Construction Act update

The Government released the first draft of the new Local Democracy Economic Development and Construction Bill (the “Bill”) in July 2008 in an effort to update the existing Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (“HGCA”) as it was lacking in some key areas. In fact, the Government stated: “extensive consultation with the construction industry has identified that while the Construction Act has improved cash flow and dispute resolution under construction contracts, it is ineffective in certain key regards.”

Young Professionals in Construction

We are pleased to announce our first event of 2009 which will be held in conjunction with Cardiff Devils Hockey team on Thursday 23 April at the Cardiff Devil offices.

Attestation

Another name for an attestation clause is “execution clause” or “signature block” and all terms refer to the words used at the end of the contract where the parties are required to sign or “execute” the contract.

YPiC annual pub golf 2008

On a cold dark night in November, the YPiC members congregated for the annual YPiC pub golf challenge. The competition between the teams was incredible and great fun was had by all. As if pub golf was not enough, attendees later showed off their vocal skills by rounding off the evening with some karaoke!

No negotiation without competition

High Court rules on frameworks, NEC 3 and fixing prices after contract award. The “partnering” approach in construction (advocated by the Egan and Latham reports) stresses the importance of longer relationships and continuous improvement over the former “lowest price wins” culture, as a means of reducing claims and delivering greater predictability in terms of time and cost of projects.

Welsh Power sells 850MW Severn Power project to Dong Energy

Welsh Power has disposed of its Severn Power gas-fired power station development asset in a transaction concluded on 6 March 2009 with Danish energy company, DONG Energy.

Timing of OFT decision

The OFT’s decision in its investigation into alleged anti-competitive behaviour by Contractors is now expected in mid 2009. Read the full article on recent developments at the Office of Fair Trade.

Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008

Prison is now an option for the Courts when sentencing health and safety offenders The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 does not impose any new duties or responsibilities upon employers or individuals. It does, however, raise the maximum penalty available in the lower courts to £20,000 for most health and safety offences and, perhaps more significantly for individuals, makes imprisonment an option for offenders.