Construction Foundations newsletter - June 2015

• United Kingdom

• Construction and engineering - Foundations

15-06-2015

Summary

Welcome to Foundations – our UK construction and engineering monthly newsletter. Foundations will update you with details of what we think are the top three court cases decided in the previous month, a summary of important legislation changes or proposals, and a paper providing insight and guidance on a particular area of construction law and practice. We hope you find our newsletter useful and informative. 

Featured Article

Construction Disputes: How to claim future loss

Often in construction and engineering disputes, the losses have not all been incurred by the time that formal dispute resolution proceedings are commenced. James Pickavance and Kate Hencken of Eversheds look at the difficulties in recovering future loss and give practical tips for doing so. Read more

Top 3 Cases

Contract drafting: Important Court of Appeal judgment on design life and absolute skill and care obligations

Often a construction contract will require the contractor to comply both with detailed specifications, industry standards and performance criteria.  But who is liable when the contractor complies with the specification and industry standards but the end product fails to meet the performance criteria?  The Court of Appeal case of MT Højgaard A/S v E.On Climate and Renewables UK Robin Rigg East Ltd and another examines this issue. Click here to read the full article.

Litigation: When is the cut-off date for amendments to pleadings in High Court litigation?

The trial date is set and subsequently information comes to light which requires pleadings to be adjusted to the extent the trial date needs to be moved.  How late in the day will the court allow it? In CIP Properties (AIPT) Ltd v Galliford Try Infrastructure Ltd and others, the court refused to allow an application to amend the pleadings even though it was made eight months before the trial. Click here to read the full article.

Liquidated damages: a move towards a more flexible interpretation of when liquidated damages will be deemed to be a penalty

The principle that a liquidated damages clause will be rendered unenforceable as a penalty if it is found not to be a genuine pre-estimate of loss is familiar to all those who negotiate and draft liquidated damages clauses in construction contracts. This principle has recently been considered in the case of ParkingEye Limited v Beavis [2015] EWCA Civ 402 in the context of parking tickets. The decision in ParkingEye shows that the courts are taking a more modern and flexible approach when determining whether a clause is a penalty. Click here to read the full article.

Latest Legislation

The Queen’s Speech made after a general election is rightly thought of as a roadmap for the government’s plan over the course of the next five years.  Last month’s Speech focussed heavily on the construction and engineering sector and outlined the legislation that the government will endeavour to pass in the short to medium term. Click here to read the full article.

Webinar

Maria Coker, an associate in Eversheds construction and engineering practice in London, speaks about two stage tendering, which is increasingly being favoured above one stage tendering in many construction projects. The talk gives an overview of the process of tendering generally, explains how two stage tendering differs from one stage tendering, explains the advantages and disadvantages of the two stage tender and then gives some practical tips for managing a two stage tender process from the employer’s perspective.Click here to watch the video on Two Stage Tendering

What is troubling you?

The content within Foundations is produced to help you. If you have a particular issue or area of law that you would like us to cover, then email construction@eversheds.com and we will endeavour to address it in a subsequent edition of Foundations.