More Comment – Page 671
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A difficulty with defects
In a situation using a JCT contract where a retention is being held and the certificate of making good defects has not been issued, but latent defects have arisen after the expiry of the defects liability period, is it within the employer’s powers to withhold the retention?
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Go to the adjudicator
It made me sad to read the story of Alan Danieli, the small builder being driven out of business by unpaid accounts.
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Head for the homeowners contract
My heart went out to this small contractor whose story I hear echoed by countless clients, some like him, others – often pensioners or those on low incomes – who have been ripped off by contractors less conscientious than Mr Danieli.
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Try a no-fee solution
I was puzzled by Alan Danieli’s article and the pessimistic conclusion that his company would be unable to sustain the likely legal costs required to recover the sums due to it.
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Threaten bankruptcy proceeding
I sympathise with Mr Danieli over his inability to collect monies due to him from unscrupulous clients.
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Standard alert
Publication of the European standard for external rendering, coming at a time when new Building Regulations are being issued thick and fast, may get overlooked by some.
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And another thing …
In response to Peter Duckett’s letter calling on specialists to get tough (29 April, page 38): how about specialists doing what they tendered for and not strong-arming medium and smaller contractors, and some larger ones, to get their own way?
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CommentOpen Mike: Read all about it
There’s a new book out on environmental liabilities, which eco-officials, imaginative activists and eagle-eyed lawyers cannot wait to throw at construction firms …
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CommentCDM: An audit
The Health and Safety Executive has just recommended changes to the CDM regulations. So the first question we should ask is: will they do any good?
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CommentDevoured by their house
This is how a simple house extension turned into a simple dispute, which turned into a bitter dispute, which turned into a very expensive legal case. And for what?
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Welcome to castle Bolkestein
The proposed European Union services directive, or Bolkestein’s monster, as it’s known, could produce a playing field with so many bumps that standards suffer
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Who’s suing whom
A round up of the writs at the Technology and Construction Court, including a row over a smart Chelsea pad, landlords in dispute with tenants and two attempts to enforce adjudicators’ awards
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Nowhere to go
As a designer who prepares schemes for several small developers in Sefton, Merseyside, I find it almost impossible to get applications for anything even considered.
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Wigs and muddy boots
Reading Tony Bingham’s article (22 April, page 58) regarding the quandary of a judge faced with the equally compelling opinions of two opposing experts, I was reminded of my very earliest lessons in arbitration.
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A very precise view
Motivated by wishing to balance your rather negative report on the London mayor’s draft supplementary planning guidance the London View Management Framework (22 April, page 16), I should like to point out that the approach is not generally protectionist but informative.
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Just a thought …
In an article relating to the National Audit Office’s report on the government’s construction record (24 March, page 25), Rudi Klein, chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors Group, suggested “using single project bank accounts for the entire construction project”.To overcome the issue of up-front payment would this not be ...