The Appeal Court’s decision on 11 May to uphold a Government initiative to waive affordable housing requirements for small developments was hailed by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) as a boost for SMEs and housebuilding.
FMB chief executive Brian Berry commented: “Nearly one-in-two SME housebuilders know of sites they would otherwise be interested in developing, but which they believe would be unviable because of the likely combination of Section 106 and the Community Infrastructure Levy charges. These contributions are prohibitive for many smaller developers, killing off thousands of otherwise viable schemes, and acting as a serious barrier to expansion.
Powered gate owners are being urged to have their gates checked for safety after a court heard how a defective works gate collapsed and seriously injured an employee.
The case of ISG Construction Ltd v Seevic College[1] (the 'Seevic case') has provided helpful guidance on the court’s approach to disputes involving payment notices under the statutory payment regime introduced by the Construction Act[2] and Part I of the Scheme[3] relating to payment. In particular the court made clear its reluctance to allow a party to use adjudication on a technicality to circumvent the payment provisions and reinforced the need to comply with the appropriate contractual or statutory payment and pay less notice provisions.
The construction industry has been at the forefront of resolving disputes by way of so-called alternative dispute resolution. These alternatives to litigation have been encouraged by the courts and the government and, indeed, many construction contracts provide for disputes to be dealt with by mediation, adjudication or arbitration – often, according to a guide to process by the College of Estate Management, a combination of all three.
With more and more construction projects being undertaken on a global scale, contractors and stakeholders in those projects need to be alive to issues which are generating disputes, both globally and in specific regions, as they take on work in new markets.