Legal

Hazel Cox is an associate and Fraser Askham is a partner at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang The Court of Appeal has considered a joint-names insurance policy taken out by an employer that was expressed to provide cover greater than required by the building contract. In FM Conway Limited v…

Mark London is a partner at law firm Devonshires In June 2022, the Building Safety Act (BSA) introduced several new remedies for those who wish to either recover the cost of remediating buildings or to compel a landlord to remediate the building. These new remedies ranged from extending the period…

Neil Boothroyd is an adjudicator, arbitrator and mediator at consultancy Gateley Vinden The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) enforces the importance of better industry practices – including the accurate recording and storage of building-safety information – following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire of 2017. To regulate standards, the BSA has…

Francesco Albanese is a trainee solicitor and Lucy Hawley is an associate at law firm BCLP Betterment has rarely been advanced as a defence in English courts until now, post-Grenfell, with the advent of building-safety defect claims. This article takes a closer look at this principle.   “Betterment claims are notoriously…

Patrick Duggan is a senior associate at law firm RWK Goodman Time in legal proceedings is a complex concept. The calculation of how and when to do something may be different depending on whether you are in court, arbitration or adjudication. But help is at hand, with some clarity on…

Chris Bowes (pictured above, left) and Matthew Taylor are partners at law firm CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang  The decision of the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities to refuse planning permission for the demolition and rebuilding of Marks & Spencer’s western Oxford Street store was met…

With the government promoting the use of PAS 9980 as a means of assessing risk to external wall systems (and thereby the extent of any remedial work or mitigation required), the difference between contractual rights and remedies and the impact of PAS 9980 is now coming into sharp focus. For…

Nana Manu-Mabiza is a senior paralegal in the construction and engineering team at RWK Goodman A Court of Appeal case that sheds light on how the court will deal with disputes where there is a pre-determined contractual dispute resolution procedure (DRP) between the parties is Kajima Construction (UK) Ltd, Kajima…

Fintan Wolohan in a managing associate at Womble Bond Dickinson (contributions from Michelle Essen, Simon Rowland and Jonathan Dunkley) Many organisations in the construction industry are facing financial distress, and it cannot be ignored any longer. As the sector buckles under the strain, it’s important to recognise that there’s no…

Kwadwo Sarkodie is a partner and Tamsin Travers is counsel at Mayer Brown International LLP Confronted with spiralling costs and supply chain issues on a fixed price contract which is consequently becoming increasingly unprofitable, a contractor may face a painful choice: continue with the project at a loss or try…