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Construction & Engineering

Whether you are an employer/owner, contractor, funder/investor or you are buying an interest in a project that is under construction or has recently been completed, you need documents that reflect your risk profile, protect your interests and promote collaborative working and optimum project delivery.

Drafting those agreements and implementing the rights and obligations that flow from them becomes key to avoiding, managing and resolving disputes successfully.

Understanding where, how and why problems arise enables us to devise winning strategies to protect our clients and to craft agreements that facilitate project delivery. Preventing and managing disputes is given top priority. We advise on the full range of domestic and international disputes procedures.

One of the first firms to recognise construction law as a specialist area and create a dedicated team, our global practice focuses on understanding each client’s business and delivering advice in this context.

Through close relationships with our clients and the sectors in which they operate, we help deliver construction, engineering, infrastructure and energy projects. We advise on every aspect from inception and procurement through funding and building to commissioning and operation.

Working closely with colleagues specialising in real estate development and project finance, insurance, tax, procurement law, planning, energy and environmental law, our full service Construction Team has a market-leading track record of advising on a diverse range of transactions and disputes concerning some of the largest, most complex and high profile projects in the world.

"CMS's strength is focusing the advice and input to provide efficient yet valuable support that the client can utilise in a very practical way."

Chambers, 2024

"The advice has been concise and prompt within agreed timescales."

Chambers, 2024

"The team's service levels and responsiveness are first class."

Chambers, 2024

"CMS's team is quick to respond and helpful."

Chambers, 2024

"It's a well-resourced, efficient team."

Chambers, 2024

"CMS offers excellent technical understanding, combined with a pragmatic approach and commercial acumen."

Chambers, 2024

"CMS is a terrific firm."

Chambers, 2024

"CMS are always quick to react to unfolding events and to fit in with our needs and timelines."

Chambers, 2024

"CMS enjoys excellent technical knowledge and pragmatism. It has excellent responsiveness when tight timescales were often asked for."

Chambers, 2024

"Extremely capable with a wide degree of niche knowledge, CMS is a large outfit with plenty of experts."

Chambers, 2024

"There is a good spread of experience and specialism across the team and the associates demonstrate a strong understanding of the project."

Legal 500, 2024

"CMS has a well-managed team that is properly briefed and experienced in this type of work."

Chambers, 2024

"They always rise to the challenge and deliver a high quality of service within the specified timescales. CMS have strength in depth across their property and construction teams."

Chambers, 2024

"Each member of the team I have interacted with has been professional in their approach and competent in their skill set. When another team member steps in, there is continuity in the quality and level of service."

Chambers, 2024

"Their competence with complex matters is very satisfactory. Also, it is a high-level law firm for responsiveness."

Chambers, 2024

"It is a very experienced team from top to bottom. THe partners are leaders in their fields, and the associates and senior associates are very bright and ambitious."

Chambers, 2024

"CMS provide an exceptional depth of experience. This is evident in their ability to handle large, complex construction disputes. They get to the heart of the matter and, in so doing, demonstrate an astute commercial understanding of their role and the matters in dispute."

Chambers, 2024

"CMS are excellent. They constantly keep us updated and get instructions timeously. They keep in mind what is the best outcome for the business."

Chambers, 2024

"Very deep team and experience in real estate and construction."

Legal 500, 2024

"There is a good spread of experience and specialism across the team and the associates demonstrate a strong understanding of the project."

Legal 500, 2023

"They are demonstrating rapid and impressive growth in which the quality of domestic and international work is notable, to the extent I would suggest it matches and exceeds a number of their London competitors."

Legal 500, 2024

"Well-qualified and dedicated personnel who work well together. Excellent use is made of IT systems for both meetings and distributing documents."

Legal 500, 2024

"A large, inclusive team that collaborated well with each other and the wider team."

Legal 500, 2024

"We have a long-standing relationship so they understand our business. This is invaluable in providing tailored advice."

