Opinion 鈥� Page 634
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A fiasco in extra time
'Ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go 鈥� again. It came as no surprise to the construction or soccer fraternities that the latest round of the epic Wembley Stadium fixture slipped into extra time this week (page 11). As the government's 30 April deadline passed, a German bank ...
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The Top Scam Awards
OK, they're not the most prestigious accolades, but the prize ceremony for concocting those ways to wriggle out of the Construction Act can still reduce you to tears
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It's a side issue
Judges are getting to like adjudication. But they're going to like it a whole lot more when adjudicators can demonstrate a judicial fairness when deciding cases
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Silence isn't golden
You might not be in agreement with someone, but are you in dispute? It's an old issue, and the precedents are confusing 鈥� just make sure you speak up
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European antifreeze
Karl vs Palisade showed that if you freeze a debtor's assets, the human rights lawyers get you. Now it seems they'll pounce even if you just freeze the money
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Strength in perversity
These days, a building's quality is defined by whether it works as an advertisement for itself 鈥� a fact brought home by one wilful masterpiece that doesn't
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The reckoning
Is adjudication living up to our hopes? Hardly, when it has increased disputes, failed to deal satisfactorily with complex cases and become prey to bully-boy tactics
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One way to look at it
A firm working for Alfred McAlpine put a whole load of different disputes in one basket and presented it to an adjudicator 鈥� What happened next?
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Prudence's big gamble
So, what did Gordon Brown do for 鈥� or to 鈥� us in the Budget? Depending on your degree of cynicism, he either put 42 new hospitals in the post, or republicised those already sent. Either way, the good news is that a glistening 21-century NHS will boost employment through ...
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Business as usual
The City largely ignores construction, believing it to be far too risky an enterprise. We should return the compliment and just get on with making money
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The claimant strikes back
A judge may not like it when a party fails to comply with a court order, but they should think twice before striking out the claim altogether
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An offer you can't refuse
Is mediation now mandatory? Well, parties that refuse an offer to mediate without good reason may find they lose out on costs even when they they win the case
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Poor Superman
Referees are supposed to be the superheroes in construction disputes. Now they're just as likely to be cast as persecutor 鈥� before turning into victim
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Suit yourself
You don't have to go bespoke to get a contract that suits. A nip here, a cut-and-paste clause there, can keep everyone happy. Just be careful with the scissors
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Built on sand?
Poor housebuilders. For nearly a decade, they've given the City what they thought it always wanted 鈥� year-on-year growth in profits and, latterly, double-digit margins. The response from the Square Mile? Utter indifference. The sector is rated at less than half the stock exchange average. Even contractors, with their 2%-if-you're-lucky ...
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IT is not the answer
We all know IT will mobilise construction, giving everyone a faster, better service 鈥� and we are all wrong. In fact, like any tool, it's only as good as those who use it
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Events, dear boy, events
Life has a way of blowing a hole in a construction programme, but if a draft delay protocol is adopted, contractors will need to get it right from the start.