December 2025

Fenwick Elliott Annual Review 2025/2026

This year’s Annual Review marks its 29th edition and reports on some of the more significant legal, contractual and industry developments in the UK and internationally over the past year. We highlight the continuing influence of the Building Safety Act, provide guidance on contract interpretation, and consider the impact of AI both in dispute resolution and in managing risk on major projects. We also look at the JCT’s new Target Cost Contract, the new FIDIC Carbon Emissions Guide, developments in PFI handback, key developments in the UAE, as well as other international developments in case law and arbitral proceedings. We close the issue with our customary focus on adjudication trends and some of the most important decisions from the UK courts.

Annual Review articles

• First word
• What did you mean by that?
• AI & dispute resolution: are we ready for AI-Judges, AI-Arbitrators and AI-Adjudicators?
• JCT Target Cost Contract
• Common issues in data centre construction – and how to avoid them
• Contracting for building safety
• Existing structure risk: a cautionary tale
• PFI: preventing the spread of handback maladies
• Space law and dispute resolution in 2025: the UK’s role in a crowded and contentious final frontier
• Southern Africa’s untapped potential: a turning point for infrastructure and investment
• Failures to comply with adjudication timetables and breaches of natural justice
• Payment notices: clarity on substance and timing
• The Arbitration Act 2025: a new era for UK arbitration?
• Recognition of “without prejudice” in the UAE
• Industry update: regulating contractor activities in Dubai
• Dubai Court of Cassation reaffirms the independence of arbitral tribunals
• FIDIC Carbon Emissions Management Guidance
• Adjudication: cases from Dispatch
• Case law update: CILL
• The Fenwick Elliott Blog: URS Corporation Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd

Other Annual Reviews