Tony Blackler
CommentFinal certificates: It’s not over yet
Challenges to a final certificate through the courts or by arbitration are straightforward but if a contractor challenges via adjudication then procedural mishaps can occur
CommentCollateral damage: Liability under collateral warranties
Leaseholders or buyers of buildings should be able to pre-empt arguments from contractors to escape liability under collateral warranties
CommentConcurrent delays: Doing the splits
The City Inn case throws up a logical approach to granting extensions of time due to concurrent delays – if the delay has two causes, then why not apportion responsibility accordingly?
CommentFill in this brief questionnaire
What does ‘dispute’ mean? When are two disputes linked? When are they not linked? If an adjudicator decides unlinked disputes, is his decision invalid? For one or both? How much sense does all this make …?
- Comment
The common touch
We know that pay-when-paid clauses were partially outlawed by the Construction Act, but how do they fare under common law?
- Comment
The fireproof contractor
At last someone is looking into the insurance provisions of JCT80. At the moment, the issue of liability is nothing short of bewildering
- Comment
Cut us some slack
Adjudication is increasingly dealing with matters that are difficult to sort out within 28 days. It would be fairer to give adjudicators the right to extend the time limit.
- Comment
Blame the parents
An effective way to get results in a dispute with A subsidiary is to launch an action against its parent company on the basis of a parent company guarantee
- Features
Breaking up is hard
Tony Blackler - Common law may come into play when parties to a contract fall out – although its application in construction disputes is far from clear-cut.
- Comment
Getting off the hook
If a designer makes a mistake, when does the obligation to correct it expire? After the relevant bit is built? After practical completion? After the final certificate? Or never …
- Features
Is that your final answer?
The JCT must clarify how far the final certificate puts an end to liability, particularly now that a new ruling further complicates the issue by stating that contractors can later be sued only for faults relating to design
- Features
Where do you draw the line?
The Plant Construction vs Clive Adams and Another case was the first time that the courts have ruled on a contractor’s obligation to warn of potential hazards in design and construction plans.
- Features
Relationship difficulties
There is a consensus that partnering is the way forward. But the concept is vague, and it may have unexpected effects on relationships within the project team – it may even provide contractors with brand-new excuses.
- Features
Plane tale of third parties
Much of the debate on the proposed Contracts Bill centres on the implications of a clause that confers potentially troublesome benefits on third parties not privy to a contract. A flight of fancy or a real worry?