Legal

Laing O’Rourke is suing Medical Architecture in a bid to recoup £18.5m after paying out for multiple defects on the Roseberry Park Hospital in Middlesbrough. The contractor was appointed to build the 15-block hospital as part of a PFI deal signed in 2007. It was employed by Three Valleys Healthcare…

The new Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is targeting former police officers to join its team and help bring criminal prosecutions. The body, which is part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), is currently trying to ramp up its complement of staff and has started advertising on Police Oracle, a…

Build UK has published a list of six terms it wants eradicated from construction contracts. Designed to guide those issuing legal documentation, the trade body's report aims to produce agreements that allocate risk fairly and result in better projects. Although standard contract forms are used throughout the industry, Build UK…

A former Morgan Sindall worker and his son have been handed life sentences for murdering a man in Suffolk. David King, 56, was found guilty of murder after a 10-week trial last May. In June 2021 he and his son, 20-year-old Edward King, attacked 47-year-old Neil Charles with a fighting…

A specialist contractor has won a bigger pay cheque for its work on new stands at Lord's Cricket Ground, following a legal battle with its client. Atalian Servest AMK was appointed as electrical subcontractor on ISG’s £50m job to replace the Edrich and Compton stands at Lord’s Cricket Ground in…

More than 900 people affected by the Grenfell Tower fire – including the bereaved and those forced from their homes – have agreed a civil settlement with several companies including contractor Rydon and public sector bodies. The settlement, worth £150m according to ITV News, was reached after a claim lodged…

Berkeley Homes and John Sisk and Son are embroiled in a legal battle over who is responsible for design flaws that could cost more than £4m. The dispute concerns a contract signed in December 2020 for Sisk to build three bridges and a new train station entrance at Twelve Trees…

The Unite union is “stepping up” its search for information on the possible collusion of trade union officials in blacklisting construction workers.  Unite set up an independent inquiry into the issue last year. It has instructed a legal team to investigate whether any officials from Unite or its predecessor unions…

Cheshire East Borough Council is one of three claimants seeking £40m of damages from contractors involved in the construction of a burnt-down retirement village. Around 150 elderly people saw their homes destroyed in a fire that razed Beechmere Retirement Village, Crewe, in 2019. The fire at the timber-framed complex resulted…

Administrators at one of Interserve Construction’s former joint ventures (JVs) are pushing to recoup millions in a legal case against Derbyshire councils. Interserve Construction, now rebranded as Tilbury Douglas, built up a catalogue of large jobs in the energy from waste (EfW) sector, some of which it split with joint…