How many errors can one contract have in their clauses relating to liquidated damages? Genuine pre-estimate of loss In Buckingham v Peel, the contract included a clause stating: The Parties agree that… having given careful consideration to this matter, all LADs payable by the Contractor are considered by the Parties
No-one cares what you think your contract meant… As an English court said: What each of the parties intended or understood by their written and spoken communications is irrelevant unless that intention or understanding was shared with and agreed or accepted by the other party. English legal rules on contract
In 1759 Arthur Guinness signed a 9000-year lease at a rent of £45. A long lease is normally 99 years and a lease for 999 years is often seen as equivalent to freehold. So 9000 years? You won’t be surprised to know that he purchased the site a few years
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
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
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
There is no point having a simple and effective set of terms and conditions (T&C) if you don’t manage to get them included in your contracts. If you haven’t managed to get a contract signed, can T&C printed on the reverse of your invoices count? Incorporating T&C There are a
The issue of quality is a thorny one on construction projects and covers everything from the construction process, to use and performance. The two main standards are reasonable skill and care, or fitness for purpose. Unless a contract clearly specifies a different standard, then you may have to rely on
An English idiom, from the 16th century confirms that you cannot both eat your cake and have it… which has been reversed (nonsensically) into ‘you cannot have your cake and eat it’! For contracts, this means you cannot have all three core objectives in one project. You cannot have both