Legal Comment – Page 99
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CommentHand over all the money
You can recover damages for losses caused by breach of contract but probably not for the loss of the use of money awarded in damages. Interest, in other words.That’s a bit odd isn’t it?
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CommentCompensation claims: That’s all, folks
A home that is built defectively may bring the owner years of inconvenience. How much ought the owner be compensated for this? Well, forget what you’ve read about such settlements in the US …
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CommentKeeping mum about mediation
Once upon a time everyone understood that part of what made mediation an ‘alternative’ form of dispute resolution was that the talks remained confidential. Was. Not any more they don’t
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CommentBeware what you wish for
An entire agreement clause proclaims that everything the parties have agreed is in the contract in front of them. But don’t forget that essential legal rule …
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CommentJCT Framework Agreement: Umbrellas? Who needs ’em
A framework agreement is like an umbrella that sits above a contractual dinghy in which the elements of the Egan partnership await their fate like good little girls and boys. Until, of course, it starts getting wet
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CommentProject bank accounts: Private practices
The project bank accounts proposed by the guide could work in the private sector – if they can be made effective
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CommentA diamond among the coal
The 48 pages of the Fair Payment Charter are largely made up of statements of the bleedin’ obvious worked up by some marketing wizard – but that project bank accounts idea is a real corker
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It’s the tender process, stupid
The Fair Payment Charter is brimming with good intentions but unless it gets to grips with procurement, clients are unlikely to benefit
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CommentThe price of intransigence
Mediation can be used as a ploy to cut down on costs at a later trial. But if a party is suspected of playing along with no intention of compromising, everyone can end up losing a lot of money
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CommentWhat’s yours is mine
A retention may be held by an employer, but the money does not belong to it. This inconvenient fact is often overlooked by clients and main contractors – it’s so good for business, you see
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CommentThe £40,000 fix
Here’s a chilling tale from the year gone by. It’s about what happened when a subcontractor on a fixed-price contract was asked not to do some of the work it tendered for – but had to be paid for it all the same
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CommentWhat it all comes down to
How do we decide what is a reasonable extension of time? This basic question gives rise to all sorts of astonishingly complex answers, at the end of which we’re left with … common sense
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CommentWellies, muck and diggers
Construction dispute books, however erudite and authoritative, must brim with experience of the real world if they’re to be of use to those at the sharp end
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CommentRaise a glass to the clerk of works
Who’s the most important man on a building site? Well, it depends on circumstances, but have you ever thought it might be the humble clerk of works? The chap with no powers but the one to make sure the job goes right?
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CommentTalking yourself out of a job
Alright, love, I’ll rebuild your bungalow in 17 weeks for £130k. Agreed. What, you want a kitchen? That’s extra. And where’s my dosh? All of it! Of course I need more time, I can’t work in the rain, can I? I’ve been what? !!£**@!!!*
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CommentTreasure & Son Ltd vs Martin Dawes: The riddle of existence
If you get into an adjudication based on a variation to a contract that is agreed but not signed, is the adjudication valid? The High Court has just given us a clear answer to that one …
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CommentTime wasters
One thing a legal dispute is good for is kicking a claim for payment into the long grass, which means all the time spent being fair to both parties is very unfair to the one that wants its money
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CommentFlogging a dead parrot
Here’s a trip down memory lane … back to the early seventies and Monty Python’s Flying Circus. But what could a hilarious, abusive, surreal sketch show possibly have to do with the modern construction industry?
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CommentWhat the Fiona tells us
The House of Lords has just decided a case that’s been around long enough to acquire its own nickname. And although it’s about a huge shipping dispute, it will have a big impact on construction
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CommentThe simple secret of success
The expert goes to Majorca to deliver a paper about the contractual side of building – and learns a lot about how it really works from a man who doesn’t even go to his lecture …