17 October 2008

David Bebb in a paper given to the Sweet & Maxwell Construction Law 2008 conference, discusses what you really need to know about bonds and guarantees. In doing so, he highlights the basic legal principles, reviews what some of the key provisions mean and asks why they are needed and finally considers some common pitfalls when drafting these documents.

30 September 2008

In an introductory paper given to the Lexis Nexis Conference on Sustainable Development in the Construction Industry, Simon Tolson sets out to answer the question “what is sustainable development?” In doing so, he reviews sustainable development policy and its basis in theory considering for example, the Equator principles and the European Principles for the Environment as well as a number of UK Government initiatives.

30 September 2008

Jeremy Glover, in a paper given at the Lexis Nexis conference on Sustainable Development in the Construction Industry, considers whether it is possible to adopt sustainable and environmental concepts within the traditional construction contract framework. The paper looks at all three stages of a construction project, (design, construct and operate) and considers the extent to which the existing FIDIC, JCT and NEC contracts provide for sustainability. The paper gives as an example, details of the sustainable considerations that make up the design of the Equiano Centre, a proposed library and education centre in Waterloo, Sierra Leone.

9 March 2007

In a paper given to the Arbrix Construction Group in Belfast, Simon Tolson provides an update on some of the key developments in construction law over the past twelve months.  Amongst the topics covered are whether you can serve contractual documents by fax, whether mistaken advice on procurement issues amounts to professional negligence, whether you can use an expert's joint statement prepared for the purposes of mediation during subsequent legal proceedings, the JCT constructing excellence contract and also the importance of time limits in adjudication following the Hart Investments v Fidler and Cubitt v Fleetgate cases.

7 November 2006

Victoria Russell, in a paper given at the third Fenwick Elliott seminar entitled “Capital Projects in the Education Sector”, discusses the duties and liabilities of construction professionals from architects, engineers and quantity surveyors to project managers and facilities managers. The paper considers duties and liabilities owed to the employer, duties owed in tort and to third parties as well as the duties and liabilities of in-house construction professionals.

7 November 2006

Jon Miller, in a paper given at the third Fenwick Elliott seminar entitled “Capital Projects in the Education Sector”, sets out the status of the proposed Government reforms outlined in the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill and discusses how these new reforms might effect you.