a cement mixer.”

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BBC News, 4th February 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Construction workers to challenge Met over blacklist – The Guardian

Posted February 1st, 2013 in appeals, complaints, construction industry, news, police, political opinion discrimination, trade unions by tracey

“Decision by the Metropolitan police not to investigate claims that officers supplied information to the blacklist faces appeal by workers’ lawyers.”

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The Guardian, 1st February 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Off with his head: Recent developments in severability – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted January 17th, 2013 in construction industry, courts, dispute resolution, enforcement, news by sally

“Adjudicators are increasingly called upon to adjudicate upon complex, multi-faceted disputes. It is now well established that ‘a dispute’ can encompass several discrete issues and the TCC has striven to avoid an overly legalistic approach and to apply common sense when deciding whether a claim encompasses ‘a dispute’ or not.”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 7th January 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Property development in a cold climate – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted December 11th, 2012 in construction industry, news, planning, rights of way by sally

“In these somewhat tricky financial times, it is unsurprising that the Government is keen to persuade property developers to do their bit to kick-start the ailing economy by dusting off chunks of their carefully land-banked acreage and getting on with long-shelved construction projects. However, many things have changed in this post-banking-apocalypse world, and it is unlikely that developers will be in a position simply to take up projects exactly where they left off a few years ago. In addition to the obvious funding difficulties they now face, developers large and small will need to be alert to changes in planning policy and local needs since they put their projects on hold. These will be particularly relevant where the developer requires an extension of time on the original planning permission or where he wishes to escape from or mitigate the burden of an obligation previously accepted in order to obtain that permission or to deal with reserved matters.”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 10th December 2012

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Government orders building standards review – The Guardian

Posted October 29th, 2012 in budgets, construction industry, health & safety, housing, local government, news, regulations by sally

“Regulations covering building standards, including fire safety and wheelchair access, could be torn up in a government plan to cut costs for the construction industry and boost the economy.”

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The Guardian, 26th October 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Repeal of property sales law will pose risks for housebuilders, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 16th, 2012 in construction industry, consumer protection, housing, misrepresentation, news, repeals by tracey

“The Government’s decision to repeal a law designed for regulating property sales and rely on general consumer protection legislation instead will expose housebuilders to new risks and increase their costs at a time when they can scarcely afford it.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 15th October 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Watkin Jones & Son’s £450k fine over worker’s roof fall – BBC News

Posted October 5th, 2012 in construction industry, fines, health & safety, news, personal injuries by tracey

“A construction firm has been fined £450,000 for breaching safety rules which led to a 21-year-old roofer falling through a hole in a roof and dying two years later.”

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BBC News, 4th October 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Reform of planning laws tampers dangerously with the procedural safeguards – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted October 3rd, 2012 in construction industry, housing, news, planning by sally

“A recently announced government reform of the planning laws would extend permitted development rights to house extensions of double the pre-existing limits, to 6m (19 feet) beyond the back wall of a semi-detached house, or 8m (26 feet) in the case of a detached house. The relaxation of the rules, for a fixed three year period, is designed to stimulate construction activity and economic growth. These proposals, however, which will remove the requirement for planning permission, rest on a fundamental misconception as to the role of the planning system. Planning is supposed to deliver a balanced decision based on weighing up all relevant considerations. As any local parish or district councillor knows, extension proposals are often the most contentious proposals because of neighbours’ concerns over loss of privacy, amenity and reduction of property values. Poisonous neighbourhood disputes will undoubtedly increase across the land because concerned neighbours and councillors will no longer have a say on these important local matters.”

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 3rd October 2012

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Planning rules on extensions to be relaxed ‘to boost economy’ – BBC News

Posted September 6th, 2012 in construction industry, housing, news, planning by sally

“The government wants to get planning officers ‘off people’s backs’ with a relaxation of current rules in England.”

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BBC News, 6th September 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Blacklisted builders launch mass legal action against Sir Robert McAlpine – The Guardian

Posted July 30th, 2012 in class actions, compensation, construction industry, employment, news, political opinion discrimination, trade unions by sally

“Workers blacklisted by the construction industry over more than three decades have launched a high court claim against industry giant Sir Robert McAlpine, the Tory donor and builder of the Olympic Stadium, for conspiring with other firms to keep them out of work.”

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The Guardian, 29th July 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Union seeks blacklist compensation – The Independent

Posted June 11th, 2012 in compensation, construction industry, employment, news, trade unions by sally

“A union is taking legal action to seek compensation on behalf of workers it claims were blacklisted by one of the UK’s biggest companies.”

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The Independent, 11th June 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Blacklisted building workers hope for day in court after ruling – The Guardian

Posted March 5th, 2012 in class actions, compensation, construction industry, employment tribunals, news, political opinion discrimination, trade unions by tracey

“The Consulting Association, a shadowy organisation that compiled a list of ‘troublemakers’ — with the help of the security services — for Britain’s biggest building companies was closed four years ago. Only now can its 3,200 victims go to court and hope to win.”

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The Guardian, 3rd March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Back to Basics: A Practical Guide to Adjudication and Enforcement – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted February 15th, 2012 in construction industry, contracts, dispute resolution, news by sally

“If you are a party to a construction contract and are trying to find a fast and efficient way to resolve a dispute arising out of the contract, you may be able to take advantage of the adjudication procedure set out in the Housing, Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 and the Statutory Scheme for Construction Contracts Regulations 1998. Catherine Piercy has written an article to assist in determining whether your contract falls within the statutory scheme. Once you have decided that you have a construction contract which falls within the HGCRA and is subject to the Statutory Scheme, this article provides a step by step guide to the adjudication and the adjudication process.”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 10th February 2012

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk