From next year new legislation will mean aggrieved bidders for public contracts have more chance of challenging an award. Paul Henty explains how court cases are already on the increase.
click for more
When considering 'acceleration' of a construction programme to make up time, ensure the decision doesn't slow down payment. By Kevin Joyce Senior associate, Pinsent Masons.
click for more
While building information modelling will further sustainable construction, it will also usher in a complete change in the design and construction of buildings.
click for more
Project bank accounts are an admirable idea, but their inclusion in JCT contracts require some scrutiny, says Simon Lewis, partner (construction), at Dickinson Dees.
click for more
For firms involved in construction disputes, having an adjudicator decide in their faviour may seem an ideal outcome. However an adjudicator’s decision does not necessarily mean the other party will pay up – indeed, in some cases they may not have to. Steven Bate explains how firms can legitimately resist paying – and what claimants can do to safeguard their rights.
click for more
Law firm DWF has launched a 'no win, no fee' service for construction firms involved with legal disputes.
click for more
Plans to switch 300,000 self-employed construction workers onto PAYE have created a huge split in the industry.
click for more
Industry experts have no idea how many fake CSCS cards are in circulation because most forgeries are so good nobody can tell them from the real thing.
click for more
Trying to be helpful by giving up partial posession can have unitended consequences, says Alexander Grant, associate at Pinsent Masons
click for more
Bridge contractor Mabey and Johnson has pleaded guilty to overseas corruption, and to breaching United Nations sanctions in Iraq.
click for more
Two areas of social benefit are widely perceived as not being delivered by public projects. The first concerns the discrepancy between labour rates payable by the client and the sums actually being received by the workforce well down the supply chain.
click for more
The Office of Fair Trading has issued a statement urging clients not to automatically exclude contractors who have been fined after being found guilty of bid-rigging.
click for more
Contractor ISG said it was scrutinising the OFT decision to fine the group because of infringements by two firms before they were bought by ISG.
click for more
Galliford Try said its £8.33m fine, payable in instalments over three years, related to three incidences of cover pricing between 2001 to 2004.
click for more
Balfour Beatty has issued a statement to the City, informing investors that its Mansell unit has been fined £5.2m.
click for more
The National Federation of Builders (NFB) has branded the OFT's decision to fine 103 firms for cover pricing "unfair" and called on clients not to visit more punishment on the firms.
click for more
The UK Contractors Group has condemned the fines imposed today on contractors and warned they will cost jobs.
click for more
The OFT has imposed fines totalling £129.5m on 103 construction firms found to be involved in anti-competitive practices including bid-rigging and cover pricing.
click for more
Zero carbon homes Claire Brook , Senior counsel, Dickinson Dees, considers the continuing challenge of zero carbon homes. The issue: The UK has set itself some very testing targets in the Code for Sustainable Homes
click for more
Last week's arrests of 23 men and women by the HMRC in connection with tax fraud turned the spotlight on the little-known practice of 'missing trader fraud'. But how does it work?
click for more