Author Archives: Contributor

Mark Christie is a senior associate in the construction team at Clarke Willmott LLP Rulings by the Technology and Construction Court (TTC) in the past few years show the court is prepared to act to ensure that the “notified sum” regime is protected. A “smash-and-grab” adjudication (SGA) is a technical…

The construction industry has perennially solved its skilled-labour shortages by looking abroad. But, since Brexit, employing people from overseas has become complicated. Those EU nationals who do not have settled or pre-settled status are now bound by the government’s points-based system along with other overseas nationals. Construction firms wanting to…

Graham Harle is chief executive of Gleeds Worldwide I was recently reminded of a column I wrote for Construction News back in 2019, in which I suggested that sales of lipsticks and underpants could offer useful insights into the health of the UK economy. I suggested that these tactics would…

By partner Alexandra Gower, associate director Matt Kyle and senior knowledge lawyer Tessa Garner at Osborne Clarke The government's much-awaited response to the consultation on the new building control regime for higher-risk buildings (HRBs) under the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) has landed, along with various sets of regulations that…

Andy Beard is global head of cost and commercial management at Mace. In the first of a two-part analysis, he looks at the ongoing impact of inflation and high interest rates on the construction sector With personal finances taking a beating, interest-rate rises and inflation are topics on the lips…

Gerard Toplass is group chief executive of The 55 Group, parent company of framework provider Pagabo  If the latest pay figures are anything to go by, private sector employers are responding to wage rises in a knee-jerk fashion and should act more prudently when looking after staff. Don’t get me…

Stefan Desbordes is an associate covering safety, health and environmental regulation at law firm DAC Beachcroft The principal designer (PD) is a key role in the project structure set out in the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015). They must plan, manage, monitor and coordinate health and safety…

Iain Taylor is an associate in the construction and engineering department at law firm Fladgate Henry Construction Projects’ high-profile collapse has left creditors in its supply chain short of £43m. The company’s administrators have pointed to Ozel Group’s winding-up petition against Henry in May as the beginning of its downfall.…

Main contract awards and project-starts performed poorly against both the previous quarter and the 2022 figures. More positively, growth in detailed planning approvals against the preceding three months and last year provides a boost to the development pipeline. East Midlands overview Adding up to £1.09bn, work starting on-site in the…

Projects starting on-site and detailed planning approvals all weakened compared with the previous quarter. However, strong growth in main contract awards against both the preceding three months and last year boosted the development pipeline. East of England overview The total value of project-starts in the East of England was £1.34bn,…