Contract issues

"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.

"Making claims for time and money"

17 October 2008

Nicholas Gould, in a paper given to the Sweet & Maxwell Construction Law 2008 conference, reviews the impact of notice provisions. In doing so, he discusses clause 20.1 of the FIDIC Form and considers whether or not this amounts to a time bar or condition precedent which has the effect of disallowing any claim a contractor may have that may otherwise be legally recognisable.

"Roles and Relationships Within the Project: the Employer"

5 October 2007

Jeremy Glover in a paper given to the FIDIC Contracts Conference 2007, discusses the roles and responsibilities of the Employer under the FIDIC form. In particular, the paper focuses on three issues, employer claims, payment and determination.

"Standard Forms: Standardisation, Bastardisation and the Virtual Contract"

8 November 2006

Nicholas Gould, reviews some of the standard forms and considers some of the basic principles relating to their use in the construction industry. Amongst the issues and contracts considered are the traditional procurement standard forms, the new JCT 2005 suite, the ICE 7 th Edition, the NEC 3 rd edition and the GC/Works contract. Nicholas also considers some of the options available relating to partnering.