An overriding duty of care clause (limiting duties to reasonable skill and care) has in recent years become more common and more desirable to negotiate into contracts. In a key recent decision in which Beale & Company Solicitors LLP acted for AECOM, the successful party, the court[1] upheld the effect and importance of an overriding […]
Many years ago when advising members of a building trade association a wise and senior solicitor once told me of the golden rule that all contractors and sub-contractors should always follow. Namely that they should not walk off site without having given the proper notices to protect them against a claim by the employer or […]
So what are these black holes we need to avoid? In our universe, this arises because only a party to the contract can make a claim and the party to whom a contract is assigned cannot recover more than the original party. This was considered in detail by the House of Lords in Linden Gardens […]
N THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICEKING’S BENCH DIVISIONBUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALESTECHNOLOGY AND CONSTRUCTION COURT Royal Courts of Justice, Rolls BuildingFetter Lane, London, EC4A 1NL 30/03/2023 B e f o r e : MR JUSTICE CONSTABLE____________________Between: In Claim No HT-2023-000043 ELEMENTS (EUROPE) LIMITED Claimant – and – […]
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICEQUEEN”S BENCH DIVISIONTECHNOLOGY AND CONSTRUCTION COURT Royal Courts of JusticeStrand, London, WC2A 2LL 15/12/2016 B e f o r e : MRS JUSTICE JEFFORD____________________Between: OCTOESSE LLP Claimant – and – TRAK SPECIAL PROJECTS LIMITED Defendant ____________________ Mr Luke Wygas (instructed by Blake-Turner LLP) for the ClaimantMiss Krista Lee (instructed by […]
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICEQUEEN’S BENCH DIVISIONTECHNOLOGY AND CONSTRUCTION COURT St. Dunstan’s House 16th January 2006 B e f o r e : MR. JUSTICE JACKSON____________________ SCHELDEBOUW BV Claimant – and – ST. JAMES HOMES (GROSVENOR DOCK) LTD. Defendant ____________________ MR. SIMON HUGHES (instructed by Kingsley Napley) appeared on behalf of the Claimant.MR. STEPHEN […]
When providing judgment on a range of matters, the Courts will often need to look at the ‘construction’ (i.e., the meaning) of contractual terms and conditions which are core to the issues in dispute. This can range from complicated formulas to the construction of a particular sentence or may even boil down to a single […]
If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what ought to be done remains undone…” Confucius Charles Edwards, Barrister and TECBAR Adjudicator, reviews the case of The Dorchester Group Ltd (t/a the Dorchester Collection) v Kier Construction Ltd [2015] […]
Case update: concurrent delayNorth Midland Building Ltd v Cyden Homes Ltd[2018] EWCA Civ 1744We first reported on this case in Issue 208. NMBL and Cyden hadagreed certain bespoke amendments to the JCT Design and BuildContract 2005, one of which concerned the way in which extensionsof time would be dealt with in certain circumstances. The partieshad […]
Without prejudice privilege – guidance from the Privy Council I advise many clients involved in construction projects who are on the cusp of a dispute. While they take legal advice on the merits of their position, my clients usually continue to seek to reach an amicable solution with their counterparty through direct negotiation as well […]
The claimThe proceedings concerned claims brought by theclaimant in relation to re-cladding and associatedremedial works to address fire safety and water ingressissues in relation to the external wall construction ofthree high rise residential tower blocks it owned in centralManchester.The parties involvedThe claimant was LDC (Portfolio One) Limited (“LDC”).LDC is the freeholder of three residential tower […]
Helen Stuart and Wrisque Cline explore a case addressing issues relating to a consultant’s liability for design defects, including the extent of its continuing duty to review the design. In Lendlease Construction (Europe) Ltd v Aecom Ltd (Rev1) [2023] EWHC 2620, Lendlease, the design and build contractor for an oncology centre, engaged Aecom to provide […]