According to the NBS Contracts and Law Survey 2018, scope creep disrupted projects more than any other factor: Variations were also the main cause of 42% of disputes. So what can we do about scope creep? Are
Defining the scope of your contract is critical. Firstly, the scope is the starting point for determining whether any goods, works and services provided are extras – if not, they should be included in the original contract price. Secondly, the contract terms will explain if the extent of the change
Most contracts will include some form of mechanism or procedure allowing the parties to change the goods, works and services being provided. There are a number of myths about variation clauses because a simple express clause such as this in NEC4 “The Project Manager may give an instruction which changes
5 years ago I wrote a post about whether you could trust an employer with your retention. In the light of Carillion’s pending/actual insolvency* (delete according to when you read this), I wanted to clarify the legal position on retention. For simplicity the employer refers to the paying party –
Getting paid is a perennial problem in construction. The Construction Acts 1996 and 2009 were meant to help. They were meant to prevent employers and main contractors withholding monies due without any/good reasons. But do they? The evidence In 2018, the Federation of Master Builders lambasted employers and main contractors
The UK Supreme Court have recently revisited the thorny issue of fitness for purpose (and millions of Euros depend on the answer). How can you avoid the embarrassment of publication riches afforded by a Supreme Court decision, as well as months in court (the decision was given 8 years after
Weirdly, avoiding disputes does not seem to be a key factor driving the drafting of contracts (although PPC2000 might be an exception). However, given the rising cost and time involved in resolving disputes, as well as the damage to reputations and the sustainability of a company, it should be. My
Most consultant appointments allow a licence for your client to use your drawings and designs for the Project for which you created them; and if your client uses them for other purposes then you are not liable for such use. How ‘the Project’ is defined will affect how your client
An indemnity is a promise to pay A’s losses if a trigger event occurs [read more]. But how do they pass risk on construction projects? Managing risk If someone else fails to spot your defective work, does it reduce the amount of your indemnity? No. Greenwich Millennium v Essex Services
When a court or tribunal interprets your carefully crafted contract, it doesn’t ask your opinion. It reviews the written terms to analyse ‘what a reasonable person having all the [parties’ then] background knowledge… would have understood… the language in the contract to mean‘. As they are not mystics, the courts