Be Sure to be Certain: Avoiding Potential Pitfalls with Liquidated Damages Provisions

In the recent case of Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd -v- Peel L&P Investments and Property Ltd, the TCC looked at the construction of liquidated damages provisions through the lenses of contractual uncertainty and limitation of liability. Background Buckingham Group Contracting […]

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Life after death? The uncertain effect of an Adjudicator’s Decision on subsequent contract procedures

It is often said that an adjudicator’s decision is of ‘temporary finality’. That is to say, it is contractually binding upon the parties unless and until their underlying dispute is finally determined by way of arbitration or litigation. But quite […]

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D&B contractor liable for the cost of replacing defective cladding in the TCC’s first substantive decision post the Grenfell tragedy

Judgment has very recently been handed down by HHJ Stephen Davies in Martlet Homes Limited v Mulalley & Co. Limited, the first substantive Judgment from the TCC on defective cladding since the Grenfell tragedy in 2017. In associated Court of […]

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Court refuses to enforce two adjudication awards where the claimant is subject to a CVA

The ability of a party in a company voluntary arrangement (“CVA”) to enforce an adjudicator’s decision is a question to be determined on a case-by-case basis. The recent decision in FTH Limited v Varis Developments Limited [2022] provides a useful […]

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Look back in anger: collateral warranties provided retrospectively may qualify as ‘construction contracts’

The Court of Appeal in Abbey Healthcare (Mill Hill) Ltd v Simply Construct (UK) LLP [2022] has clarified that subject to their wording, collateral warranties may constitute construction contracts within the meaning of s104(1) of the Housing Grants, Construction and […]

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Natural Justice: it must be done

Questions of procedural fairness remain important in adjudication. In the recent case of Liverpool City Council -v- Vital Infrastructure Asset Management (VIAM) Ltd (In Administration) [2022] the Technology and Construction Court provided declaratory relief rendering an adjudicator’s decision unenforceable because […]

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The Building Safety Act – what could it mean for you?

Background On 28 April 2022, after much deliberation and anticipation, the Building Safety Bill (the “Bill”) received Royal Assent as the next “key step in an extensive overhaul to building safety legislation”. Now known as the Building Safety Act 2022 […]

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Validity and Interpretation of Pay Less Notices: Be Specific

In the case of Advance JV & Ors -v- Enisca Ltd [2022] EWHC 1152, the Technology and Construction Court considered the validity and interpretation of a pay less notice which failed to refer to a particular payment application, and which […]

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Immediate Payment Obligation under Section 111 is Paramount

The important recent decision of the TCC in Bexheat Limited -v- Essex Services Group Limited [2022] serves to clarify further the paramountcy of the immediate payment obligation under s.111 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (the “Act”). […]

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Government ditches the role of Building Safety Manager in latest shake-up of the Building Safety Bill

In a further change to the Building Safety Bill put forward following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017, the Government has now scrapped the requirement to appoint a Building Safety Manager during the occupation phase of a construction project. Background […]

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