The technology to allow parties to a contract to sign, execute, witness and complete contracts without leaving their home office is not new. However, with nearly 50% of the UK working from home, the time for electronic or digital signatures is ripe. Rather than considering the relative merits of the
What is the retention? Is it, as I have suggested, the contractor’s money which the employer is holding to ransom? Is it security for any defects discovered during the defects period which the contractor fails to put right? Is it a form of commercial leverage? In Yeovil v The Stepping
Ever woken up from a faint or in a hotel bedroom and experienced the shock of not knowing where you were? You are puzzled and confused until your brain solves the riddle of where you are versus where you thought you were. Read the full edition here How can you avoid missing
Any construction project (or product) can be stated to have a specific design life – normally listed in calendar years. Recent cases have reviewed if a design life is a promise ie an actionably duty or a mere statement of intent or desire: sinking wind turbines: a requirement for these
A holiday can be a life-changing experience – and two events this summer illustrate that being stubborn and ferociously independent are not the only ingredients for success. Occasionally, we all need some people who ‘have our back’. Read the full edition here Do you hold two inherently contradictory views –
One of the respondents to my survey on the future of contracts told me (rather depressingly) that No-one cares about the contract. They just want the goods… But it is actually more nuanced. There are two different motives for two distinct stages: before signature: the parties are only focused on
I was chatting to Jeremy who havd reviewed one of my template contracts. He was fine with its content but said he would be even less formal in his contract/proposal; in particular he would use contractions. So where I had written I will he would use I’ll. I didn’t disagree
Sometimes even our good intentions get overtaken by bad experiences and we end up creating a monster, accidentally… Read the full edition here Do your contracts leave the other side delighted, slightly affronted or mistrustful? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXAlOrQ_f6I&feature=youtu.be
In my (unscientific) straw poll of attendees at a recent webinar on construction contracts, not a single person admitted to always reading every set of terms and conditions, or T&C. It’s hardly surprising. From the thousands of people who have been in my audience when I asked that question, in
Is there a project you are putting off? Decorating the house, tidying the garage, digging your garden or redesigning your contract process? Whatever it is, sometimes it’s hard to know just where to start… Read the full edition here Instead of just one small thing (like I suggested last time),