FW: Welcome to Construction Edge

 

 

- - Construction Edge June 2010 Construction Services About Roddy Gordon - Welcome to Watson Burton's Construction and Engineering Law News I hope you find our new design to be both user friendly and easy to navigate and am sure you will find this selection of cases to be interesting and useful to you. Please call me if you would like further information, or a free intial discussion of any problem on which you would like confidential and specialist input. Please note we also provide extensive training on many aspects of construction and engineering law. If you would like more details, or indeed a bespoke in-house programme for your own business, please call me on 0191 244 4308. You can also call any of your usual Watson Burton construction contacts across our Newcastle, Leeds or London offices.  Roddy Gordon, Partner T: 0191 244 4308 roddy.gordon@watsonburton.com In this edition:-   > Adjudication decision not covered by Third Party Guarantee > Commercial confidentiality and disclosure under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 > Cost of Third Party proceeding > Period of time during which Liquidated Damages run > When does Repudiation occur? > Development of the rules for contractual measurement of damages ? Adjudication decision not covered by Third Party Guarantee   Beck Interiors v Russo [2010] BLR 37 TCC Dr Russo owned a company called "Dr Rosso Medispa Limited". His company entered into a contract with Beck Interiors to carry out building works for a new spa to be opened in the Westfield Shopping Centre. The company and the contractor fell out over money and as part of the settlement Dr Rosso agreed to give a personal guarantee that certain payments would be made by his company to Beck Interiors. Eventually Beck Interiors adjudicated against the company and got an order for payment of £413,000. The company refused to pay and so Beck Interiors sued Dr Rosso on his personal guarantee. Beck Interiors sought summary judgment but the Court refused it. View Full Story   Commercial confidentiality and disclosure under the public contracts regulations 2006 Amaryllis Limited v HM Treasury (pursued as OGC Buying Solutions) [2009] BLR425TCC, Coulson J OGC issued a PreQualification Questionnaire to potential contractors in respect of proposed procurement of the supply and installation of office furniture for various government departments. Amaryllis filled out their PQQ but did not pass the qualification stage and were therefore not invited to tender. Amaryllis therefore sued OGC for breach of regulation 4 (3) of the Public Contracts Regulations Guide 2006 for failure to deal with the PQQ in "equal transparent and non discriminatory manner". Amaryllis applied for disclosure of documents principally details of the other PQQ's, the OGC's working papers, its evaluations and reports. OGC objected that disclosing these documents would damage the public interest and/or were highly commercially sensitive.  View Full Story Cost of Third Party Proceedings   German Property v Summers-Inman (1) and Arcadis Homola Project Management (2) [2010] BLR 179, TCC German Property (GP) was a developer which sought to develop a retail development site in Germany and employed Summers-Inman (SI) to advise on costs. SI brought in a subcontractor Arcadis which was a German specialist in certain matters. GP sued Summers Inman alleging negligence and Summers Inman accordingly issued third party proceedings against its subcontractor. GP then went into receivership and its claim was struck out. SI therefore discontinued the part 20 claim against the third party and agreed to pay Arcadis' reasonable costs of defending the third party proceedings. View Full Story    Period of time during which Liquidated Damages runs   Selby Hall v Jan Van Der Heiden [2010] Lawtel 29 March, TCC Coulson J   Selby Hall (SH) contracted with Jan Van Der Heiden (J) for refurbishment of an apartment. J suspended work in breach of contract, SH had to spend considerable sums on having the works finished by another contractor.  The works achieved practical completion, including repairs to errors by J, in May 2008.   View Full Story When does Repudiation occur?   Mayhaven Health Care v David Bothna [2010] BLR 154 TCC Ramsey J   David Bothna trading as DAB Builders contracted to carry out works to Mayhaven's Nursing Home in Plymouth. The parties fell out and due to a misunderstanding DAB thought it had not received a payment from Mayhaven. Mayhaven knew that it had received that payment. DAB gave notice to suspend (although offering to return to site once payment had been made). Instead of pointing to out DAB its mistake, Mayhaven announced that the suspension was a repudiation of contract which they are accepting bringing the contract to an end.    View Full Story   Development of the rules for contractual measurement of damages   Supershield v Siemens [2010] BLR 145 Court of Appeal   Supershield was a sub-sub-contractor to Siemens for the supply and installation of a sprinkler system which failed. Siemens did a settlement with its employer, Hayden Young and other parties up the chain, agreeing to pay about £2,800,000. The sprinkler system failure all came down to a failure by Supershield's plumber to sufficiently tighten the nut and bolt connection between the lever arm and the ball on a conventional ball cock system. Supershield appealed the Court's order to pay the settlement figure on the basis that the loss claimed was too remote.   View Full Story EVENT INVITATION - WebSeminar - Procurement Issues for the Construction Industry Tuesday, 15 June 1 - 2 pm WebSeminar In this WebSeminar, procurement experts Mark Whitehead and Robin Adams will outline current procurement issues affecting the construction industry. The purpose of this seminar is to run through the main changes arising from the implementation of the "Remedies Directive" and the 2009 Public Contracts (Amendment) Regulations, transitional arrangements, recent case law and some practical guidance on the challenges ahead. Anyone involved in tendering for public sector contracts will benefit from this presentation as it aims to help understand when a challenge to a procurement process can be made and what course a challenge will now take. View Full Details - 1 St James' Gate Newcastle Upon Tyne NE99 1YQ 0191 244 4444 1 City Square Leeds LS1 2ES 0113 235 5455 Floor 29, 30 St Mary Axe London EC3A 8BF 020 7337 8300 www.watsonburton.com - - Subscribe to this newsletter at  marketing.department@watsonburton.com Unsubscribe to this newsletter at  marketing.department@watsonburton.com - The material for this newsletter is intended as a guide only. Whilst the information is correct at time of print, it is not a substitute for legal advice. Watson Burton can accept no responsibility for actions taken based on this information. -

This email has been sent to you by Watson Burton To edit your details/unsubscribe click here

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WATSON BURTON LLP  1 St James' Gate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE99 1YQ | Tel: +44 (0) 191 244 4444 | Fax: +44 (0) 191 244 4500 1 City Square, Leeds, LS1 2ES | Tel: +44 (0) 113 235 5455 | Fax: +44 (0) 113 235 5450 Floor 29, 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3A 8BF | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7337 8300 | Fax: +44 (0) 20 7337 8350 enquiries@watsonburton.com | www.watsonburton.com  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Confidentiality:    This email and its attachments are intended for the above named only and may be confidential. If they have come to you in error you must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone;  please reply to this email and highlight the error. Quality Control:    It is the policy of this firm to review and approve outgoing communications using a process  of tiered authority. Please note that the originator of the above message may differ from the ultimate sender as a  result of this process. Security Warning:    Please note that this e-mail has been created in the knowledge that Internet e-mail is not a  100% secure communications medium. We advise that you understand and observe this lack of security when e-mailing us. Viruses:    Although we have taken steps to ensure that this email and attachments are free from any virus, we  advise that in keeping with good computing practice the recipient should ensure they are actually virus free. Watson Burton LLP is a limited liability partnership, registered in England with registered number OC306105. A list of members' names is available for inspection at the registered office,  1 St James' Gate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE99 1YQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Consider the environment.  Please do not print this email unless essential.