All articles by Rudi Klein – Page 5
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CommentGive us our time back
Legal aid — This month our panel of experts locks horns with a client that has withdrawn an extension of time, sacked the architect and refuses to pay what’s due. Should the contractor down tools, lean on the new architect – or is adjudication the answer?
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CommentA disaster waiting to happen
Legal aid - This month our panel of experts tackles a dangerous situation at a college where a newly constructed extension is a potential fire hazard. Who is responsible under the design-and-build contract? And who will foot the bill for the remedial work?
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CommentPost-match analysis
Now that the teams have left the pitch, let's look at what really happened at Wembley. And as we so often see, it all came down to the management of design risks
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CommentTwo unhappy customers
This month our panel of legal experts wrestle with the case of an M&E contractor that worked for nothing and a client whose contract administrator certified defective work
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CommentThe collaboration game
The non-adversarial NEC3 contracts could serve the Olympic project well, but the design team needed to drive it forward raises some tricky questions of its own
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CommentThe magic bullet
Wembley has sent a frisson of fear through the construction industry - is it a portent of what will happen at the London 2012 Olympics? Well, it ain't necessarily so
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CommentOne-star review
The DTI has unveiled its proposals to amend the Construction Act. But if the government wants to stop payment abuses, it's not really going about it the right way
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CommentA fat lot of good
Adjudication is failing the very people it was designed to help – the small contractor with a low-value claim that needs a quick and cheap decision. So what’s to be done?
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CommentBattle tactics
For subcontractors the day when crippling paid-if-paid clauses are outlawed cannot come too soon, but in the meantime here’s how to launch an effective counter-attack
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CommentThe death penalty
In its next session, parliament will decide if the Corporate Manslaughter Bill becomes law. Some of its proposals should be amended before that happens …
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CommentSecond-chance saloon
The DTI’s consultation on reforming the Construction Act could clarify grey areas on adjudication that cloud the original intentions – but only if the industry responds in time
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CommentShow me the money
We kick off this Construction Act review special by asking why the DTI’s consultation document does not properly address subcontractors’ right to get hold of their cash
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CommentSo this is freedom
Lost a tender to a competitor for no apparent reason? Under the Freedom of Information Act you can find out what went on behind closed doors and maybe make a claim …
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CommentLet’s be Belgian
Our system of project insurance wastes about £1bn a year, and invariably leads to the courts. Why can’t we have project-based insurance, as they do on the Continent?
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CommentHarsh reality
Rudi Klein goes in search of the ideal integrated supply chain – and instead stumbles upon another subcontract that perpetuates inequality, unfairness and risk-dumping
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CommentThe devil’s due
The Construction Act’s rules on payment have a basic flaw: they don’t contain a mechanism that enables a debt to crystallise by a certain date. So, time for a rethink …
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CommentYou are the weakest link
NHS Estates' Procure 21 is a model of how to run a modern supply-chain. Unfortunately, a system is only as good as the firms that operate it. Take this outfit for example …
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The good within us
We all like to chastise industry sinners for their unfair partnering deals, but who notices the saints? Perhaps if we took more interest in their work we'd learn a thing or two
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Hunter becomes prey
It always pays to read the small print, especially when employers hide booby traps in it. Luckily, these traps are excellent guidance for the reform of the Construction Act