Construction Law

Unlike most other firms, our construction lawyers are all genuinely dual qualified in construction and law. We understand the importance of having a construction lawyer who understands the technical complexities and can speak the same language as the design team and experts. All of our construction lawyers are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. With a team of lawyers qualified as building surveyors and quantity surveyors we add value to the services we provide like few other law firms can.

Our key areas of expertise are:
Defence
Insurance
Infrastructure
ProjectCounsel
Document Review
Drafting Contracts
Alternative Dispute Resolution 
Contract Administration
Construction Phase Support
Education

Defence

​Our staff have a long history of working with the Ministry of Defence in the UK.  From the demise of the PSA in 1990, through the formation of the Defence Housing Executive, the introduction of multi-activity contracts and more recently the Integrated Service Provider contracts.  Our staff have experience of working for all three services and additionally the US Navy.

​Our staff have experience of bidding for MoD contracts internationally, and more crucially in complex delivery.  Our work comprises the full scope of work service type work, Schedule A & B inspections, and the management of response maintenance tasks.  We can be instructed to provide design and project management services across the full spectrum of the defence estate including the design and implementation of new works.

Insurance

We provide a complete service to insurers, from initial response and instructing emergency repairs to mitigate loss, through the management and administration of the claim.  We can act as loss adjusters, including the design and management of rectification work, to settlement, and subrogated claims against third parties and their insurers.

​We have a particular expertise in identifying losses in relation to defective building and construction work, as well as flood and storm damage.

Infrastructure

Our expertise in infrastructure includes the design and management of major projects.  These include major defence projects, the construction of schools and hospitals, healthcare centres and offices. Our experience in the defence sector includes everything from runways and tunnels, to family housing and nuclear births for submarines.

With a keen interest in sustainability, we have advised on issues regarding solar and wind power, and the disputes that often follow these projects.  We have advised over the installation of Ground Source Heat Pump schemes, District Heating systems, and biomas.

On a more localised level we understand high and low voltage networks, and we are often instructed to prepare contract documents for substation upgrades, the installation of feeder pillars, and the drafting of wayleaves.

Project Counsel

​Project Counsel is like having your own in-house lawyer available for advice and guidance throughout the life of your building project.  There are no hidden fees or unexpected costs.  We offer a turnkey service packaged as a project specific retainer.

​We take all the usual legal and procurement services necessary for the delivery of a project, and we bundle them together under a firm and fixed fee.  By linking the fee to the value of the project we provide cost certainty from the outset.  Our role is to work with the client and advise and guide them throughout the project life cycle, from the early days of inception and feasibility to handover and occupation.

​We play an active role alongside the client in procuring the design and construction of the project.  While we don’t design anything ourselves, we help corral the consultants that do.  We help ensure everyone is doing what they are supposed to do, when they are supposed to do it.  We attend progress meetings with the client, and we advise the client over any contractual or procurement issues that arise.  As the project unfolds, we typically provide advice regarding variations, extensions of time, and loss and expense claims.  By playing an active role alongside the client, we help ensure the project is completed on time and within budget, and we help ensure the finished building is fit for the clients intended purpose.

Ask for our Project Counsel brochure for more details.

Document review

A large part of our work is the review and assessment of documentation prepared by others.  Part of our role is to assess the reason for the documents existence and then to evaluate if the script is satisfactory and fit for its intended purpose.

For pre-construction documentation we are often asked to review draft contracts, schedules of contract amendments, consultancy service agreements to appoint architects surveyors and engineers, and pre-construction services agreements with contractors.  We deal with a huge range of standard form and bespoke contracts.  We are also asked to review licences for access to undertake works, Funding and Development Agreements, and agreements for lease.

We are sometimes asked to review contract documentation and tender documentation.  We can review tender documents and tender packages, tender returns and tender assessments and the format for Parent Company Guarantees and Performance Bonds.  We also review Schedules of Contract Amendments, draft contracts and collateral warranties.

Drafting contract documents

Our routine work is the drafting and negotiation of contract documents. We ensure that the documents we prepare are fit for their intended purpose and fully meet our clients need.
We draft a range of standard form contracts, typically JCT, but also FIDIC. We draft Schedules of Contract Amendments to adapt and alter a standard form to better suit the client requirement. We also draft entirely bespoke and special purpose contracts. When engaging the design team we draft Consultancy Service Agreements with Architects, Engineers and Surveyors, and we help negotiate the same. When we are engaged early in a project we can also be asked to draft Pre-Construction Services Agreements and the accompanying schedules and specifications.
In association with project works we draft and negotiate licences, leases, Development and Funding Agreements.
At the procurement stage of the project we draft tender documentation, contracts and schedules of contract amendments, Parent Company Guarantees, Performance Bonds and Retention Bonds.
We also prepare a range of contract notices including Payment Notices and Payless Notices.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

While we offer an incredibly broad range of services, our core work is in disputes. Often if we are are engaged at an early stage in a dispute we can drive the dispute to a resolution through a negotiated or mediated settlement. Where this is not possible, then we are experts in dispute resolution, and our lawyers have won multiple awards over the years. We practice international as well as domestic arbitration, and adjudication. We enjoy a significantly high success rate.

Our construction qualifications makes us all too aware of what should happen on a construction project. We are able to identify where there have been errors and omissions. We have all the tools we need to build a strong case, and prepare a persuasive argument. With exceptional qualifications and experience, our opinion and reasoning is difficult to fault.

​This area of legal work forms our core business. We work in both the pursuit and defence of contract and commercial claims. Following a completely free and informal evaluation of your position, we will advise you, in plain English, as to whether your case has merit. We will advise what supporting documentation we will need to either pursue a claim, or stage a defence, on your behalf. We believe in providing an integrated service, and we will advise you early on of the litigation strategy, and identify if there are any aspects in the preparation of the pleadings you are able to do yourself, albeit with our guidance. We can ensure that you retain control of your matter, while keeping our costs to a minimum. We make it a team effort, and keep you involved throughout.

​Whether in pursuit or defence, we are tenacious, determined and totally committed. We are experts in the area of Alternative Dispute Resolution, and we are skilled Advocates and Arbitrators.

Regardless of whether the dispute is over quality or quantum, practical completion or retention, we are well versed and experienced in preparing and making out robust pleadings, to ensure our clients get the best possible outcome.

Contract Administration

As the Contract Administrator, we effectively project manage the project from inception to completion. We assist in the selection and appointment of the design team, and we prepare the appointments of statutory duty holders under CDM. We coordinate the design process. Working with the client we develop a Project Design Brief, organise viability and feasibility studies and Environmental Impact Assessments. We are the glue that binds all the design and procurement processes together.
Once we have a completed design we assist in the selection and appointment of contractors. This includes a vigorous due diligence process. We conduct the tender return analysis and advise on procurement methodology. Once the contractor is appointed, we monitor the works for progress and for quality, and we manage the submission of valuations, variations, extensions of time and payments.
Our job is to administer the project and do everything we can possibly do to ensure the works are completed on time and to budget.