Articles
Our lawyers contribute regularly to industry and legal journals in addition to writing legal briefings, newsletters and case reports for clients and contacts. All of our articles are free to read and download here.
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Insurance Compensation Fund
September 2011The Insurance Compensation Fund (‘the Fund’) was set up in 1964 to protect policyholders by providing funds for the payment of insurance claims following insolvency of an insurer. Recent events, notably the administration of Quinn Insurance, have necessitated changes to the existing arrangements and resulted in the Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2011 published on 13 September… Read More >
Irish Solicitors PI Insurance: Changes to regulations and minimum terms
September 2011We last issued a bulletin on the Irish solicitors' professional indemnity insurance market in June this year. The future of the Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund was then unclear (other than that it had already announced that it would not be writing new business) and a master policy was being considered by the Law Society. Since… Read More >
Technology and Construction Court Annual Report 2009 – 2010
September 2011The Technology and Construction Court (TCC) has published its annual report for the year 1 October 2009 to 30 September 2010. James Vernon provides a summary of the work being done in the Court in these straightened times as against past years. Location: UK
Part 36 offers: It's all in the timing
September 2011Most people with some acquaintance of construction litigation (or indeed any litigation) will have heardof a Part 36 offer. It is a type of offer that one litigant can make to the other to settle the litigation. Both the claimant and the defendant can make Part 36 offers, although they are more commonly made bydefendants.… Read More >
NEC3 Professional Services Contract (PSC3)
August 2011Earlier this year Rachel Barnes gave a talk to the Society of Construction Law (SCL) on the NEC3 Professional Services Contract (PSC3) from the consultants' perspective. This talk has now been published by the SCL and can be viewed using the above link. The paper looks in detail at the provisions concerning Key Dates, the… Read More >
Government publishes new Scheme for Construction Contracts
July 2011The Government has finally published its proposed amendments to the Scheme for Construction Contracts, which are expected to come into force on 1 October 2011 alongside the revisions to the Construction Act. Rachel Barnes and Nick Gillies summarise and consider the changes. Location: UK
New Edition of “Designing for Safety in Construction
July 201111 May 2011 saw the launch of the new edition of the Manual “Designing for Safety in Construction”. Authored by Jack Kavanagh, with advice and support from a committee established by the RIAI, Engineers Ireland and the Association of Consulting Engineers in Ireland, the new publication is targeted at a professional designer or design consultant,… Read More >
Construction Amendments in Force From 1 October 2011
June 2011The long-awaited amendments to the Construction Act and Scheme should come into force on 1 October 20011 as we speculated in our last update on this subject. An Order was placed before Parliament yesterday for the commencement of the Amending Act and the amended Scheme on that date (provided the amended Scheme has been passed).… Read More >
Safety obligations: common law liability
June 2011Rachel Barnes considers the extent of an employer's duty to protect employees against personal injury under the health and safety legislation in an article published in Building on 17 June 2011. A recent Supreme Court case indicates that this statutory duty is no stricter than the common law liability. Location: UK
Good news for valuers and their insurers: The Court of Appeal decision in Scullion v Bank of Scotland
June 2011It has been established since the case of Smith v Eric S Bush [1990] 1 AC 831 that when valuing a “dwelling house of modest value” for a building society or local authority, a surveyor may owe a duty of care to the residential purchaser of that property if the surveyor was aware that there… Read More >