NEWSLETTER : MARCH 2011 Programme

Transcription

1 NEWSLETTER : MARCH 2011 Programme Unless marked otherwise, the following meetings are free to members and guests. Location maps are now always available on the website. All are welcome but for those meetings where the organiser s telephone or is given, it would be helpful if you could please let them know of your intention to attend. Thursday, Insolvency in Adjudication Disputes: A Practical Overview 3 March Speaker: Sean Brannigan QC Venue: Mills & Reeve, Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 2AB Organiser: selvaratnam@mail.com Friday, SCL/RICS Annual Conference 4 March Resolving disputes in construction Speakers: The Honourable Mr Justice Ramsey, The Honourable Mr Justice Akenhead, Nerys Jefford QC, Geoff Brewer, Patrick Bruce & Paul Starkey Venue: The Royal Armouries, Leeds 8.15am pm Organiser: jhawkswell@thkp.co.uk Ticket prices plus VAT = Tuesday, PSC3 the consultant s perspective 8 March Speaker: Rachel Barnes Chairman: Clive Marsden Tuesday, Issues to be considered in evaluation of disruption costs on major construction 22 March projects Speaker: Chris Ennis Venue: DLA Piper UK LLP, 1 St Paul's Place, Sheffield S1 2JX Organiser: jocelyn1taylor@btinternet.com 6.00pm for 6:15pm Tuesday, Prolongation costs: where now after Costain v Haswell? 29 March Speaker: Dr Ronan Champion Venue: The Town Hall, Blagrave Street, Reading RG1 1QH 6 for 6:15pm Organiser: mamas.stavrou@fticonsulting.com Wednesday, SCL/SBCC Annual Lecture 30 March When the adjudicator gets it horribly wrong: is there a remedy Speaker: The Honourable Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart Chairman: The Honourable Lord Hodge Venue: The Signet Library, Parliament Sq, Edinburgh EH1 1RF 5.30 for 6.00pm Cost 20 plus VAT. Please contact Jasmine Sneddon if you wish to attend JSneddon@rics.org

2 Wednesday, SCL/CIOB Joint Meeting 30 March Time in NEC3 contracts Speaker: Adam Constable Chairman: Kathryn Gore Venue: The Rose Bowl, Botley Road, West End, Southampton SO pm Organiser: Wednesday, But we didn t really mean that Mistake, rectification and correction of manifest error in the 6 April terms of a contract Speaker: Jennifer Jones Venue: Burgess Salmon, One Glass Wharf, Bristol, BS2 0ZX Organiser: tom.wrzesien@tltsolicitors.com Tuesday, The New Construction Act 12 April Speakers: John Riches and Rupert Choat Chairman: Tony Blackler Tuesday, Relying on specialist advice and design 12 April Speaker: Jeremy Nicholson QC Chairman: Simon Lewis Venue: School of Law, Room 024, City Campus East, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST Organiser: Simon.Lewis@dickinson-dees.com Thursday, Open season for ambush - how disputes have changed 14 April Speaker: Rachel Gwilliam Venue: Denton Wilde Sapte LLP, The Pinnacle, 170 Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK9 1FE Organiser: michael@michael-gerard.co.uk 6.00pm 6 for 6.15pm Tuesday, SCL Hudson Prize Papers Presentation 3 May Defective Premises Law: Time for Remedial Works Speaker: David Johnson, Pupil Barrister, Atkin Chambers NECs: to amend or not to amend Speaker: Mike Barlow, MacRoberts Chairman: Professor Anthony Lavers Monday, Prolongation costs: where now after Costain v Haswell? 9 May Speaker: Dr Ronan Champion Chairman: Brodie McAdam Venue: CUBE, Portland Street, Manchester, M1 6FB 5:45 for 6.00 Organiser: W.B.McAdam@salford.ac.uk Wednesday, The Society's AGM 11 May Venue: Middle Temple Hall, Middle Temple Lane, London EC4Y 6.30pm Wednesday, The Society's Annual Dinner 11 May Venue: Middle Temple Hall, Middle Temple Lane, London EC4Y 7 for 7.30pm Bookings: See Attached Flyer

