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News

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – 2024 Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) Update

Questions Can I still use JCT 2016 contracts for my projects and are there changes to all JCT contracts? Has there been any change to the risk profile in the… Read more →

News

JCT Design and Build 2024 is published: read our introduction to the top ten changes

JCT Design and Build 2024 has been published this week and is first of the new suites of JCT contracts forming the 2024 edition to be published. We will be… Read more →

Building Safety Act

Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA): Works to Hospitals and Care Homes

Potential areas for misunderstanding are emerging as the construction industry gets to grips with the Building Safety Act (BSA). It is now generally understood that hospitals and care homes are… Read more →

Building Safety Act

Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA): Mandatory Occurrence Reporting for Higher Risk Buildings (HRBs) during construction

Under the Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 there is now a responsibility on the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor responsible for HRBs to carry out Mandatory Occurrence Reporting (MOR) where… Read more →

QIA

Executing legal documents – limitation traps for the unwary

In the recent case Lendlease v Aecom the Court had to consider and answer the following questions in relation to a consultancy appointment – it should be a lesson to… Read more →

Building Safety Act

Navigating the Building Safety Act 2022: Demystifying Principal Designer and Principal Contractor Roles Part 1 – Introduction

The construction industry is undergoing a transformative shift with the implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA). As part of these reforms, from 1 October 2023, a new dutyholder… Read more →

Building Safety Act

Navigating the Building Safety Act 2022: Demystifying Principal Designer and Principal Contractor Roles Part 2 – Principal Designer Competency Requirements

In Part 1 we introduced the new Principal Designer and Principal Contractor roles in the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) in contrast to those roles under the Construction (Design and… Read more →

Building Safety Act

Navigating the Building Safety Act 2022: Demystifying Principal Designer and Principal Contractor Roles Part 3 – Principal Contractor Competency Requirements

The construction industry is undergoing a transformative shift with the implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022 (“BSA”). As part of these reforms, from 1 October 2023, a new dutyholder… Read more →

Building Safety Act

Navigating the Building Safety Act 2022: Demystifying Principal Designer and Principal Contractor Roles Part 4 – Client duties

The construction industry is undergoing a transformative shift with the implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022 (“BSA”). As part of these reforms, from 1 October 2023, a new dutyholder… Read more →

QIA

Building Safety Act – are you ready for 1 October?

In August 2023, the government finally published the secondary legislation that will bring the design and construction requirements of the higher-risk building (“HRB“) regime under the Building Safety Act 2022… Read more →

Building Safety Act

BSA – THE FINAL COUNTDOWN?

For the Building Control position from I October 2023 in the light of the Regulations published in August 2023, please see our Building Safety Update Sept 2023. October 1 2023 is… Read more →

Building Safety Act

WILL THE BUILDING SAFETY ACT (“BSA”) CHANGE THE RISK PROFILE IN CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS?

Unamended standard form contracts such as JCT are regarded as providing a balance of risk as between the parties to them, whether employer and main contractor or main contractor and… Read more →

Building Safety Act

Construction Products and materials – testing & safety

The Government has recently published a report by Paul Morrell OBE and Anneliese Day KC titled “Testing for the Future – An Independent Review of the Construction Products Testing Regime“.… Read more →

News

Managing Construction Price Inflation – part 3

Below is the third and final entry in this series. For reference, Part 2 can be found here and Part 1 here. Can I lawfully terminate a contract if inflation makes it commercially… Read more →

Building Safety Act

Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) implementation – where are we now?

2023 has been cited as the “delivery year” for the BSA which received Royal Assent in April 2022 and there is an ambitious programme for its implementation this year. The… Read more →

News

BTR Boom

As a firm we are seeing a huge increase in activity in the build to rent (“BTR“) development sector. BTR is not a ‘new kid on the block’. It has… Read more →

Building Safety Act

EXISTING HIGHER RISK BUILDINGS – COMPULSORY REGISTRATION OPENS 6 APRIL 2023

The mandatory registration of existing occupied higher risk buildings (“HRBs“) with the new Building Safety Regulator will open on 6 April 2023 with a 6-month period to complete registration by… Read more →

Building Safety Act

THE BUILDING SAFETY ACT 2022 – 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

The Building Safety Act (“BSA“) has a significant impact on building owners and all those involved in real estate development.  We set out below the top ten things you need… Read more →

News

CAN A PARTY LAWFULLY TERMINATE A BUILDING CONTRACT IF COST INFLATION MAKES IT COMMERCIALLY UNVIABLE?

This is a question being asked in the light of both Covid and the war in Ukraine, which have caused significant cost increases in both materials and labour and delays, The… Read more →

News

Managing Construction Price Inflation – part 2

Below is Part 2 in this series. Part I can be found here and an earlier post regarding commercial steps that developers can consider to ameliorate the worst effects of inflationary pressures… Read more →

News

Managing Construction Price Inflation – part 1

The construction industry has had to mitigate the effects of Brexit and COVID-19 and is now beset with additional inflationary pressures in the wake of the war in Ukraine. This… Read more →

News

Contractual Issues Arising from the National Mourning Period

On behalf of their members Build UK asked our construction team for general advice on the effect of mourning for the Queen and funeral Bank Holiday on building contracts. With… Read more →

News

INFLATIONARY COSTS IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

The construction industry is experiencing inflationary pressures, not seen in the UK for 40 years.Unfortunately,  it is likely to be with the industry for some time to come. Below we… Read more →

News

Silver linings in the material shortages clouds

In Construction Global, Partner Sarah Elliot discusses the positive measures from the current supply chain and material challenges. To read the full article please click here.

News

Professional indemnity insurance for construction professionals- hard boiled?

The hardening of the professional indemnity market will not have escaped the notice of anyone in the construction industry recently renewing their cover or developers relying on it.  Factors including… Read more →

Bulletins

Quarterly in Advance- Autumn 2019

Quarterly in advance is published by Wedlake Bell’s Real Estate Team for our clients and contacts in the property world. Contents Dear Claire – can property guardians help landlords with vacant… Read more →

Bulletins

The Plight of the Approved Inspector

In a world where the adequacy of our Building Regulations is increasingly being questioned and the insurance market becomes ever harder to navigate, Approved Inspectors (AIs) have found themselves featuring… Read more →

Bulletins

Sectional Completion – are you sure your liquidated damages will be enforceable in the event of delay?  

Having gone to the lengths of negotiating a building contract with sectional completion, it is key that the technical description explaining which part of the works are included in each… Read more →

Bulletins

Struggling to find new homes warranty cover for your residential conversion? There may be another way…

The range of new homes warranty schemes currently available in the market is wide but if you are seeking cover to pass on to your purchasers for a residential conversion,… Read more →

Bulletins

Why it’s even more important now to check the interest clause within your building contracts and appointments – adjudication costs

In a recent case (Lulu Construction vs Mullalley & Co) the contractor benefitted from a legal uncertainty regarding compensation for late payment and was awarded his adjudication costs. Although the… Read more →

Bulletins

Slaving away

What does the Modern Slavery Act do? It introduces a requirement for certain businesses to ensure there is no slavery or human trafficking in their own business and their supply chains. For those businesses… Read more →