Amendments to construction contracts legislation to improve payment certainty for specialist contractors are set to appear in the next parliamentary session.

The proposed changes to part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 2006 follow sustained pressure by the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group, which says they should speed up payments and cut adjudication costs.

“This represents the climax of more than seven years’ SEC Group lobbying for enhancements to the current legislation,” said Trevor Hursthouse, the chairman of the group.

Alexandra Anderson, a partner at law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, said: “Removing the requirement for a contract to be in writing before a contractor can refer a claim for payment or adjudication will facilitate the swifter resolution of many construction disputes.”

The amendments will be contained in the Community Empowerment, Housing and Economic Regeneration Bill and will be announced in the Queen’s Speech in November.

Source

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