3 Thursday SCL Hudson Prize papers presentation 26 May Liquidated Damages and the Doctrine of Penalties:rethinging the War on Terrorem Speaker: Matthew Bell, Director Melbourne Law School and of Clayton Utz Constructive Criticism: Why CPR 48.1 is damaging to the construction industry Speaker: Daniel Shaw of White & Case, London Chairman Adrian Hughes QC Venue: Inner Temple, Parliament Chambers 6.15pm Tuesday, Construction Experts' expertise and its regulation after Jones v Kaney 7 June Speaker: His Honour Judge Anthony Thornton QC Tuesday, SCL/CIArb Joint Meeting 7 June Speaker: David Richbell Chairman: Kathryn Gore Venue: The Rose Bowl, Botley Road, West End, Southampton SO pm Organiser: kathryn.gore@bllaw.co.uk Tuesday, Mediation is the only route to justice 21 June Speaker: David Richbell Venue: Nottingham Gateway Hotel, Nuthall Road, Cinderhill, Nottingham NG8 6AZ Organiser: jocelyn1taylor@btinternet.com 6.15pm Wednesday, 29 June Speaker: Mr Justice Robert Akenhead Chairman: Kathryn Gore Venue: The Rose Bowl, Botley Road, West End, Southampton SO pm Organiser: kathryn.gore@bllaw.co.uk Further events and links to register for events can be found at We are keen to receive suggestions for speakers and topics both for the London and the Regional programmes. Please send your ideas to: adrian.hughes@39essex.com; rchampion@championpearce.com helena.riches@mcms.co.uk and julian.bailey@cms-cmck.com; Chairman A thoroughly enjoyable Brewery Lunch took place shortly on 18 th February with a full house of over 650 people. John Inverdale and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE formed an inspirational and amusing double act and celebrations went on late into the evening. The next social event is the annual dinner on 11 May. We have a full programme this month as set out above. Please support these events and keep the suggestions coming in as to suggestions for regional events and what we should be doing to improve the work of the Society. Adrian Hughes QC Chairman

4 SCL Hudson Prize 2010 The Judging Panel of the SCL Hudson Prize has announced the following results for the 2010 competition Joint 2nd Prize Joint 2nd Prize Highly Commended Highly Commended Commended Matthew Bell, Lecturer in Construction Law, University of Melbourne Liquidated damages and the doctrine of penalties: rethinking the war on terrorem David Johnson, Pupil Barrister, Atkin Chambers Defective Premises Law: time for remedial works? Mike Barlow, Partner, MacRoberts The NEC 3 Engineering and Construction Contract: to amend, or not to amend? Daniel Shaw, Associate, White & Case Constructive Criticism: why CPR 48.1 is damaging to the construction industry Kim Rosenberg, Senior Associate, Freshfields Revising design risk allocation under a traditional build contract: who takes responsibility for buildability deficiencies in the permanent works design? The Judging Panel offers congratulations to all recipients of awards and thanks to all who entered the 2010 SCL Hudson Prize. Details of the 2011 competition will be circulated soon. Anthony Lavers, Professor of Law Chair, SCL Hudson Prize Judging Panel. SCL University Prizes. One of SCL's areas of activity is supporting the teaching of construction law in UK universities. Members of academic staff who teach the subject can apply for grants to support the purchase of text books, forms of contract and other materials. The applications are considered and administered by Council's University Liaison Sub-Committee, Professor Anthony Lavers, Dr Hamish Lal and Peter Phillippo. SCL has worked hard at fostering relationships with the universities and the lecturers who lead the courses; several SCL members deliver occasional lectures to the students. As part of the process, SCL offers prizes for exceptional performance in construction law at a number of Institutions. The winners are selected by the academic staff on the basis of internal examinations and other assessments on the courses. Although the sums involved are comparatively modest ( is typical), the institutions are pleased to receive them, because it enables them to identify and reward publicly those who produce work of very high quality in construction law and related areas. Where possible, members of the Sub-committee or other Council members attend prize-giving ceremonies to 'show the flag' and to affirm our support for the work of the universities.it is intended to report on these occasions from time to time, so that members are kept informed of this aspect of our activities. Members benefits We are pleased to announce, with thanks to Oxford University Press, that a copy of the new edition of Coulson on Construction Adjudication is available to members at the discounted price of 180, reduced from 225. Written by Mr Justice Coulson, a Judge of the Technology and Construction Court, this new edition provides a definitive up-to-date text, and deal comprehensively with the law and practice of adjudication in construction and engineering disputes. To purchase at the discounted price please call Oxford University Press Customer Services at and quote ALCLS11.

5 Butterworths Construction Law and Strategies Conference Tuesday 12th April. Full details are available at To book please and quote reference SCL to receive your 20% discount Entries invited for SCL Australia Essay Prize The Society of Construction Law Australia is inviting entries for its annual construction law essay prize. Based upon the SCL Hudson Prize, the prize is named after the Hon Robert Brooking QC in recognition of his Honour's pioneering contribution to the study and practice of construction law in Australia. First prize is A$4,000, second is A$2,000 and there is a student prize of A$1,000. Commendations may also be awarded and all entrants awarded a prize or commendation will be granted complementary membership of SCL Australia for one year. Entries close on 31 March For full details, please refer to Renewal of Membership 2011 Thanks to the many members who have already renewed their subscription for If you intend to renew your subscription but have not yet done so, please make your payment as soon as possible. Membership renewal for 2011 will not be available after 31 March. All non- paid members will be marked as lapsed and will need to reapply for membership. The Renewal of Membership invoices were posted to all full members during December (with the exception of those members who joined the Society after the end of September 2010). If you did not receive your invoice then please request a copy from admin@scl.org.uk If you have paid via bank transfer and are continuing to receive reminders, please contact Admin as some payments have been received with insufficient details for us to reconcile them with the bank statements. Overseas e-members do not receive invoices but have instead received an reminder giving instructions on how to pay their subscriptions online. The fee for overseas e-membership is Our thanks go to the many members who have already promptly renewed their subscriptions for Papers With this Newsletter, full members will receive a copy of a paper given by Professor Anthony Lavers to the European Society of Construction Law in Amsterdam in October last year, Early Termination by the Client in the Event of the Contractor's Non-performance (paper number 166). The paper arose out of an invitation given by the Dutch Society of Construction Law to other European Societies to consider the legal position in their own jurisdictions with reference to the provisions in two Dutch standard forms. Professor Lavers, on behalf of the UK Society, considered early termination by the client. He begins by noting that most commercial contracts grant one or both parties the right to terminate the contract in certain circumstances; and that the law of most jurisdictions will also generally grant parties the right to terminate in certain circumstances when the other party is in breach. He distinguishes between termination for convenience (permitting an employer to terminate at any time, for any reason) and termination for cause (termination depending on the occurrence of certain events). He considers the termination provisions in the JCT Design and Build Contract and the FIDIC Contracts together with the case law, before going on to consider the provisions in the Dutch standard forms, and the law in other jurisdictions. He also considers an example of a maintenance contract and 'temporary disconformity' in the context of termination.

6 Now on the website, is Simon Lofthouse QC's paper (presented to meetings in Manchester on 26th April, Sheffield on 8th June and Cardiff on 27th October 2010), 'Change': What it is, how it is valued and who should resolve any dispute (paper number D121). Simon Lofthouse looks at the question of change in the context of two contracts: the JCT Intermediate Form of Contract 2005 and the FIDIC Red Book. He considers, first, what change (or variation) is and the need to ascertain the scope of the parties' original responsibilities. He moves on to examine the process of valuation under the Red Book, contrasting that with the approach in the IFC contract. He then looks at disputes taken to arbitration. The dispute could broadly be about (i) whether the instruction constituted a variation; (ii) if so, whether it is a variation permitted under the contract; and (iii) if so, the proper valuation of that variation (or a combination of these issues). The paper concludes with a look at the need for arbitrators to be independent, and what that means. New Members Finally, we are pleased to welcome the new members who recently joined the Society: Jessica Bethell-Jones, London James Lloyd, Bristol Robert Williams, Cardiff John Adams, Cardiff Anna Weiss, London Kate Wansbrough-Jones, London Andrew Aglionby, London Emma Hancock, London Jeremy Goose, Essex Katherine Souter, Cambridge Laura Claridge, Kent Christopher Wright, Twickenham Niav O'Higgins, Dublin Andrew Kearney, Bristol Lee Forsyth, London Nicholas Pegg, Bristol Lisa Kingston, London Edmund Neuberger, London Martyn Harris, Ethiopia Paul Miles, Cardiff Onishi Hideyuki, Japan Tom Pemberton, Surrey Tim Wells, Canterbury Gregory Osagie Akhibi, Nigeria John Stocker, UAE Ben Sareen, London Laura Atherton, London Sarah Fox, Cheshire John Oliver, Berkshire Matthew Wolton, London Dr John Allison, Kent Richard Lamb, Kent Harriet Butterfield, London Nicola Shaldon, London William Barton, Leeds Andrew Poyner, Derbyshire Steve Oates, Birmingham Naomi Bari, London Matthew Gasser, London Donna Slattery, London Ann Dingemans, London Aidan Otto Kelly, Australia Greg Carter, Bishops Stortford Michael Pickering, Oman Albert Passmore, East Sussex Barrie Green, Leicestershire Paul Bradley, London