All articles by Tony Bingham – Page 10
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CommentHand over all the money
You can recover damages for losses caused by breach of contract but probably not for the loss of the use of money awarded in damages. Interest, in other words.That’s a bit odd isn’t it?
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CommentKeeping mum about mediation
Once upon a time everyone understood that part of what made mediation an ‘alternative’ form of dispute resolution was that the talks remained confidential. Was. Not any more they don’t
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CommentJCT Framework Agreement: Umbrellas? Who needs ’em
A framework agreement is like an umbrella that sits above a contractual dinghy in which the elements of the Egan partnership await their fate like good little girls and boys. Until, of course, it starts getting wet
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NewsConstruction is full of Mrs Conways
The building industry employs plenty of family members, so why do MPs get such a rough deal?
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CommentThe price of intransigence
Mediation can be used as a ploy to cut down on costs at a later trial. But if a party is suspected of playing along with no intention of compromising, everyone can end up losing a lot of money
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CommentWhat’s yours is mine
A retention may be held by an employer, but the money does not belong to it. This inconvenient fact is often overlooked by clients and main contractors – it’s so good for business, you see
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CommentWhat it all comes down to
How do we decide what is a reasonable extension of time? This basic question gives rise to all sorts of astonishingly complex answers, at the end of which we’re left with … common sense
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CommentWellies, muck and diggers
Construction dispute books, however erudite and authoritative, must brim with experience of the real world if they’re to be of use to those at the sharp end
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NewsNetwork Rail was bound to be late
Delays to work on the West Coast Mainline over Christmas were entirely predictable, the surprise was it overran by just four days
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CommentRaise a glass to the clerk of works
Who’s the most important man on a building site? Well, it depends on circumstances, but have you ever thought it might be the humble clerk of works? The chap with no powers but the one to make sure the job goes right?
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CommentTalking yourself out of a job
Alright, love, I’ll rebuild your bungalow in 17 weeks for £130k. Agreed. What, you want a kitchen? That’s extra. And where’s my dosh? All of it! Of course I need more time, I can’t work in the rain, can I? I’ve been what? !!£**@!!!*
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CommentTreasure & Son Ltd vs Martin Dawes: The riddle of existence
If you get into an adjudication based on a variation to a contract that is agreed but not signed, is the adjudication valid? The High Court has just given us a clear answer to that one …
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CommentTime wasters
One thing a legal dispute is good for is kicking a claim for payment into the long grass, which means all the time spent being fair to both parties is very unfair to the one that wants its money
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CommentFlogging a dead parrot
Here’s a trip down memory lane … back to the early seventies and Monty Python’s Flying Circus. But what could a hilarious, abusive, surreal sketch show possibly have to do with the modern construction industry?
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CommentWhat the Fiona tells us
The House of Lords has just decided a case that’s been around long enough to acquire its own nickname. And although it’s about a huge shipping dispute, it will have a big impact on construction
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CommentThe simple secret of success
The expert goes to Majorca to deliver a paper about the contractual side of building – and learns a lot about how it really works from a man who doesn’t even go to his lecture …
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CommentLeave them judges alone
When a judge in a notorious Scottish murder trial dismissed the case, he was publicly criticised by the lord advocate, who was herself publicly criticised by the lord justice general. There’s a lesson for us all here …
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CommentIts own worst enemy
The government relies on the PFI to deliver its improvements to public services. So why is it planning to wreck the systems that protect its delicate cash flow mechanism?
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CommentIt ain’t necessarily so
If a client presented with a payment certificate hasn’t paid up 14 days later, the dispute begins on day 15, right? Wrong. As this Scottish case demonstrates, you need to apply a little common sense
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CommentWhat are words worth?
You might not expect a member of Russia’s super-rich to speak the same language as a British builder. But when it came to deciding if the oral agreement they had was a binding contract, it was the English court that had the final word