The news will frustrate many in the industry who are giving evidence to the review, and who claim that the act is failing to create a less adversarial environment or to protect specialists in the supply chain.
A spokesperson for the DETR said: “We will still review the Construction Act, but we are considering with legal experts whether, in the light of recent and prospective court proceedings, we should wait a little longer [before taking any action] until the courts have clarified the legal interpretation of the Scheme for Construction Contracts.”
Recent rulings in the Technology and Construction Court include a case where a judge stated that the losing party in an adjudication might be allowed to delay paying a claimant if the claimant was proven to be in financial difficulties.
It is understood that the DETR is also waiting to see how other contentious adjudication cases are decided in the Court of Appeal.
The spokesperson was unable to put a timescale on when the government would be in a position to make amendments to the act.
John Huxtable, chief executive of the Confederation of Construction Specialists, said the government had gone back on its promise by saying that it would not amend the act after the review.
The government cannot be bothered to help specialists when they need it John huxtable, confederation of
Construction Specialists
Huxtable said: “We expected more given the assurances from Nick Raynsford that changes would be made to the act if it was found to be failing in some areas.
“The government has been quick to impose a horrendous tax scheme on specialists, but it seems it cannot be bothered to do something useful for specialists when they need it.”
Specialists are particularly keen to have the act’s payment system amended. Huxtable said many contractors were not complying with the interim payment clauses. These state that a main contractor must inform a specialist how much it will be paid five days before an interim payment is due, and if any money is withheld it must explain why.
This rule allows an unhappy subcontractor to launch an adjudication against an employer or withdraw labour from the site.
Huxtable said: “We expected the government to change the provision to state that if a main contractor fails to give notice of the amount he is intending to pay, he could be charged the entire amount a specialist had invoiced for.”
