Blog

Blog author: Barry Hembling – Fladgate LLP English language standard form contracts are an appropriate choice for use on international construction projects. This was the conclusion of The Hon. Sir Vivian Ramsey at the 2015 JCT Povey Lecture which considered the international applicability of the cultural and legal concepts of using such contracts abroad. The principal theme of the lecture was that parties may not be able to rely on various terms that might otherwise be implied into contracts when English standard forms are used…

Blog author: Hugh Saunders – 3PB Do you still talk about the “defects liability period”? So do I, and I don’t blame you because the phrase has been around for so long, even though modern JCT contracts use the term “Rectification Period”. Whatever you call it, problems can arise because although the clauses look quite simple there is actually a number of things going on. First, neither term really describes what the contract actually means; second, on the expiry of the Rectification Period, there is…

Blog author: Peter Hibberd Following Galliford Try vs Estura [2015] EWHC412 (TCC), a case concerning summary judgement to enforce the decision of an adjudicator as to payment of an interim application, there were various comments by observers on whether or not the payer has a right to repayment by the contractor on account of an overpayment and speculation as to whether there should be an express term to this effect. JCT Design and Build Contract 2011 (the contract in that case) makes it absolutely clear…

Blog author: Will Cooper – Senior Associate, Clyde & Co LLP The programme produced and maintained by a contractor is one of the most important documents for any works. Of course, the programme’s primary function is to ensure effective sequencing of the various components of the works. However, it has an important secondary role in assessing contractor applications for extensions of time and assisting with the resolution of disputes between contractor and employer, roles not always readily appreciated by contract draftsmen. It is the second…