There’s a lot to learn: construction law resources on and offline

If ever there is value for money it is £160 for this three-volume latest edition of Construction Law by Julian Bailey. If ever there is a valued companion for every construction law practitioner, on the desk, at your fingertips, this fellow Julian Bailey’s textbook is it. He is a solicitor and partner at Jones Day, London, and his bag is construction law on a UK and international scale. Alongside the day job, he is a visiting professor of law at King’s College London, as well as an adjunct professor at Doha University in Qatar.

Notice that this is edition four. His first edition was 13 years ago. I reviewed editions two and three. This latest adds a mere 2,345 new judgments and awards. I find the entire endeavour worth inventing a special award of achievement. It’s not “just” 3,300 pages of construction law; it is 3,300 pages of accurate and reliable guidance and commentary. Ah, but I have a whinge. An unjustified whinge, I admit. I want to have this three-volume encyclopaedia with me when I dash hither and thither. No, no not the weighty three volumes. I want it all online, and with a search engine. Come on, Bingham, you can’t have all that and the 3,300 pages for £160. So I don’t deduct any points from Julian Bailey’s tour de force.

The Supreme Court makes available video recordings of many hearings. Get the benefit of top-quality counsels’ arguments and the penetrating questions put by judges… It’s a must for all who participate in the disputes arena

Just let me say one other thing. There are some very highly regarded reviewers for this work, and all of them come out one way – “outstanding”. One in particular I note it is by Richard Wilmot-Smith KC. He, too is a strong textbook author, a competitor in the book world, and yet he gives top marks to Bailey.

I could go on, but let me take a moment to signpost some other construction law resources. There are some excellent freebies. The Supreme Court makes available video recordings of many hearings at this highest level. It takes you to the actual hearing where counsel has argued the case in front of (usually) five judges.

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The latest I have watched is Abbey Health Care vs Simply Construct. It is about the scope of adjudication to hear collateral contract disputes. The case is discussed here in Building by Hamish Lal, overleaf.

But my hint is to invest time listening and watching the actual hearing. Get the benefit of top-quality counsels’ arguments and the penetrating questions put by the tribunal judges to counsel. It’s a must for all who participate in the disputes arena to at least watch the video recordings. Mind you, it is even better to go along to the Supreme Court in Parliament Square to witness the live events.

The link is www.supremecourtrecordings. That website lists umpteen Supreme Court hearings going back many years, though recordings crop up from 2019 onwards. All these video recordings can be watched to suit your available time. Look too at the websites of the construction law firms such as CMS Cameron McKenna; Trowers & Hamlins; Hawkswell Kilvington; Clarke Willmott. Their newsletters are so useful.

Now go to the popular website www.bailii.org, the site of the British & Irish Legal Information Institute. It provides access to freely available case law, bang up-to-date. Clicking on this link takes me to today’s Technology and Construction Court judgments. A concluded case in that court about a building project will be uploaded within 24 hours of the judgment being published. Click on the case name and the full decisions is yours.

And Bailii goes much further; it also has the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court judgments as well as Scottish, Irish, Privy Council and Commonwealth case law. You can even dive into construction cases in Singapore, UAE, Qatar and more and more. The site is a charity and welcomes donations. Its annual budget is about £225,000 for the part-time staff hosting 139 databases covering 14 jurisdictions and uploading about 500 judgments per week.

Another welcome site is www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/judgments. I click on the TCC section and bring up “construction”, the most recent case and full judgment. The site has 1,771 judgments, all yours for the sake of a free click. Just for the record, the general archive site has upwards of 62,500 judgments in date order.

Mind you, I haven’t got around to the subscription law-reporting websites. The list includes the All England Law Reports, Weekly Law Reports, Construction Law Reports, Emdens Construction Law and Construction Law Journal.

• Julian Bailey’s Construction Law, 4th edition (ISBN: 978-1-916749-14-6) is published by London Publishing Partnership and can be ordered from IPSUK.Orders@ingramcontent.com

Tony Bingham is a barrister and arbitrator at 3 Paper Buildings, Temple