Building and Housing Today quote Francis Ho on whether the shadow of Grenfell could trigger more Ardmore-style collapses

In analysis pieces, Building and Housing Today explore the collapse of Ardmore, the 50-year-old building contractor whose legacy housing business (ACL) went into administration last month due to the impact of various building safety issues. 

The pieces ask whether we are likely to see other companies suffer the same fate in the future. Six claims for remediation works have been launched against the firm in the past year alone, valued at more than £150m.

Ultimately, they note that while the wider construction group has survived, ACL's future "became untenable". They suggest that the question many in the sector are asking is whether other firms are similarly affected.This is particularly the case given that recent legal judgments appear to have confirmed that contractors are in many instances firmly on the hook for remediation costs. 

Commenting in the pieces, Francis Ho, Partner in our Construction, Engineering & Projects team, explains:

There’s no doubt that building safety issues are dragging down the balance sheets of various contractors who have past exposure to the housebuilding sector, as Ardmore Construction Limited had [...]

“In short, the Supreme Court has made it easier for developers to claim building safety remediation costs from the original construction team. It opens the door to potentially many more claims from developers [...]

"[The Barratt-URS judgment will] certainly improve leverage in negotiations for developers and owners [...] I expect to see them become bolder in issuing or threatening legal proceedings and I expect there to be more settlements.

Read the full articles in Building here and Housing Today here.