Legal 500, 2024

"Extremely collaborative and able to navigate complex issues on projects, always delivering to demanding timescales."

Legal 500, 2024

"Good, user-friendly team with a wide range of specific skills."

Legal 500, 2024

"CMS is my go-to firm for construction matters in EMEA. The firm has also shown a real ability to match legal analysis to our business needs which is appreciated."

Chambers, 2023

"Their ability to handle complex matters is strong, and construction disputes are invariably technical."

Chambers, 2023

"There is strength in depth among the team and there has always been someone available within the practice who understands our needs, even across in holiday periods."

Chambers, 2023

"They are experienced and knowledgeable, and good at putting their recommendations into practice."

Chambers, 2023

"The team provided reliable, succinct and sound advice."

Chambers, 2023

"The team has a wealth of great legal knowledge and they are able to apply this to the business context in a practical way."

Chambers, 2023

"At CMS, they always go the extra mile to deliver their performance within budget. I have formed the impression that they are more focused on customer satisfaction than on delivering large financial profits."

Chambers, 2023

"CMS have their finger on the pulse of the UK and international business market; they are very informed and well positioned to advise on current trends."

Chambers, 2023

"The team I've worked with showed strong legal and market knowledge and we have on a number of occasions required advice from other teams within the firm that were coordinated with success."

Chambers, 2023

"The firm has a range of excellent associates who are very responsive, personal and easy to work with."

Chambers, 2023

"CMS has one of the deepest real estate and construction teams in the UK. It is hard to think of a firm with more experience."

Legal 500, 2023

"This is a strong team, which has strength in depth to enable them to provide a responsive and flexible service, to ensure that matters are dealt with to meet the customer’s expectations."

Legal 500, 2023

"The team at CMS do truly operate as a team and their strength in depth always ensures that someone knowledgeable is at hand to support."

Legal 500, 2023

"The team is fantastic. There is real strength in depth."

Legal 500, 2023

"The advice given is concise and clear, which aides our decision-making processes."

Legal 500, 2023

"They are demonstrating rapid and impressive growth in which the quality of domestic and international work is notable, to the extent I would suggest it matches and exceeds a number of their London competitors."

Legal 500, 2023

"The individuals I worked with are very helpful to resolve issues on construction documents and are always on the front foot in terms of the next step."

Legal 500, 2023

"The construction team is very strong. Unfailingly good quality from associate to partner level – high energy levels, very strong on client relations and has the ability to deal with different people with different backgrounds. Unflappable during very challenging matters – very responsive."

Legal 500, 2022

"CMS is now such a well-resourced and capable team that it is difficult to understand why anyone would go anywhere else for complex, high-value matters."

