Legal Q&A

Regulation 12(6) of the Building Regulations 2010 (the 2010 Regulations), SI 2010/2214 ( SI 2010/2214, reg 12(6)) Regulation 12(6) removes the need for a building notice or full plans where the works are solely those in Schedule 3 (by the corresponding registrant) or in Schedule 4. Schedule 3 includes door replacements: 10: Replacement of a window, rooflight, roof window or door in an existing dwelling—by BM Trada Certification Limited; CERTASS Limited; Certsure LLP; Fensa Limited ( Fenestration Self- Assessment Scheme); NAPIT Registration Limited; Network VEKA Limited; or Stroma Certification Limited. 11: The same in a non-dwelling—excluding load-bearing or structural glass, glazed curtain walling and revolving doors—by BM Trada Certification Limited; CERTASS Limited; Certsure LLP; Fensa Limited ( Fenestration Self- Assessment Scheme); or Stroma Certification Limited. Schedule 4, paragraph 1(h) covers replacing an external door where the door plus frame has not more than 50% of its...

We have taken it that, because communal areas are mentioned, the property in question is a block of flats. For the first two years after completion of the initial sale of a new-build property, defects cover is supplied, under National House Building Council ( NHBC) Buildmark, by the builder, who is responsible for putting right any faults that arise in the property and that then fall within the scope of the policy......

Retention Retention describes the portion of interim payments the employer withholds as security for the contractor’s future performance of its duties and to encourage the contractor to discharge those duties in full and properly. For further details, consult the Practice Note: Retention of payment in construction contracts. When retention is to be released to the contractor depends on the particular contract terms for the project. Typically, half of the retained sum is paid out at practical completion, with the balance thereafter following completion of any remedial works for defects reported within the defects liability period. Consequently, if these milestones are reached before the final certificate is issued, the contractor may have a right to seek payment of some or all of the retention......

Clause 2.27.1 of the JCT Standard Building Contract 2011 ( SBC) Clause 2.27.1 provides that where it becomes reasonably clear that progress of the Works, or any Section, is delayed or likely to be delayed, the Contractor must at once notify the Architect/ Contract Administrator, explaining the material circumstances, including the reasons for the delay, and in that notice point out any occurrence he regards as a Relevant Event... Lexis+® UK practical point: the same wording appears in the Standard Building Contract 2016 (cl 2.27.1) and in the JCT Design and Build Contract 2011/2016 (cl 2.24.1), save that in the design and build forms the addressee ‘ Architect/ Contract Administrator’ is replaced by the ‘ Employer’... Two principal questions arise when deciding whether a notification clause such as SBC clause 2.27.1 has been properly observed: what does the obligation to give notice...

This Q& A focuses on public procurement under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ( PCR 2015), SI 2015/102 As a general principle, the PCR 2015, SI 2015/102 affords bidders considerable latitude to shape bid partnerships and supply chain models to suit their approach. Under PCR 2015, SI 2015/102, reg 63(1), tenderers can draw upon the resources of other organisations to satisfy selection requirements covering economic and financial standing, along with technical and professional capability. A limited carve-out appears at PCR 2015, SI 2015/102, reg 63(7), which permits contracting authorities to stipulate that specified ‘critical tasks’ in a public services or public works contract must be carried out by the prime contractor, or by one from a consortium of primes. Put differently, suppliers are, in most cases, free to deploy their chosen subcontractors when delivering a public contract. That said, this is subject to any...

A well-known problem amongst procurement professionals A widely recognised headache for procurement practitioners arises from the duty in regulation 53 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ( PCR 2015), SI 2015/102 ( PCR 2015, SI 2015/102, reg 53). It requires the ‘procurement documents’ to be accessible at the time a public contract is advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (the Official Journal, or OJEU). In essence, contracting authorities must use the internet to provide unrestricted, complete and immediate access, at no cost, to those documents from the day a notice, issued under regulation 51, appears in the Official Journal, or from the day an invitation to confirm interest is dispatched. The issue most often raised, particularly for public procurements run under the restricted procedure (and comparable routes that involve a pre-qualification phase ahead of the award stage), is whether the...

Such works may fall under section 105(1)(b) of the HGCRA 1996 Such works may fall within section 105(1)(b), which treats road maintenance as a construction operation covering the construction, alteration, repair, maintenance, extension, demolition or dismantling of works forming, or to form, part of land, including walls, roadworks, power lines, electronic communications apparatus, runways, docks, harbours, railways, inland waterways, pipelines, reservoirs, water mains, wells, sewers, industrial plant, and installations for land drainage, coast protection or defence. Alternatively, section 105(1)(e) catches operations integral to, preparatory for, or rendering complete those works, including site clearance, earth-moving, excavation, tunnelling, laying foundations, erecting, maintaining or dismantling scaffolding, site restoration, landscaping, and providing roadways and other access. No specific authority concerns these works, yet courts have often held that less orthodox activities are construction operations, for example: Baldwins Industrial Services plc v Barr: crane with driver hire held...

Yes, bank holidays are excluded when calculating the time period in an adjudication under the Scheme for Construction Contracts. The Scheme for Construction Contracts (the Scheme) sets out certain default rules governing the entitlement to start, and the practical management of, an adjudication process. Under section 108(5) of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 ( HGCRA 1996), the Scheme’s terms are read into a construction contract where it omits, or conflicts with, any of the obligations in subsections 108(1) to (4)......

Where documents are deeds, they must expressly state they are executed by the company itself. A document will be treated as executed as a deed if it is properly executed by the company and delivered as such......

If an employer appoints a utility co-ordinator to supervise and arrange utility connections with Statutory Undertakers, would this alter status of Statutory Undertakers, as set out in clause 2.26.6 of JCT Design & Build Contract?......

In answering this Q& A The research is confined to situations in which a company has duly executed one counterpart of a contract, yet the witnessing clause for the other party’s execution is completed incorrectly......