James Brown

If you’re a Building subscriber, you will no doubt appreciate your privileged access to certain sections of the site, such as Case of the Week, where our resident expert Fenwick Elliott looks at landmark judgments affecting construction, strips out legal jargon and explains the implications in clear terms.

For those of you around in the 1970s, Case of the Week is like a written version of Crown Court, the afternoon series that ran for what seemed like decades before Richard and Judy took over the schedules.

This week, the case in question is a warning for those who operate several different firms. In Nasser Abadi and Atlas Construction vs Abdullah Al-Anizi, the latter was found to be personally responsible for sums owed to the former for architectural and building work, despite Al-Anizi claiming the contracts were made with his companies, rather than himself as an individual. So, those with small firms in particular, make sure you know which corporate hat you’re wearing when dealing with other parties, or you could find yourself personally responsible for the outcome.

n The first singles chart based on downloads was announced last week and I was pleased, if a little surprised, to see a record exhorting the virtues of energy-saving light-bulbs at number two. The video for Eric Prydz’s Proper Education features an unusual approach to breaking and entering: children sneak into homes on a council estate to install energy saving features such as low-flush WCs and low-energy lighting – a useful reminder of best practice to all of us.

Alex Smith is Building’s web editor.