Are Milestone Payments an Adequate Payment Mechanism in Construction Contracts?

/ Contractual Issues

Blog Author: Martin Ewen – Fenwick Elliott In the recent case of Bennett (Construction) Limited v CIMC MBS Limited (formerly Verbus Systems Limited)¹ Court of Appeal considered whether milestone payments in a construction contract constituted an adequate mechanism for payment in terms of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, as amended (“the Act”). Martin Ewen explains more. Facts Bennett contracted to Verbus the design, supply and installation of 78 prefabricated modular bedroom units for a new hotel in London. The units were to…

Contracting for Offsite Construction

/ General

Blog Author: Peter Hibberd Offsite construction of buildings is the future but then it has been for over 70 years. It has provided a solution to a problem ever since the first major offsite construction programme involving prefabricated public housing following the 1944 Housing Act. Thereafter, many different types of offsite production, especially for public housing, were developed. Offsite construction is not new or modern, it simply experiences continuous refinement and recurring times of high importance. To manufacture, design, fabricate, and assemble building elements at…

JCT Interviews…Charles Edwards

/ Interviews

In this series we shed some light on some of the key people who are involved with or give their time to support JCT, to ensure that all areas of the construction industry are represented and can contribute to the development of our contracts. We will look at how our interviewees contribute to JCT specifically, and gain their views on JCT’s wider role within the industry. Head of Chambers and Barrister at New Temple Chambers Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors Member…

House Lessans, County Down, Northern Ireland

/ Case Studies

This family home, built on the site of a small farmstead in County Down, Northern Ireland, used basic materials but a high level of attention to detail to create an outstanding quality building on a very modest budget. Designed by McGonigle McGrath Architects, with Hans Crosby as main contractor, it was winner of both the RIBA and Grand Designs House of the Year 2019 and was built on a JCT Intermediate Building Contract. The brief for this project was to create a simple property to…

Digital Technology Will Change the Culture of the Construction Industry

/ JCT Povey Lecture

  A vision for the future of the construction industry and society as a whole was shared by Professor Alan Penn in delivering the JCT Povey Lecture 2019, entitled “Our digital future: space and place in a digital world”. Professor Alan Penn delivered his lecture to JCT delegates at 18 Smith Square, London on Wednesday, 20 November 2019. Professor Alan Penn showed that throughout human history, developments in technology have impacted the way in which we have developed our built environment, and how we have…

Construction Contract Mistakes: That Wasn’t Quite What We Meant

/ Contractual Issues

Blog Author: Victoria Peckett – CMS When rectifying contracts to fix drafting mistakes, what happens if the parties disagree on what was meant? Construction contracts are often so voluminous that it can be easy for mistakes to creep in when putting them together and for the executed contract not to reflect what the parties think they have agreed in all respects. Often these mistakes can be sorted out by agreement — either the parties will amend the erroneous parts in manuscript before dating them, or…

Working With BIM and JCT Contracts

/ BIM

Blog Author: Mark Pantry – Fenwick Elliott In May 2019, JCT introduced a new Practice Note, BIM and JCT Contracts. JCT says that the aim of the Practice is to further the understanding of BIM related legal and contractual issues and suggest ways of approaching such issues in a collaborative and constructive way. Mark Pantry explores the extent to which JCT have achieved this. The construction industry continues to make progress with the implementation of digital technology in construction projects. It is, however, widely accepted…

Chair’s Letter: Towards Value-based Procurement

/ Chairman's Blog

Blog Author: Richard Saxon, CBE I return to this topic again as it advances continuously. Government struggles with its procurement policy as forces pull in opposite directions. On the one hand, established practice is to seek lowest capital cost for design and construction in order to spread available resources over the most constituencies possible. On the other hand, there is growing awareness that processes seeking lowest first cost tend to produce poor value. Value is not just price, but a more complex concept embodying benefits…

Alliancing With Excellence

/ Contractual Issues, JCT 2016 Edition

Blog Author: Peter Hibberd Those involved with construction frequently berate themselves and others for its poor performance; often rightly. However, there remains a failure to recognise fully what can be done to improve. The tendency to concentrate simply on improving efficiency is not enough because one can be efficient without creating value. What must be improved is quality and productivity as these will create project life value for the client and a better return to the participants without increasing costs disproportionately. Those two objectives are…

Wesley House, Cambridge

/ Case Studies

Wesley House is a theological college located in Jesus Lane, Cambridge. Originally independent of Cambridge University, it was sold to Jesus College in 2014. With both a reduction in size and an adjustment of focus to post-graduate study, a redevelopment of the site was required to optimize the space and provide improved facilities. With construction starting in 2015, the new building was opened in April last year. A JCT Intermediate Building Contract was the form of choice. The original Wesley House was constructed in the…