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Annual Review of English Construction Law Developments 2018

An international perspective

14 June 2018

Welcome to the 2018 edition of our internationally focused Annual Review of English Construction Law Developments.

2017 has been another busy year for the development of English construction law. This year we lead with the newly released FIDIC Second Edition contracts (comprising new Yellow, Red and Silver books). The new editions mark a wholesale revision of the FIDIC form, increasing its length by more than half and redefining the way the contract is administered and claims are progressed. Overall the tendency is toward greater administration, with a large number of additional notice and time-bar requirements. It will be interesting to see how far these are adopted and utilised in practice over the coming years.

We also report on no less than three UK Supreme Court decisions of relevance to the international construction community. These cover important issues such as design responsibility, insurance clauses and on-demand bonds. 2017 also saw developments in relation to topics which more regularly appear on the pages of this Annual Review: concurrent delay, claims for delay and disruption, and the interpretation of express good faith and co-operation clauses.

Some other issues of international interest which are less commonly dealt with by tribunals also came before the UK courts last year. The first BIM-related injunction was given by a UK court in relation to an energy project in the Falkland Islands. A dispute arising over contract splitting arrangements also made its way to the English courts, via a challenge to arbitration proceedings.

March this year also marked the first anniversary of the ICC’s new Expedited Arbitration Procedure. We have included an analysis of the new procedure and its likely impact on the future of international construction dispute resolution.

To read our Guide in full, please download the PDF.

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Guide
International Developments Annual Review June 2018
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PDF 7.7 MB

Authors

Portrait ofAdrian Bell
Adrian Bell
Partner
London
Portrait ofSteven Williams
Steven Williams
Portrait ofDavid Parton
David Parton
Partner
London
Victoria Peckett
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