Contracts are not just about what scope your supplier is providing – they also explain how you are going to work with your supplier. For example, a subcontract should set out the processes for getting the subcontract works to dovetail smoothly into the wider project. Procedures deal with everything from
Your contract can create trust and make your lives infinitely better if it includes simple remedies. These are contractual processes that deal with what happens when the project doesn’t go precisely to plan. All express (contractual) remedies are far simpler, cheaper and quicker to use for both parties. They provide
Your contract needs to reflect a variety of aims or objectives for the parties and for the project or task: Core Aims It is trite to say projects need to balance time, cost and quality. That means any contract has to strike a balance between getting the goods, works or
Although it was over 200 pages (with 30 pages of defined terms), given that it had been through 21 iterations and redrafts, you would have thought the lawyers would have ironed out all the wrinkles and resolved any drafting issues… or not! A contract relating to joint ventures and letters
In 1992, two C-Suite executives from US airlines took to the ring to wrestle out a dispute about trade marks. More than a quarter of a century later, what can companies learn from this? 3 key lessons The first lesson is about deciding a strategy. This wasn’t really about the
Although not common in the construction sector, contractual jargon which regularly confuses users is an ‘endeavours’ obligation. Like reasonable skill and care, this is an input standard – often subjective, qualified and tricky to prove. But what is the difference between best endeavours and reasonable endeavours? A spectrum of inputs
No-one really likes disputes (except a few claims consultants or lawyers). So why don’t we spend more time engineering them out of construction? As HHJ Brian Preston said The best way to resolve to a dispute is to pre-empt it and not have the dispute in the first place… A
It’s easier to learn from the mistakes of others so let me tell you about one of the worst works contracts I’ve ever reviewed. Although just over 6,000 words (10 pages) long, the building contract was incredibly one-sided because of these terms: A right for the client to cancel the
Contracting needs to be customer-centric, technology-friendly and process-conscious to succeed in the current tech age. Customer-centric Customer-centric contracts are ones which are simple to read, understand and use, and provided as part of a simple, clear process to convert a prospect into a raving fan! We all know the frustrations
To paraphrase William Shakespeare (the Bard): “If contracts be the food of love, play on. Give me excess clauses that, surfeiting, The appetite for jargon may sicken and so die. That Latin phrase, it had a dying fall… O contract spirit, how mean-spirited art thou, That, notwithstanding thy word-smithery Is
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