Blog

The Dotted Line: What are your values?

On Palm Sunday a good friend of mine, Joy Marsden, died suddenly after a very short illness. She was President of the Professional Speaking Association (I had the privilege to become a Fellow during her tenure). She was also a client. You can learn a great deal about someone’s values

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Beware time-bar provisions

Adjudication is sometimes described as a rough and ready from of speedy dispute resolution and is mandatory for certain construction contracts in the UK. Where it is mandatory it can be commenced at any time. Where the contract does not come within the mandatory statutory requirements, eg for a residential

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Lessons from failure: get your ducks in a row

Am I the only person who went into construction for the paperwork? If so, it would make a massive difference if others like you could take the time to plan and sign your contracts properly. The NBS Contracts and Law Report 2018 shows 30% of projects start without a contract

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The Dotted Line: Once upon a time…

Once upon a time, I read that the (historical) reason for the length of contracts was because lawyers were paid by the inch – so it was in a lawyer’s financial interests to use three words when one would do [read more]. Surely modern contracts shouldn’t still be like that?

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Can you recover delay damages after termination?

Construction contracts and engineering contracts take a flexible approach to completion: time is not of the essence (if they were, then when the contractor was late the client could reject the works, plant or section and pay nothing) the original dates for completion of the work, plant or sections can

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What is practical completion?

A recent Court of Appeal case has confirmed what I tell my workshop delegates, that practical completion is easier to recognise than define Whilst shying away from hard and fast rules, and confirming it is a matter for the contract administrator to decide, the Court said: latent defects cannot prevent

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The Dotted Line: Keep it brief

I have rifling through my Mum’s possessions – partly in the hope of finding hidden treasure such as a letter to me which explains how beloved I was – and came across hidden contract treasure. Read the full edition here » In this video I try and embody brevity when

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Create certainty

As well as contracts needing certain terms, Tessa Manuello says that legal design is aimed at creating documents which provide certainty for users in three areas: certainty of cost certainty of process certainty of outcome Cost certainty For construction contracts, ‘certainty of cost’ means your contract should provide certainty covering

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How BIM affects contracts

The guidance to ISO 19650 recognises that the legal and contractual matters of BIM are in a state of flux and development…the standards are not intended to provide prescriptive direction on the composition of BIM contract documents (whether consisting of a Protocol and/or other documents) and are subject to contractual

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The Dotted Line: The Ultimate BOGOF?

How do you feel about surprises? Perhaps if I said it was a surprise gift, surprise party or surprise weekend away you might be ok with it? How about surprise invoices? Read the full edition here » How much do I love surprises? Find out here: If you’d like to

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