Legal

Materials giant Kingspan has made a number of governance changes following a review of its UK insulation boards business following allegations made about the company at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The company announced today it made the changes to strengthen its approach to product and safety compliance, following “unacceptable employee…

A builder has been given a suspended prison sentence for managing three firms while banned. Michael Ashton was sentenced to 18 weeks in jail, suspended for a year, because he managed Staffordshire-based firms MA Joinery Limited, CNT Joinery Ltd, and MA Partitioning, Ceilings & Joinery Ltd while banned from serving…

The director of a small home renovation contractor has been given a suspended prison sentence after a worker’s pelvis was fractured when a number of plasterboards fell on him. Subcontractors employed by SS Reforms were refurbishing a house in Thames Ditton, Surrey, on 12 April 2019, when the incident happened.…

The construction industry’s largest trade bodies have called on the chancellor to permanently scrap plans for reverse charge VAT “as a matter of urgency”, Construction News can reveal. Reverse charge VAT will change how cash flows through the supply chain as subcontractors will no longer charge VAT, which currently they…

The government has started legal proceedings to ban up to eight former Carillon directors from holding boardroom posts. Days before the third anniversary of Carillion’s collapse, new business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng launched the legal bid to ban the former bosses from holding director positions. Chief executive Richard Howson, chief financial…

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has warned that the number of contractual disputes related to COVID-19 is likely to rise across the sector this year. It issued a plea for the industry to continue “to support the long-term health of our sector by constructively resolving all contractual disputes arising from…

Two groundworks-product firms have been fined a combined £14.9m for illegal price collusion. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said VP and MGF (Trench Construction Systems) shared confidential information on upcoming pricing and commercial strategy. A statement from the watchdog added that the firms coordinated their commercial activities, monitoring each…

The Supreme Court has lifted a ban on the Heathrow Airport third runway scheme, meaning the project team could seek planning permission for the megaproject. The ban was issued by the Court of Appeal in February, when judges ruled that the plans had been unlawfully approved by government. They said…

Liverpool City Council has been told to hand details of its property plans over to the government as a police investigation continues into the awarding of building contracts in the city, reports CN’s sister title The Architects’ Journal. Last Friday, (4 December) five men, including Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson and…

A Swedish state-owned iron ore mining giant has accused a newer player in the market of copyright infringement. LKAB Minerals, which produces high-density iron ore aggregate MagnaDense, has sent a legal letter to London-headquartered Aethel Mining, asking it to rename its recently launched MuaDense product. Both products can be used…