Contractors ready to challenge public contracts
Posted: 02 November 2009From 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.
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Acceleration of a construction programme
Posted: 02 November 2009When 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.
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The changes in construction created by building information modelling
Posted: 27 October 2009While building information modelling will further sustainable construction, it will also usher in a complete change in the design and construction of buildings.
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Project bank accounts under the spotlight
Posted: 21 October 2009Project bank accounts are an admirable idea, but their inclusion in JCT contracts require some scrutiny, says Simon Lewis, partner (construction), at Dickinson Dees.
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12 reasons why an adjudicator’s decision may fail
Posted: 15 October 2009For 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.
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'No win, no fee' service launched for construction disputes
Posted: 07 October 2009Law firm DWF has launched a 'no win, no fee' service for construction firms involved with legal disputes.
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PAYE plan splits industry
Posted: 07 October 2009Plans to switch 300,000 self-employed construction workers onto PAYE have created a huge split in the industry.
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Forged CSCS cards ‘impossible to spot’
Posted: 07 October 2009Industry 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.
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Partial posession can have unintended consequences
Posted: 05 October 2009Trying to be helpful by giving up partial posession can have unitended consequences, says Alexander Grant, associate at Pinsent Masons
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Mabey and Johnson convicted for overseas corruption
Posted: 25 September 2009Bridge contractor Mabey and Johnson has pleaded guilty to overseas corruption, and to breaching United Nations sanctions in Iraq.
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Public contracts to feature stricter social objectives
Posted: 25 September 2009Two 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.
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Bid-rigging: OFT urges clients not to exclude guilty contractors
Posted: 22 September 2009The 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.
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Bid-rigging: ISG considers action in wake OFT fines
Posted: 22 September 2009Contractor ISG said it was scrutinising the OFT decision to fine the group because of infringements by two firms before they were bought by ISG.
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Bid-rigging: Galliford Try reaction
Posted: 22 September 2009Galliford Try said its £8.33m fine, payable in instalments over three years, related to three incidences of cover pricing between 2001 to 2004.
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Bid-rigging: Balfour Beatty reacts to £5.2m Mansell fine
Posted: 22 September 2009Balfour Beatty has issued a statement to the City, informing investors that its Mansell unit has been fined £5.2m.
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Bid-rigging: NFB calls for clients not to punish firms twice
Posted: 22 September 2009The 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.
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Bid rigging: UKCG condemns OFT fines and warns of job losses
Posted: 22 September 2009The UK Contractors Group has condemned the fines imposed today on contractors and warned they will cost jobs.
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Bid-rigging contractors fined £129.5m
Posted: 22 September 2009The 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.
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Zero carbon homes
Posted: 21 September 2009 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
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Analysis: How missing trader fraud works
Posted: 16 September 2009Last 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?
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