February 2012
David Toscano looks at the impact of the recent worldwide political turmoil on construction contracts, looking in particular at force majeure as insurance.
Click to download PDF"The art of negotiation in a difficult market"
December 2011
David Bebb, in a paper given at the last Capital Projects in the Education Sector Seminar, looks at some of the most common amendments to standard contracts designed to shift risk firmly to the contractor’s doorstep and offers some tips on negotiating your way into a position where you can sleep a little easier at night.
"Standard forms: JCT 2005, NEC3 and the Virtual Contract"
September 2011
In this paper, Nicholas Gould reviews some of the standard form contracts that are currently available for use in the construction industry. A review of the standard forms cannot be separated from the procurement pathways that are used in the industry, so the two are considered in parallel. It is important to consider the procurement pathway first in order to select the appropriate standard form contract, especially as there are so many published and available for use in the construction industry
"Bonds and guarantees"
November 2011
In a paper presented at Fenwick Elliott's Construction Law Update Seminar, Ted Lowery provides a guide to bonds and guarantees explaining the different principles that apply to primary and secondary obligations and focusing on common pitfalls to avoid when negotiating these types of instrument.
"FIDIC: Red Book (1999) and MDB Harmonised Edition (Pink Book) compared"
August 2010
The note by Frederic Gillion reviews the differences between the FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction for Building and Engineering Works Design by the Employer, 1999 Edition (the 1999 Red Book) and the Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) Harmonised Edition of the 1999 Red Book (FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction), revised June 2010, also know as the MDB Harmonised Edition (the Pink Book), highlighting the effect of the changes on the parties.
"Scheduling and executing the project: delay, disruption and change management"
September 2004
Nicholas Gould, in a paper given to the IBA Conference on "Construction Projects from Conception to Completion" held in Brussels, considers some of the legal issues arising from the execution of a project in relation to delay and disruption. The paper considers the need to prove cause and effect, float, concurrency, dominant cause, proximate cause and apportionment. In addition, the paper discusses change management - one of the key building blocks of the Society of Construction Law's delay and disruption protocol.