Do you really want to sign up to a contract that allows your client (or the main contractor) to keep taking work away from you and giving it to someone else? Contracts both entitle and oblige the provider to perform the whole of its scope – what I call a
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
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
Ok. I’ll admit it. I have a bee in my bonnet about clauses which allow termination at will or termination for convenience. Essentially, a termination at will clause allows one party to simply change its mind about wanting to continue with the scope of the contract, and tell the other
When you write your own contract (possibly cobbling together clauses and copying and pasting paragraphs from other contracts, the internet or elsewhere) you may find that you haven’t actually covered all the essentials. I have worked with a few companies in the construction industry who have created their own contract
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
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
A few years ago, I was speaking to an audience at an RICS event and someone asked how he should proceed to write a contract if he didn’t trust ‘them’ (also known as ‘the other side’). I was momentarily stunned into silence – a rare and unusual occurrence for me!
Most UK construction projects are carried out on standard form contracts which set out specific events which can entitle one or other of the contracting parties to a range of remedies: an adjustment or extension to the planned completion date more money either for carrying out additional works or for
A contract is a legally binding agreement that creates mutual rights and obligations on the contracting parties. A contract not only obliges the contractor to provide specific works or services but also gives the contractor a right to finish those works or services. There are two mechanisms by which contracts
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