Legal Issues Arising from Non-Compliance in Construction Contracts

Case Study 1: JCT Standard Building Contract 2016 in East London

On a project in East London where JCT Standard Building Contract 2016 is in use, the NPS (client) did not grant the KTS (contractor) access to the site on the agreed date. When this was finally done, there were some variations by NPS (client)  who also failed to provide some relevant information to the KTS (contractor).

Just  last  week,  it  rained,  and  the  site  was  flooded.  KTS (contractor)   views  this  as  an  exceptionally  adverse weather event but the Contract Administrators opines that it is just an adverse weather event. As a result, the project is likely to exceed the expected completion date  The contractor has just informed the client that they will be seeking for additional time and will claim for loss and expenses. NPS (Client) is not happy about this, suggesting that they will grant the KTS (Contractor) additional time but will not pay for the loss and expenses.

On a different contract where New Engineering Contracts (NEC)4 ECC is in use in West London, it also rained, and the site was flooded and the NPS’s (Client) Project Manager has told the contractor (KTS) that this is not a compensation event despite the lack of data in the local metrological office and the lack of site data on weather events. KTS (Contractor) does not agree with NPS(Client) intends to take legal actions. 

Additionally, NPS (Client) just found out that they have not issued the relevant health and safety information to KTS (Contractor) and has not adequately support KTS in fulfilling it health and safety obligations. Consequently, KTS has not produced the preconstruction phase plan but went ahead to start construction resulting in a breach of health and safety legislation.

As an independent senior lawyer, advise the parties involved as to the possible legal issues that  have arisen from the different scenarios, their legal positions, and recommendations

Specific terms: guidelines  

? This is a guideline and inexhaustive.

? The word limit is approximately 3000 words.

? This piece of work should be presented in a report format. It should have an executive summary, content page, introduction, main body, conclusion and list of references. The introduction should provide the background of the work, define any terminologies that will be used, among many, tell the readers what the work will do and outline how the work will be presented.  

Executive summary: This will summarise the whole work.   

The body of the essay: this is the main part of the report. It should present balanced arguments which should centre on legal issues in the construction and property sector. However, you can use previous cases from other sectors but they must be relevant and current. Again, your arguments should be logical and supported with case laws where possible.

You will structure the points using number bullet points. For example, 2, 2.1, 2.2.   

The conclusion: This will start with a reminder of what you have done. You are to cover the key points in the work but bring them together. Here, the readers expect to see, at least, predicted main judgments or verdicts outcomes of the legalities applied to the scenarios. This should be supported by the logical arguments presented in the main text.