Legal 500, 2022

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Development Work
Whether your development is commercial, residential, mixed use or of a regeneration nature, we are involved in some of the most significant projects a
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Energy & Mining
Whether you are in the public sector, a utility, energy company, investor or contractor, we act for participants worldwide across the energy industrie
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Facilities Management
In managing their assets, businesses face an uphill battle as they weigh the growing demand for a high quality built environment (with the requisite s
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Infrastructure
Infrastructure assets require special attention. Key to their operational success is the design, performance specification, completion and commissioni
10/11/2023
Driving sustainability in real estate and construction
Contributing to the fight against climate change and creating social value are now priorities for the real estate and construction sectors.   The long-term nature of the built environment means that resilience and sustainability should be considered at every stage if buildings are to be environmentally and socially responsible. This brings both opportunities and challenges for the businesses that create, own or maintain it. They must consider the evolving technical, regulatory and market landscape, to ensure that their investments are future-proofed commercially, as well as environmentally and socially. This section of Bandwidth looks at some of the ESG issues that confront developers and property owners, and how they can incorporate practical solutions into their businesses.
11/04/2023
Rebuilding Confidence: CMS International Construction Study 2023
Introduction In this era of low economic growth and high inflation, it is no surprise that the construction industry is facing a brutally challenging period. Rocketing interest rates, escalating material and labour costs, and growing pessimism, are heaping pressure on the sector. Across the construction supply chain, insolvencies have been rampant in many countries. This unforgiving climate and gloomy outlook is delaying or deferring spending and investment, but it is also creating concern, tension and discord in existing construction projects. These difficulties must be worked through by project stakeholders to stave off full-scale disputes, yet dispute resolution proceedings, such as arbitration, frequently occur across the industry. The bleak backdrop forms the foundation of the CMS International Construction Study 2023, which draws on extensive responses collected in late 2022 from industry experts and targeted interviews with selected senior professionals. The report outlines the difficult circumstances that the sector faces, but highlights the measures that can be taken to limit or prevent the fallout.
Law-Now: Construction & Engineering
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21/03/2024
Construction Focus 2024
The CMS Scotland Construction team invites you to Construction Focus 2024, our annual construction law review taking place in our Glasgow office. During this in-person session, we will review the latest construction law developments, consider the key issues, and provide practical insight on market trends. This will in­clude:Prac­tic­al implications of the continued rise in ESG Re­quire­ments­Man­age­ment of Fluctuation Provisions and Inflation in Con­tractsLe­gis­lat­ive Changes Affecting Con­struc­tion­Please join us for networking drinks following the session, even if you are unable to make it to the seminar. Please register using the button below so that we can ensure there's enough space and refreshments for everyone. We look forward to welcoming you!  
01/03/2024
Pre-conditions to arbitration and the FIDIC 2nd Edition
Amendments to the FIDIC 2nd Edition contracts published in November 2022 have narrowed the definition of “Dispute” to more closely align it with the pre-conditions to DAAB and arbitration proceedings...
23/02/2024
The CBAM – what is it and how will it affect the market?
Regulation (EU) 2023/956 establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) entered into force on 17 May 2023. The implementation of the CBAM has been divided into a transitional period (from 1...
22/02/2024
Establishing liability under the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers)...
The Scottish Court of Session has, for the first time, considered what is required to establish a ‘liability’ for the purposes of the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 (the “2010...
07/02/2024
FTT makes first contested Remediation Contribution Order under the Building...
The First Tier Tribunal (“FTT”) has published its decision in the first contested application for a Remediation Contribution Order (“RCO”) under section 124 of the Building Safety Act 2022 (“BSA”)...
05/02/2024
Seeing the wood for the trees: Government updates Consultation Direction...
On 26 January, the Government introduced a new duty requiring local planning authorities to consult the Secretary of State regarding developments that impact ancient woodland. For many years, a direction...
31/01/2024
TCC upholds exclusion of liability for fraudulent breaches of contract
A recent TCC decision has decided that a generally worded exclusion clause was sufficient to exclude liability for fraudulent breaches of contract committed by a party’s employees or the party itself...
25/01/2024
Termination for repeated breach and late payment under the JCT
A recent TCC decision has considered the meaning of the JCT termination provisions for repeated breach. The decision concludes that a contractor may only terminate for repeated breach where it has previously...
25/01/2024
Land Options: High Court rules on validity of tenant’s option to buy freehold
The tenant of three leases, which were protected by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, gave notice to exercise an option to the buy the freehold of the properties in the final week of a ten-year period...
19/01/2024
CBAM: Just over a week to comply
As the deadline for the first Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) report approaches on January 31st, it is crucial for undertakings engaged in importing relevant goods into the European Union to...
20/12/2023
“Smash and grab” vs “true value” adjudications: the final word?
A recent TCC decision has clarified the extent to which a successful “smash and grab” adjudication will prevent the bringing of “true value” adjudications prior to payment of the “smash and...
13/12/2023
MEES – are the regulations working?
MEES is a flagship policy to help the UK meet its net zero targets. But is there sufficient bite to these regulations?CMS acts for commercial landlords of different sizes, in all sectors, across England...