Legal

Former employees at the UK subsidiary of Irish contractor Roadbridge have won the right to claim for unpaid wages that could add up to “significant” amounts. An employment tribunal has ruled that the company failed to comply with the obligations of aspects of employment law, which mandate that employees are…

Three former directors of contractor M+W are being sued over accusations that they are to blame for £320m worth of losses. MW High Tech Projects UK alleges its former directors signed three substantial development contracts for tenders that were “far too low”. Former managing director Spencer Baber, ex-chief financial officer…

Buckingham Group Contracting has lost a case in the Technology and Construction Court brought over a £26m contract to build a corrugated cardboard plant for Peel L&P Investments and Property. It contested Peel’s attempt to deduct £1.9m in liquidated damages for delays to the works at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire.…

A housing association has won an £8m legal claim for cladding defects against construction firm Mulalley. The judge in the case condemned “endemic complacency” in the construction industry over cladding fitted prior to the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. Martlet Homes, part of Hyde Housing Group, brought the case over…

Developers who signed a pledge to remediate all of their faulty buildings will see that pledge turned into a “legally binding” undertaking. Forty-nine developers have signed a pledge to remediate all the fire defects in buildings of more than 11 metres in height where they were the client. Former housing…

Half of the demolition firms that admitted involvement in bid rigging have committed funds to address the probe. Last week, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally concluded that 10 demolition companies colluded on prices when submitting bids for work on 19 projects, worth more than £150m in total. Clients…

A little over five years since the Grenfell disaster, which killed 72 people, the Building Safety Act 2022 comes into effect today – with the ambition of tightening up regulation within the UK’s built environment. Although much is still to be decided through secondary legislation and guidance, which will be…

A judge has ruled against Balfour Beatty’s attempt to dismiss from court a cost claim made against it for cladding remediation on a residential scheme in Dorset. The High Court’s Technology and Construction Court judge Justice Morris ruled that Orchard Plaza Management had a right to claim costs for issues…

Gleeds faces a court battle after costs soared on a mixed-used scheme in West Berkshire. Standard Life Assurance started proceedings after costs on the project ballooned from an estimated £85m to £146m. Gleeds had hoped to block court proceedings. However, a High Court judge has ruled that the claim can…

Lendlease is facing claims by Northumbria NHS Trust that the emergency hospital it built has multiple fire-safety defects, external wall weaknesses, and mechanical and electrical services (M&E) problems. Balfour Beatty’s M&E arm, Balfour Beatty Kilpatrick, is one of six other construction firms involved in the dispute over the Northumbria Specialist…