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We provide a range of know-how materials about construction law for lawyers and others doing business in the UK, including:
Our online resources are tailored top suit practitioners who specialise in contentious and non-contentious construction law. PLC Construction includes the following key areas:
Iain Murdoch joined PLC in January 2007 from Taylor Wessing, where he was a senior associate in the construction and engineering group. Iain specialises in non-contentious construction law, having worked for property owners and occupiers, developers, lenders, contractors and consultants. Iain specialises in non-contentious negotiation, contract drafting and reporting work, but has also advised on the pre-action stages of construction disputes, the settlement of disputes and adjudications. He trained at Lewis Silkin before joining Speechly Bircham following qualification. While at Speechly Bircham, he undertook a part-time secondment to an international construction and engineering contractor's in-house legal department. Iain is a member of the Society of Construction Law and is head of PLC Construction. Iain is currently a non-practising solicitor.
Yassir Mahmood qualified in 2001 and spent six years working for K&L Gates, where he was an associate in the construction and engineering group. Yassir has advised on the negotiation of building contracts and professional appointments, as well as international engineering projects and PFI transactions. He has also represented clients in adjudication and litigation. Yassir’s time at K&L Gates included a secondment to the legal department of a well-known construction contractor, and he was also involved in drafting the latest RICS standard forms of consultant appointment, published in June 2008. He is a member of the Society of Construction Law. Yassir joined PLC Construction in December 2007. Yassir is currently a non-practising solicitor.
Michelle Rousell is a former solicitor. She trained at Cameron Markby Hewitt (now CMS Cameron McKenna) and then spent five years at Nabarro Nathanson (now Nabarro) before joining the construction and engineering team at Lewis Silkin in September 2000. She specialised in all aspects of construction and engineering disputes and worked for a wide range of clients - employers, contractors, specialist subcontractors and their insurers, registered social landlords and public bodies. Part of Michelle's time at Lewis Silkin was spent on secondment to the in-house legal team of an international mining company, where she was primarily engaged on an ADR scheme voluntarily established by the company. She is a member of the Society of Construction Law and joined PLC Construction in February 2008.
Elliot Cross graduated from City University, London in 2008 with a 2:1 in Law (LLB (Hons)). He then went on to study the LPC at the College of Law, Bloomsbury, completing the course in 2009 with a distinction. He then spent several months working as a process server for a South London law firm, before joining PLC in August 2010 as a paralegal for PLC Property, PLC Environment and PLC Construction.
Dipika Kachhala graduated from the University of Oxford in 2006 with a BA (hons) in Law. Following a gap year spent travelling and volunteering in South America, she successfully completed the LPC at the College of Law, gaining a commendation. She went on to work at Ashurst LLP within the corporate know-how department before joining PLC in August 2009 as a paralegal in the Real Estate cluster.
Omar Roomi studied Social Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London and graduated with a First. He then went on to study the GDL and attained a Distinction on the LPC at Kaplan Law School. Omar joined PLC in January 2011 as a paralegal for PLC Property, PLC Construction and PLC Environment.
Rachel Haworth graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2009 with a BA (Hons) in English and worked for the Trinity Hall Alumni and Development Office in Cambridge for a year. She then completed the Graduate Diploma in Law at the College of Law in Moorgate in 2011. She joined PLC in September 2011 as a paralegal for PLC Property, PLC Construction and PLC Environment.
A free trial to PLC Construction includes access to our practice notes, continually maintained standard documents and clauses with drafting notes, checklists and much more - all written by our experienced team of contruction legal experts who know what life on the front line is like.
PLC Construction has published a series of materials on payment, adjudication and suspension under a construction contract, highlighting and explaining the changes to Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (Construction Act 1996), introduced by Part 8 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 (LDEDC Act 2009). This toolkit guides users through key new and existing resources.
The amendments to the statutory payment, adjudication and suspension rules under Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (Construction Act 1996), introduced by Part 8 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 (LDEDC Act 2009), apply from 1 October 2011 in England and Wales, and from 1 November 2011 in Scotland (the effective date).
Practice note, Amendments under the LDEDC Act 2009 (www.practicallaw.com/4-386-2843) contains a link to the Construction Act 1996 (as amended) (the consolidated legislation (www.practicallaw.com/3-500-7981)), and also to a mark-up (www.practicallaw.com/0-500-5323) of the legislation, showing the amendments.
The Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/649) (Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998) has been amended and this mark-up (www.practicallaw.com/7-506-7609) shows the changes introduced by the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998 (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/2333) (Scheme for Construction Contracts (England) Regulations 2011) in England.
To help you understand the differences before and after the effective date, we have published notes on adjudication and payment under Parts I and II of the Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998 and how those provisions have been amended. See Practice notes:
On 14 September 2011, PLC Construction held a webinar on the changes to the Construction Act 1996. Our guest speakers were John Hughes-D'Aeth, partner, Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP and Lynne McCafferty, barrister, 4 Pump Court.
The webinar considered:
The changes to the statutory payment rules for construction contracts.
The effects of the extension of the Construction Act 1996 to oral contracts.
The changes to adjudication (and the possible approach of the Technology and Construction Court (TCC)) under construction contracts dated on or after 1 October 2011.
The broadcast is now available as a recording, on demand.
PLC Construction has updated existing resources and published a number of new resources on adjudication, payment and statutory suspension. We have also worked on the changes to standard form contracts (see Materials on how standard form contracts have changed).
Resources on the changes to the statutory adjudication rules include:
Practice note, LDEDC Act 2009: adjudication (www.practicallaw.com/3-384-2935).
Practice note, LDEDC Act 2009: FAQs on adjudication (www.practicallaw.com/7-503-7900), which answers a series of frequently asked questions on adjudication in construction contracts under the Construction Act 1996 (as amended).
Practice note, Adjudication using the Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998 and as amended (www.practicallaw.com/4-504-2757), which explains adjudication under the Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998 (as enacted), and how the adjudication provisions have been amended in England, Wales and Scotland.
Standard clause, LDEDC Act 2009: payment, suspension and adjudication clause for professional appointment (www.practicallaw.com/8-503-7513), which may be adapted for use with a professional appointment or other construction contract.
Training presentation, Construction Act 1996 as amended by the LDEDC Act 2009 (www.practicallaw.com/9-503-9111), which is a slideshow in Microsoft PowerPoint providing a guide to the new law and the key changes.
Ask the team: should I worry about the changes to the Construction Act?, which looks at how the changes may affect construction businesses in practice.
Ask the team: I'm training my team on the changes to the Construction Act 1996... where should I start?, which suggests an agenda for a team training meeting on the amendments to the Construction Act 1996.
We also publish extensive materials on adjudication (see Topic, Adjudication (www.practicallaw.com/3-204-9135)), including Practice note, Do I have a "construction contract"? (www.practicallaw.com/6-204-4037).
Resources on the changes to the statutory payment rules include:
Practice note, LDEDC Act 2009: payment (www.practicallaw.com/0-384-3875).
Practice note, Payment in construction contracts: Construction Act 1996 and as amended (www.practicallaw.com/1-385-6400), which provides a commentary on the statutory payment mechanism as enacted and as amended.
Practice note, Payment in construction contracts: Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998 and as amended (www.practicallaw.com/8-503-7909), which explains payment under the Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998 (as enacted), and how those payment provisions have been amended in England, Wales and Scotland.
Checklist, LDEDC Act 2009 and Construction Act 1996: payment mechanism compared (www.practicallaw.com/1-503-8865), which compares the statutory payment mechanism as enacted and as amended.
Practice note, LDEDC Act 2009: FAQs on payment (www.practicallaw.com/3-503-7902), which answers a series of frequently asked questions on payment in construction contracts under the Construction Act 1996 (as amended).
Flowchart, Payment mechanisms in a construction contract (www.practicallaw.com/2-325-8958), which compares the key stages of the payment mechanism as enacted and as amended. It also sets out the payment requirements of the Construction Act 1996 (as enacted) and the Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998.
Standard clause, LDEDC Act 2009: payment, suspension and adjudication clause for professional appointment (www.practicallaw.com/8-503-7513), which may be adapted for use with a professional appointment or other construction contract.
Training presentation, Construction Act 1996 as amended by the LDEDC Act 2009 (www.practicallaw.com/9-503-9111), which is a slideshow in Microsoft PowerPoint format providing a guide to the new law and the key changes.
