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February 2020

• Application of the Defective Premises Act duties to approve building inspectors

  The Building Act 1984 provides for Approved Inspectors to inspect new buildings and issue certificates. Does this make them responsible for defective premises?

• Crystallising Disputes

  Only a dispute which has crystallised can go to adjudication – but when/how does a dispute crystallise?

• Crystallisation – again

  In this case the Scottish Courts tackled the same question of when a dispute crystallises for adjudication purposes

• Unjust Enrichment payment awarded in a fixed price contract

  If an agent finds a Buyer for a property, has the agent any rights if the property is then sold for less than the agreed target price?

December 2019

• Exploiting an adjudicator’s legal error – severing the issues

  Can the court rules be used to defeat enforcement of an adjudication decision?

• Get ready to rumble: Round 2

  Following our advice on preparing for an adjudication we share tips on how to handle yourself once an adjudication notice lands.

• Two bites of the cherry? “Res Judicata”

  Where the parties have a continuing relationship, beware the possible loss of your rights in a second dispute.

• Definition of “primary site activity” – exceptions to Construction Act

  Contracts for operations on a site where the primary activity is power generation are not covered by the Construction Act – but what does “primary” mean?

• Enforcing contractual clauses to mediate, not litigate – new rules are developing

  Many commercial agreements now include clauses requiring structured negotiation and then mediation as a precursor to involving the Courts – but are these clauses enforceable? Can you be made to negotiate?

October 2019

• Get ready to rumble: Round 1

  Everyone wants construction projects to go as smoothly as possible. But things don’t always go to plan and that can lead to debate, fall-outs, disputes and adjudication.