Sarah Fox

On a mission to help construction specialists create simple contracts that safeguard their business without annoying their clients, in just 500 words!

19

Jun2018

Review Your Contract: Recognise Traps

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According to a Brief History of Cunning (podcast), Machiavelli said: one must be a fox to recognise traps and a lion to recognise wolves This struck a chord because as a contracts expert, one of my services is to review contracts on behalf of contractor and specialist subcontractors to ... Read More

14

Jun2018

Avoid Disputes with Wedding Cakes

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Having considered the importance of clarity and records in avoiding disputes (both easier said than done), Susannah's last post reviews the role of contract clauses that set out a series of dispute resolution options. These are tiered procedures, hence their nickname 'wedding cake clauses'. Although ... Read More

13

Jun2018

Avoid Disputes with Records

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Having considered how a clear contract can help you avoid disputes, Susannah Lee, an expert disputes solicitor,  looks at how disputes can be won and lost with records. Records are an essential (if boring) part of contract management. Max Abrahamson wrote A party to a dispute... will learn three ... Read More

12

Jun2018

Avoid Disputes With Clear Contracts

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In the first of series of 3 posts, Susannah Lee, an expert disputes solicitor,  looks at how clarity in your contract can help avoid disputes - which cause long term damage to your skilfully nurtured business relationships.  Construction projects are prone to disputes because of their technical, procedural and managerial ... Read More

07

Jun2018

The Dotted Line: I’m like a truffle pig sniffing out bad terms

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In the Dotted Line I want to give you the confidence to read, understand and use contracts for success. It’s easier to learn from the mistakes of others so let me tell you about one of the worst contracts I’ve ever reviewed. Read the full edition here » Do your ... Read More

05

Jun2018

Digital Contracts: Conduct

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My talk at the 2017 CoMIT Conference (read the live blog) drew parallels between banking and construction because banking was based on trust (hence the term ‘rich as Croesus’ as he mastered the art of trustworthy coins as tools to stimulate commerce in Lydia). The former chair of JCT ... Read More

29

May2018

Digital Contracts: Language

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Although 86% of the audience at the 2017 CoMIT Conference (read the live blog) did not think language was the biggest barrier to digital contracts, we cannot automate our current contracts. The problems include: Jargon: the legal language is one-sided and full of jargon so the obligations are not ... Read More

25

May2018

Digital Contracts: Technology

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At the 2017 CoMIT conference (read the live blog), I proposed that the three barriers to moving towards digital contracts were technology, language and conduct. Unsurprisingly for an audience attending a conference on the construction opportunities for mobile IT, 75% said technology would be the first barrier to digital ... Read More

24

May2018

The Dotted Line: Carrots vs sticks

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Sir Matt Busby’s first contract as a manager for Manchester United required him to “further the quality of play of the teams and the attractiveness of their football”. It’s not just about goals scored? This got me thinking about how you define success in your contracts. Read the ... Read More

15

May2018

Review Your Scope: Is It Included?

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To work out whether works, goods or services are 'extra' ie a change to the original scope, you need to know the original scope of the works as well as how your contract defines changes/variations/extras. However, the definition of a change varies from pretty wide (eg JCT), to narrow (MF/1) to ... Read More