Ask the team: should I worry about the changes to the Construction Act?, which looks at how the changes may affect construction businesses in practice.
Ask the team: I'm training my team on the changes to the Construction Act 1996... where should I start?, which suggests an agenda for a team training meeting on the amendments to the Construction Act 1996.
Resources on the changes to the statutory suspension rules include:
Standard clause, LDEDC Act 2009: payment, suspension and adjudication clause for professional appointment (www.practicallaw.com/8-503-7513), which may be adapted for use with a professional appointment or other construction contract.
Training presentation, Construction Act 1996 as amended by the LDEDC Act 2009 (www.practicallaw.com/9-503-9111), which is a slideshow in Microsoft PowerPoint providing a guide to the new law and the key changes.
Ask the team: should I worry about the changes to the Construction Act?, which looks at how the changes may affect construction businesses in practice.
Ask the team: I'm training my team on the changes to the Construction Act 1996... where should I start?, which suggests an agenda for a team training meeting on the amendments to the Construction Act 1996.
Practice note, Suspension for non-payment under the Construction Act 1996 (www.practicallaw.com/1-376-4542) and Checklist, Statutory right to suspend under the Construction Act 1996 (www.practicallaw.com/5-378-8999), which provide a commentary on the statutory suspension mechanism as enacted and as amended.
In May 2011, the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) published versions of its contracts, showing tracked changes from the 2009 revisions to the 2005 editions of those contracts, to the 2011 suite of contracts. The Scottish Building Contract Committee (SBCC) also produced a number of tracked change documents (see Legal update, SBCC tracked change documents available (www.practicallaw.com/0-507-1558)). The JCT published its 2011 editions in September 2011 (see Legal update, JCT 2011 contracts available to purchase (www.practicallaw.com/4-508-1881)).
We have published:
Three schedules of amendments:
Practice note, Amending JCT contracts to comply with Construction Act 1996 (as amended) (www.practicallaw.com/4-504-7854) and standard clauses:
For contracts dated on or after 1 October 2011, these clauses may be adopted (or adapted) to amend a 2005 edition (2009 revision) of a JCT contract, to allow it to comply with the Construction Act 1996 (as amended). However, we have already incorporated these clauses in our schedules of amendments to the JCT 2009 Revisions of the DB05, SBC05, IC05 and ICD05.
Practice notes:
As the JCT has published tracked change versions of these contracts, we have not prepared a line-by-line analysis of the changes. Additionally, we have reviewed and updated all our maintained materials to also refer to the 2011 suite of contracts (we have not deleted references to the SBC05, DB05, IC05 and ICD05).
The NEC, the Royal Institute of British Architects (www.practicallaw.com/6-106-4941) (RIBA), the IChemE and the Association of Consulting Architects (ACA) have published amendments to comply with the Construction Act 1996 (as amended):
In September 2011, the NEC published the September 2011 amendments (www.practicallaw.com/3-508-2334), which revise both the payment and adjudication provisions of its suite of NEC3 contracts (see Legal update, Amendments to New Engineering Contracts (NEC3) suite published (www.practicallaw.com/1-508-2311)).
In September or October 2011, the IChemE published a new form of payment clause and minor amendments to adjudication clauses to its suite of contracts, including the Red Book, Green Book and Burgundy Book (see Legal update, IChemE Construction Act 1996 changes (www.practicallaw.com/3-509-2074)).
In October 2011, the RIBA published amendments to the payment terms of its suite of appointments, including RIBA Standard Agreement 2010: Architect (see Legal update, RIBA publish Construction Act 1996 updates to appointments (www.practicallaw.com/0-509-0439) and Practice note, RIBA Agreements 2010: List of amendments published October 2011 (www.practicallaw.com/1-502-4076)).
In October 2011, the ACA published amendments (www.practicallaw.com/0-509-1085) to the suspension, payment and adjudication terms of PPC2000 (amended 2008) (www.practicallaw.com/6-384-0746) and associated contracts (see Legal update, ACA publish Construction Act 1996 update to PPC2000 (www.practicallaw.com/3-509-0579)).
Our materials are not set in stone. If you have a request for something in particular, we would like to hear from you. Please e-mail us at constructionfeedback@practicallaw.com.
