Which should come first: works or contract? Well you might expect me to say the contract but here’s why… The defective car park In 2001, two companies were trying to agree the terms for a long-term agreement on a variety of projects. One of those projects was in a hurry,
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
To make letters of intent really work for you, you need a fast but fool-proof process. There are two critical stages: what you do before you send a letter of intent and what you do after. Before you send it You should check whether the letter of intent you need
On any construction project, there is likely to be a funder, who lends money to the client for the purposes of getting the development completed. The funder will assess the viability of a project based on factors including: size of the loan ie the amount of money the client needs
It’s not necessarily good or bad to use a letter of intent. Depending on who you believe, letters of intent may be considered ‘necessary evil’, a sign that the project has gone wrong, evidence of a defective contract strategy or a means to the right end. Despite the many clear
Letters of intent can be recommended in specific circumstances: in view of the perceived importance of achieving early completion and, specifically, early commencement of the works, it was acceptable to advise commencing [the project] under a letter of intent rather than waiting until a formal building contract could be executed.”
Whether you can avoid a letter of intent depends on where you are in the contract process – are you at the stage of deciding your contract strategy or are you about to start the construction phase? It can either be a strategic or tactical decision… Strategic If the client
When discussing letters of intent, this blog has so far focused almost exclusively on the current (dire) examples in use in the UK construction industry. These are mostly a mish mash of types of contract, cobbled together and sent with fingers firmly crossed behind the sender’s back. After talks on
Collected at last, links to my LinkedIn posts on letters of intent A How Can You Accept a Letter of Intent What is the legal equivalent of ‘hell yes’? B What to Do Before Sending A Letter of Intent Searching questions to check a letter of intent is the right
The contract administrator on a construction project is the ‘coordinator and guardian of the client’s interests‘. She is critical in finalising the building contract. In Ampleforth v TTPM the court reviewed her role and said that whilst the contract administrator was not under any absolute obligation to get the contract signed…