All articles by Tony Bingham – Page 5
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CommentCourt isn’t all it’s cracked up to be
The property end of building is even more disputatious than the contruction end. It needs to find a better way to resolve disputes – so why not adopt adjudication?
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CommentThis one’s on you
Tony Bingham Tolent clauses, which make the party that refers an adjudication pay all the legal costs, are to be outlawed by the Construction Act … but a judge has just got there first
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CommentIn praise of doing less: adjudication scheme
The scheme for adjudication is being redrafted to fit the new (deep breath) Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act. If only they would write it on just one page
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CommentCollatoral contracts: The unkindness of strangers
Collateral contracts are supposed to protect those not party to a contractual set-up. They work, but they also introduce flint-hearted button counters into the equation
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CommentMJ coulson’s model answer
Judging construction disputes can be like sitting exams, but at least we can all learn from the results – as in this case where a builder flunked everything
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CommentA new form of pest control
If you’re peeved with an adjudicator’s decision and start playing silly games rather than comply with it, the likelihood is that you will get clobbered in the courts
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CommentGosh, is that really the time?
Adjudication is not litigation (lawyers please note) and an adjudicator is not obliged to consider in detail new information that comes in at the eleventh hour
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CommentHow the defence went up in smoke
Here’s a case where the employer claimed his withholding notices had been burned in a lightning strike and stolen. How was an adjudicator to deal with such matters?
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CommentSomething quite atrocious
A party that thinks an adjudicator has no jurisdiction can save money and bother by simply waiting until the end before making a song and dance about it
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CommentAvoiding disputes: Fancy a game of battleships?
Every contract tells you to issue a notice when something is going wrong. But that launches warships – and makes it virtually certain that something will go wrong
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CommentAdjudication: Instant justice
As we all know, an adjudicator’s decision is binding until a final decision is made by a court or arbitrator, no matter how wrong it is. But that ‘final decision’ can be made very quickly
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CommentMilking it: Safeway and the OFT
When Safeway was fined by the OFT, it tried to claim its money back from the employees it thought had caused the problems. Might construction companies follow suit?
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CommentThe revenge of Judy Veakins
A company’s liability for harassment or bullying by one of its managers was brought to attention by a recent case. Tony Bingham sums up the facts …
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CommentA cock and ball story
Tony Bingham If your little mistake turns out to be a massive mistake because of my little mistake, can you be made to pay the whole of the bill? Over to the Court of Appeal …
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CommentGoing the distance: Relevant information
Here’s a tale of two sisters who got into a row with their builder, followed by five adjudications and a court case that established some useful case law
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CommentGet lost, creep: Adjudication
A dispute is never just about the thing that it’s about. All kinds of interlopers try to get in on the action, and it can make adjudication impossible. As the following case shows …
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CommentThe Scottish enlightenment: Expert determination vs arbitration
What’s the difference between expert determination and arbitration? Is there a difference? Yes there is, and a Caledonian court spelled it out
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CommentJoint expert witnesses: Clandestine communications
There are some grey areas to being a joint expert witness, but one thing is clear: talking to one party without the other’s knowledge is not on
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CommentDon’t get your suspenders in a twist
The Construction Act says it is lawful to down tools if you haven’t been paid what you’re owed. But what happens if you get it wrong and the money isn’t owed?
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CommentPayment rules: Financial mechanics
The new Construction Act may be but a distant prospect, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a few educated guesses as to how its payment rules will work