Legal views 鈥� Page 90
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CommentMinimum damage: Liquidated damages
Liquidated damages are often fought over, but rarely understood. Here鈥檚 a guide to the pitfalls to avoid when trying to claim them 鈥�
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CommentIn banks we trust: Project bank accounts
One reason disputes turn nasty is that the payee suspects that the payer is coming up with spurious excuses not to pay. Luckily, there鈥檚 something we can do about this
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Existential matters: Novation
It is not always easy to tell whether a novation has taken place. Here鈥檚 a case that ended up in court because one side swore blind that the contract had been novated
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Legal costs: And you say we won?
As Costain vs Haswell shows, judges are using exact measures to work out who pays how much of the legal costs. The results should give a lot of litigants pause for thought
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CommentContracts: Are you a cavalier or a roundhead?
You can have all the collaboration and co-operation you like in this industry of ours, but fundamentally the Roundheads are right: it鈥檚 all about the contract 鈥�
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Law of limitation: And your time starts 鈥� now!
New legislation is on the way (at last) to reform the law of limitation of actions. But should it be a single limitation period and if so for how long: three, six or 10 years?
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CommentDubai disputes: Arbitrary judgment
Now that the only thing booming in Dubai is disputes, queues are forming outside arbitrators鈥� doors. But arbitration in the UAE has to be speeded up. Here鈥檚 how 鈥�
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CommentAdjudication awards: Logical deductions
If a party loses an adjudication and is ordered to pay up, can it set this sum off against anything it thinks it is owed from a subsequent adjudication award?
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OFT special: The cost of a phone call
If you don鈥檛 want the job, just ask for too much money and you won鈥檛 get it. Nobody can touch you. Phone a friend for a cover price, though, and you鈥檙e liable for millions
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CommentJCT homeowner contract: Get the picture?
The JCT鈥檚 contract for home extenders is a very useful document, not least because it turns a lot of those complicated words into drawings we can all understand
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CommentGaps in the framework
If you鈥檝e got a framework, a lot of contractual stuff is written into it. But there are still vital clauses that have to be agreed on the jobs themselves 鈥� so what happens if they aren鈥檛?
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CommentSo crazy it might be true
We鈥檙e so conditioned to looking at the world in a particular way we stop thinking about it. But what if it is, in fact, quite wrong? And what could prompt us to realise it is?
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CommentTake the fifth: Liability for design mistakes
If you鈥檙e an architect, and you suddenly realise that you鈥檝e made a mistake, do you have a duty to tell your client about it? Well, that all depends
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CommentWestfield fit-out dispute: An everyday story of building folk
This shopfitting dispute sounds hair-raising, but it is really nothing out of the ordinary. That鈥檚 because people who work in construction are like everyone else: they mess up
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CommentJCT for major projects: I Love you just the way you are
The clear, efficient and comprehensive JCT Major Project Construction Contract is about as good a form as you鈥檒l find. But don鈥檛 go trying to change it 鈥�
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CommentRepugnant behaviour
A recent case has shown that the more serious a breach of contract, the less likely it is that a court will accept an exclusion of liability clause
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CommentBook review: Last-minute booking
Forget chick lit 鈥� the best summer reads address building procurement and the JCT contract. And, gratifyingly, the authors come up with exactly the right conclusions
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Comment鈥榁alid鈥� doesn鈥檛 mean 鈥榯rue鈥�: withholding payment
A party that doesn鈥檛 want to pay another needs to issue a withholding notice with a reason why it鈥檚 not paying 鈥撀燽ut does this reason need to be reasonable?
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CommentHow to pick a winner: adjudication
Believe it or not, it can be tricky to decide whether you鈥檝e won or lost a legal case. How come? Well here鈥檚 an illustration from the world of horse breeding
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Trouble in the transfer market: TUPE regulations and frameworks
Under TUPE regulations, staff are transferred from contractor to contractor depending on who is doing the work. But how does that function with frameworks?