Construction Bill Presented To Parliament

On 4 December, the Local Democracy, Economic Development and

Construction Bill which includes amendments to the Housing Grants,

Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 received its first reading

before the House of Lords.

There are some key differences between the draft Construction

Contracts Bill (which was the subject of a previous e-update from

us) and the Bill as presented. These include:-

Slip Rule

This Rule which provides that contracts must include provisions

which allow the adjudicator power to correct clerical or

typographical errors arising by accident or omission in his or her

decision after it has been issued has been extended to cover

England and Wales as well as Scotland.

Costs of Adjudication

The following provisions, which had been included in the Bill

published by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory

Reform, have been removed from the final Bill presented to

Parliament:-

The power of the adjudicator to determine that, where the

contract provides for payment of costs (other than the fees and

expenses of the adjudicator) by one party, such provision is

unreasonable.

The provision that parties are liable on a joint and several

basis to pay the adjudicator such reasonable amount as he may

determine for fees (for work reasonably undertaken) and expenses

reasonably incurred.

Disputes as to a reasonable amount or whether work is

reasonably undertaken and expenses reasonably incurred to be

decided by the court.

The provisions in relation to interim payment decisions have

been removed from the draft Bill as presented to Parliament.

It is, of course, possible that further changes will be made to

the Bill as it progresses...