UK Construction round-up

September 30, 2024

Our bumper set of highlights covers recent developments in construction law and dispute resolution practice. Originally shared individually on LinkedIn, we have rounded them up here for those who missed the posts. If you want to discuss any of the issues raised below, please get in touch with your usual Dentons contact or one of the Key Contacts.

Construction contracts: what's new?

• New JCT 2024 editions launched
• Key changes to the JCT Design & Build contract
• SBCC 2024 (Scottish) editions - update
• RIBA's Building Regulations Principal Designer Professional Services Contract
• CLLS updates its letter of intent

Building safety round-up

• Grenfell Inquiry Final Report expected on 4 September 2024
• Appointment of building safety minister
• Building control regime updates
  • Revised Common Assessment Standard: demonstrating that competence has been checked
  • Do the homework before applying for building control approval
  • New resources to help you prepare applications for building control approval
  • What to do if you do not receive a decision from the regulator
  • Clarity for those varying work on an HRB covered by the transitional regime
  • Building control practice guidance: cancellation notices, transfers and reversions
• Building Liability Orders
  • Guidance on applications for Building Liability Orders under the BSA
• Remediation Orders
  • FTT gives Remediation Order
• Changes to standard form contracts to reflect the new building control regime
  • JCT 2024
  • RIBA Building Regulations Principal Designer Professional Services Contract (2024)
• Building safety update: Scottish focus
• Building safety in Wales
  • New Welsh Government handbook on building safety in Wales
  • Revised versions of the standards, rules and codes for the building control profession published (WGC 009/2024)

The Infrastructure Deficit: The effectiveness of alliancing and PPP models in the past and for our future needs

• A paper written for the 10th International SCL Conference in Istanbul reviewing the use of Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Alliance models of contracting in those different jurisdictions. In the UK, although the Alliance model has been successfully used for North Sea projects, it has not so far been heavily used to build and upgrade public infrastructure. The UK section of the paper therefore focuses only on PPP and reflects on lessons learned over the past 30 years.

Construction case snippets: managing risk in construction projects

• The Court of Appeal reinforce the penalty test established in Cavendish v. Makdessi
• What does "reasonable endeavours" mean in the context of force majeure clauses?
• A collateral warranty is not a construction contract
• Collaborative contracting in the UK construction industry
• English Contract Law Updates

Dispute resolution & ADR highlights (UK construction focus)

• A reminder of litigators' limited role when instructing experts
• Drafting all-encompassing settlement terms
• Mediation's star continues to rise
• Adjudication focus: a reminder of how the slip rule works

Getting to grips with AI (UK construction focus)

• Where to start?
• Tips for using GenAI
• The AI challenge for in-house legal teams