Legal Comment – Page 89
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Comment
Legal costs: And you say we won?
As Costain vs Haswell shows, judges are using exact measures to work out who pays how much of the legal costs. The results should give a lot of litigants pause for thought
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CommentContracts: Are you a cavalier or a roundhead?
You can have all the collaboration and co-operation you like in this industry of ours, but fundamentally the Roundheads are right: it’s all about the contract …
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Comment
Law of limitation: And your time starts … now!
New legislation is on the way (at last) to reform the law of limitation of actions. But should it be a single limitation period and if so for how long: three, six or 10 years?
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CommentDubai disputes: Arbitrary judgment
Now that the only thing booming in Dubai is disputes, queues are forming outside arbitrators’ doors. But arbitration in the UAE has to be speeded up. Here’s how …
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CommentAdjudication awards: Logical deductions
If a party loses an adjudication and is ordered to pay up, can it set this sum off against anything it thinks it is owed from a subsequent adjudication award?
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Comment
OFT special: The cost of a phone call
If you don’t want the job, just ask for too much money and you won’t get it. Nobody can touch you. Phone a friend for a cover price, though, and you’re liable for millions
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CommentJCT homeowner contract: Get the picture?
The JCT’s contract for home extenders is a very useful document, not least because it turns a lot of those complicated words into drawings we can all understand
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CommentGaps in the framework
If you’ve got a framework, a lot of contractual stuff is written into it. But there are still vital clauses that have to be agreed on the jobs themselves – so what happens if they aren’t?
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CommentSo crazy it might be true
We’re so conditioned to looking at the world in a particular way we stop thinking about it. But what if it is, in fact, quite wrong? And what could prompt us to realise it is?
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CommentTake the fifth: Liability for design mistakes
If you’re an architect, and you suddenly realise that you’ve made a mistake, do you have a duty to tell your client about it? Well, that all depends
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CommentWestfield fit-out dispute: An everyday story of building folk
This shopfitting dispute sounds hair-raising, but it is really nothing out of the ordinary. That’s because people who work in construction are like everyone else: they mess up
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CommentJCT for major projects: I Love you just the way you are
The clear, efficient and comprehensive JCT Major Project Construction Contract is about as good a form as you’ll find. But don’t go trying to change it …
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CommentRepugnant behaviour
A recent case has shown that the more serious a breach of contract, the less likely it is that a court will accept an exclusion of liability clause
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CommentBook review: Last-minute booking
Forget chick lit – the best summer reads address building procurement and the JCT contract. And, gratifyingly, the authors come up with exactly the right conclusions
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Comment‘Valid’ doesn’t mean ‘true’: withholding payment
A party that doesn’t want to pay another needs to issue a withholding notice with a reason why it’s not paying – but does this reason need to be reasonable?
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CommentHow to pick a winner: adjudication
Believe it or not, it can be tricky to decide whether you’ve won or lost a legal case. How come? Well here’s an illustration from the world of horse breeding
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Comment
Trouble in the transfer market: TUPE regulations and frameworks
Under TUPE regulations, staff are transferred from contractor to contractor depending on who is doing the work. But how does that function with frameworks?
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CommentWhy is the OFT so unfair?: Coverpricing vs bid-rigging
Question: When is bid-rigging not bid-rigging? Answer: When it’s cover pricing. And it’s about time that our competition watchdog understood the difference
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CommentLook and learn: Vision vs Lancsville
Even though adjudication is well established, there are still some lessons that can be learned without trying too hard – as Vision Homes vs Lancsville makes clear
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CommentGreen paper: Eco-ratings in contracts
Clients and buyers have come to expect a high sustainability rating for their property, but where does that leave the contractor?