All articles by Tony Bingham – Page 19
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CommentGripping stuff
Professional negligence claims can be damned difficult, so is it asking too much to create a breed of adjudicators capable of grasping the issues?
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CommentShadows and doubt
An adjudicator's decision can be thrown out over the merest hint of unfairness. Good news for the system's integrity, bad news for parties left in limbo
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CommentNo job for Superman
Any adjudicator who comes to a dispute too convinced of their own expertise may not be able to judge the case in an open-minded, impartial way
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Doing the twist
Judges don't like it when a party plays fast and loose with the adjudication process, shifting ground opportunistically or otherwise giving itself wriggle room
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CommentSuspect everyone
Look, it's nothing personal but I just don't trust any of you – and you'd be mad to trust me or each other. If we could all understand this, there'd a lot less grief
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CommentCheck, please
In the JCT design-and-build form, an application for payment automatically becomes the sum due. So how can an employer avoid paying an inflated bill?
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CommentGive 'em their due
Stonecarvers at the Royal Courts of Justice job in 1880 lost out when the employer withheld money. If only they'd had the Construction Act to protect them …
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The ugly duckling test
Here's some fresh case law to help us understand Carter vs Nuttall, one of last year's causes célèbres: it's all about distinguishing between water fowl
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Cos I say so
A recent Court of Appeal case clarifies when an adjudicator has the authority to decide his own authority and whether the parties have to go along with him
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A watertight sieve
It's an all-risks insurance policy! Every single risk is covered! Nothing's left out! It's completely watertight! You can't lose! Unless, of course … Oh dear …
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Beware of bunny boilers
Getting yourself out of a failed relationship with your builders can be liberating, but be very, very careful how you do it – they could take a terrible revenge …
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CommentAsk the aspidistra
The new construction minister wanted to know about the industry, so he did something rather unusual: he asked it. Here is what it replied
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CommentCruel and usual treatment
You contractors get stroppy when your subbies fail to deliver, but the culprit is often the dodgy, lazy, time-honoured ways of the good old British building industry
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CommentThe peacemakers
Dispute resolution boards are supposed to head off problems before they escalate into armed conflict. Question is, how do they do the heading off?
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CommentAngels and Martians
Homeowners are from heaven and builders are from Mars and it will take a brave organisation to reconcile them. So, hats off to the Construction Conciliation Group
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CommentLegal substances
Were you too busy to plough through the summer's output of construction law books? Fear not, dear reader, your legal beagle has sniffed through them for you
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CommentA few hiccups …
Imagine you are in a tribunal and one of the panel is either asleep, intoxicated or both. Surely you'd be able to ask for a retrial if it found against you?
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CommentThe arrangement
Subbies beware: a client that finds it's hired a dodgy contractor may promise to pay you direct – and then try to wriggle out when it all goes spoon-shaped
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Be serious
The sordid tale of the cocaine-fuelled rise of an industry boss and his debauched nights of three-in-a-limo … Oh, alright, it's about a new form of contract
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CommentHow can you judge?
It's a good thing for dispute deciders to think out loud, but it's equally important not to give the impression they've made up their minds before the show's over