Legal

Workers are under ever increasing pressures at work, often striving to deliver more with fewer resources. The resulting stress affects not only individuals, families and colleagues by impacting their health, but also impacts employers, with costs relating to absence, replacing staff, lost production and increased accidents. Employers may also face…

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 2018 saw 16,578 new company insolvencies across 10 key industries. Of these industries, the construction sector, accounted for 3,202 insolvencies, or about one in five failures. This was the highest number for any sector in 2018 and a 14.7 per cent…

Recent years have seen an explosion in construction-site trespass incidents by so-called urban explorers. Miles Rowland investigates the problems these daredevils pose for contractors – and how they can be stopped

Legal disputes in the construction industry are, unfortunately, a fact of life, and the higher the stakes, the more damaging – and costly – they can be. The collapse last year of UK contractor Carillion brought many of the difficult challenges faced by the construction industry to light. Despite operating…

While Halloween is a time of gruesome tales and spooky surprises, nightmare scenarios can jump out at unsuspecting workers at any time of year. Brooding bats Stumbling across a battalion of bats roosting on a site can scare even the most hardened developer. These flying beasties are found not only…

There has been little regulatory scrutiny of the role of the principal designer since it was introduced by the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 to replace the role of the CDM coordinator. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has tended to focus its investigations on contractors and principal contractors…

The recent case of Skymist Holdings Ltd v Grandlane Developments Ltd before Mrs Justice Moulder in the Commercial Court, relating to an adjudication, had to consider the issue of litigation privilege in adjudication. Litigation privilege covers documents produced for the dominant purpose of litigation where the litigation is either in…

Reports of a mental health crisis at Britain’s largest construction project, Hinckley Point, have once again highlighted the challenges the construction sector faces with mental wellbeing. This struggle to manage and improve mental wellbeing leaves companies open to legal challenges, delay and cost. Employers and schemes that do not take…

The courts will enforce an adjudicator’s decision even if it is wrong, whether in relation to the facts or the law. As the courts have stated: “The task of the adjudicator is not to act as arbitrator or judge... The need to have the “right” answer has been subordinated to…

Preparations for the 2020 Football World Cup in Qatar were hit last month when contractors announced plans to launch an independent inquiry into the death of a British man who fell while working on a stadium in Doha. Zac Cox died in January 2017 after falling 130 ft from a…