One of my 10 essentials for a construction contract is to agree the remedies one party will have if the other breaches the contract. A common remedy for construction contracts is to agree damages payable for a specific breach. Typically these are the employer’s remedy for delays to completion, but
When I created my first 500-word contract, some of the feedback I got from lawyers was that it was too short and didn’t cover everything. Well duh! At just 500 words it cannot be fully comprehensive, but it can be far more comprehensible. Read the full edition here How can you be more
A subcontractor on an anerobic digestion facility seems to have found itself in hot water when the tanks it had designed and supplied failed during testing. The main contractor (DBE Energy) had asked Biogas to provide mechanical and process design services for the facility, without any contract being signed or
If your contract is silent on a specific aspect or issue, when will the English courts come to your assistance and imply a term into your contract by case law? Test for implying terms In Re Force Indian One (2022) the court reiterated these tests for implying terms: it must
When you eat at a restaurant, are you bothered by the tasks involved or time taken, or are you simply interested in whether you are eating good food? If we wouldn’t tell a chef how to poach an egg (do their job), why do so many contracts focus on telling
How long do you have to give a recalcitrant contractor to get their act together, before you are allowed to give up and get someone else to finish your project? The issue of termination is fraught with pitfalls, but cases can help you understand your rights. Cheating on a client
How many of you read the on-line terms and conditions? According to data from PLAIN it is less than 0.22% who even bother to skim read them. If your contract is a tool to help you do business, it should be one that readers pay attention to. Read the full
Construction disputes are a great source of lessons for everyone in the sector. But we must remember that those stories may be tragedies for the parties, especially individuals. As a lawyer, I am often asked to comment on friends’ issues and, having listened to their litany of woes – my
There is a growing global movement towards plain language contracts, especially for individuals or consumers. What does plain language mean and is it enough? What is plain language? According to the Plain Language Federation (and this is the definition in the proposed new ISO on the topic): A communication is
The 2021 HKA Crux Insight Report into lessons learnt from claims and disputes highlights a number of common global causes of engineering and construction claims. The purpose of the report (according to its Foreword) is to offer: actionable insight and suggestions to help owners, contractors and the supply chain navigate