Construction & Engineering

However, challenges and opportunities to the industry are being brought about by technological advances, new contractors entering new markets, the need to adjust to new working practices in light of Covid-19, as well as issues closer to home such as the implementation of new building safety regulations, the underlying skills shortage in the labour market and Brexit.

Both suppliers and purchasers of construction services need to understand these challenges and opportunities, the potential impacts they have on their businesses and the projects on which they are working and will be working on in the future.

We understand these challenges and opportunities and are able to provide you with a personable, highly responsive specialist service, suited to the needs and requirements of your specific business and projects.

If your business has been or will be impacted by these challenges or wish to discuss the opportunities brought about by these issues, please do get in touch or read more about our team and insights below.

Our construction & engineering law expertise

We provide the full range construction services required for projects (procurement, transactional, project advisory services and disputes advice). As well as additional services for businesses operating in the construction industry (including real estate, planning, employment issues, health and safety, corporate transactions, financing, technology, corporate restructuring and insolvency) enabling us to support you across large and small-scale projects, both in the UK and internationally.

We represent both suppliers and purchasers, including employers, major contractors, specialists and leading engineering consultancies. Our team includes dual qualified barristers and solicitors, engineers, and accredited mediators and adjudicators, enabling you to access the full range of our skills and expertise, all in one team.

Procurement services

Whether you are supplying or purchasing construction services, our collective aim is always the same: to ensure projects come in on time, on budget and to specification. Clearly defined risk allocation risk management mechanisms within contracts together with the right procurement choices, play an important part in ensuring we help you achieve your project objectives.

We can assist you across the full spectrum of legal issues that need careful consideration and coordination. These include advising on:

• procurement options and best practice
• national and international procurement compliance and challenges
• construction & engineering contract documentation, including amendments to all types of national and international standard form contracts
• consultant appointments
• collateral warranties, novations, and use of third party rights
• financial security documentation (such as bonds, guarantees and letters of credit)
• building regulations

Advisory & dispute resolution

Projects never proceed risk free. Risks such as delays, unforeseen additional costs, defects, the solvency of contracting parties and health and safety matters can arise and can result in significant impacts on the success of a project, damage to business relationships and disruption of your ordinary business activities.

Should those risks materialise, our team can work with you to provide project advisory services which can mitigate the risk of matters proceeding to a formal dispute.

If matters cannot be resolved through dialogue and agreement, we will work with you to ensure disputes are resolved in a way that suits your needs. Whether that is through dispute avoidance measures (such as mediation), litigation, adjudication, arbitration (national and international), expert determination or other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

As part of our overall dispute resolution strategy we can utilise tools such as our Discovery on Demand product that allows the cost effective and efficient assessment of your case, which are often very document heavy. We will also discuss with you the various options for funding the dispute and through our litigation funding product Feesible we are able to identify and suggest a variety of funding models to ensure that the dispute is funded in the most appropriate way.