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
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
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
What is a cognitive bias? These are shortcuts to help us act and think efficiently, and (in the past) to survive. They also help us understand each other better. Sometimes these are referred to as the curse of knowledge. Not all of these shortcuts are based on logic! There are
Following on from last year’s report, the HKA Crux Insight Report 2022 Battling the Headwinds has again reviewed claims and disputes on global construction projects. Changes in scope (the #1 cause of disputes) might be an unavoidable side-effect of major construction projects, but the #3 cause of disputes is contract
A 2022 report into Construction Adjudication in the UK (Tracing trends and guiding reform by Kings College London) has strongly suggested that the project team are the biggest cause of construction disputes that end in adjudication. The four most common causes cited by the 249 respondents were: inadequate contract administration
The Dalton Company, based in Toronto, Canada, have trust as a core value in their business. I was introduced to them by Stephen MR Covey, author of the Speed of Trust. This what they said about how they do business (when I interviewed them for CICES back in 2017). Trust-based
What are the alternatives to retention? In my view, the retention is effectively ransom money and the parties rarely know who actually owns it. It can be kidnapped and held as a form of leverage. Its two key purposes are: security against defective work or security against insolvency within the
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