ACE welcomes minister's stance over claims against engineers

The Association of Consulting Engineers (ACE) has today (Tuesday) welcomed a shared concern by construction minister Nigel Griffiths over the growing use of criminal prosecutions and insurance claims against engineers.

Last week Griffiths spoke of his concern for "the current witch-hunting and lawyer compensation culture" in construction and the negative effect this has on attracting the best entrepreneurs to the industry.

ACE board member Mike Rudd said: "Griffiths is absolutely right to focus on this problem and we welcome his comments. Adversarial procurement practices mean that the terms and conditions that are used in the construction industry often lead to risk dumping."

He added: "The effect of liability legislation, which tends to encourage the 'deep pocket' syndrome of suing everyone and anyone, particularly if they are insured, has resulted in the perpetuation of the compensation culture.

"The current risk-averse culture, which in turn has led to the high costs of professional indemnity insurance, is stifling the taking of risks and as a result, is presenting a barrier to innovation, science and technology."