Category: Contracts

Never shove your contracts in a drawer

Ever since the first standard form contracts were published, there has been a plague on the construction and engineering industries… a plague of contracts. The first construction standard form appeared in 1879 and the first engineering contract in 1903. Fast forward 100 years and we have industries which are unrecognisable

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Lessons from failure: have a contract strategy

On a simple house refurbishment project in Putney, London, Mr & Mrs West ended up with an extended house with no proper waterproofing, serious defects in the plumbing and all the newly installed M&E services needing replacing. Disaster! When planning and creating their contracts that the clients were failed by

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Making up for poor contract process?

Getting a contract in place before you provide works, goods, or services is not something the UK construction industry is great at (roughly one-third of projects start without any contract). But I expect more of the companies that sell a simple off-the-shelf product. So when I bought my recent JCT

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Subcontractor delays: choose your weapon

What should be the contractor’s remedy when a subcontractor is running late? Under freedom to contract, the parties can decide their rights, remedies, obligations and liabilities – they are masters of their contractual fate. The choice is between recovering an uncertain amount provided you can prove breach and loss in

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A circular image showing the plan, make and use stages for contracting as well as describing some of the tasks making up those stages. The outer circle has arrows to show that this should be a continual process of improvement. Image copyright Sarah Fox
Sarah Fox

What are smart contracts?

A smart contract means a ‘computer protocol intended to digitally facilitate, verify, or enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract.’ [source] From this definition, a smart contract is just the code – it has been said that it is neither smart nor a contract! More recently, the Law Commission

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Write your contract in just 500 words

Many years ago, I sat in Ed’s diner at Euston Station (London) waiting for my train. I was chatting to my sister and she challenged me to write a contract in just 500 words. In a rash moment I agreed, and being a woman of my word, I had to

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Hope is not a contract strategy

One of the key problems with contracts is knowing how and when to use them effectively. This decision should be part of a clear contract strategy. Even if you don’t have a mature contract strategy, any strategy is better than hope! As fellow speaker and internet marketing expert, Ian Brodie,

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Choosing Model Form MF/1

One of my favourite standard forms is MF/1 the IET Model Form of Contract for the design, supply and installation of electrical, electronic and mechanical plant. It is clear, logically ordered and user-friendly. [It used to be printed on pink paper but that’s not why I like it.] This post

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Choosing Model Form MF/4

Following my recent webinar for the IChemE Special Interest Group, I ended up debating the relative merits of the IChemE Professional Services Contract (Short Form, 2015) and the IET/IMechE MF/4. This post outlines some of the aspects you need to consider when choosing MF/4 as part of your contract strategy.

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Choosing IChemE Silver Book

Following my recent webinar for the IChemE Special Interest Group, I was asked to comment on their new Professional Services Contract (Short Form, 2015). The IChemE PSC Short Form was published to provide the IChemE’s members with a ‘standard form’ consultancy agreement for services of a “relatively low contract price

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