When our consultant clients consider an appointment for a particular commission, the clauses which typically receive primary consideration are those relating to limiting or excluding liability for certain losses. Amongst other things, this is because of the significant losses (which might be uninsured), which a party may sustain in the event of a claim, in circumstances where such clauses are not incorporated into the contract.
In the UK construction, engineering and infrastructure sector, the market and typical approach to clauses which seek to limit and exclude liability continues to evolve. One view is that since the financial crisis and recession in 2008, the approach to limiting or excluding liability has become ‘harder’, as clients seek to impose more onerous provisions. Such clauses are also becoming more inventive: for example, the traditional approach of an aggregate or per claim limit of liability might not be as common place as it used to be.
In this webinar, Will Buckby (Partner) and Simii Sivapalan (Solicitor) discuss clauses which relate to limiting liability or excluding liability in the UK construction, engineering and infrastructure sector. They discuss:
- the types of limit and exclusion of liability clauses, which our consultant clients should be including in their appointments – it is not as straightforward as simply agreeing to an aggregate limit of liability and perhaps an exclusion for indirect and consequential losses;
- examine how the market currently approaches such clauses, and highlight any patterns in relation to the type of project, the clients procuring the project, and a consultant’s place in the hierarchical supply chain;
- debate the approach to limiting and excluding liability in standard form agreements, which consultants are used to entering into, such as the NEC3 Professional Services Contract, the RIBA and ACE Standard Agreements, and the PPC2000, and suggesting improvements to the same; and
- highlight how our client’s policies and procedures might approach the risks relating to limitation and exclusion of liability clauses.
If you have any questions about Beale & Co webinars, please contact webinars@beale-law.com.
For a pdf of the slides, please click on this link.
To view a recording of the seminar, please click on the video below
Lisa Henty, Solicitor for Beale & Co has spoken about the long awaited reforms to business insurance law have now been enacted in the Insurance Act 2015. It received Royal Assent on 12 February 2015 and will come into force in August 2016 and apply to all policies entered into or varied after that date.
This webinar will provide a brief overview of the reforms to bring you up to speed with the new changes.
To view a recording of the seminar, please click on the video below.
In May 2015 we opened an office in Dubai to provide enhanced legal support to our clients operating in the Middle East. To mark the anniversary of our expansion into the region we will be holding a series of webinars on managing legal risk in the Middle East.
The first in the series of webinars was held on Monday 25 April 2016 and provided an introduction to the following issues:
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- Introduction to the UAE Legal System and Civil Code;
- Authority to Contract;
- Contract interpretation and Performance;
- Standard of Care: reasonable skill and care versus fitness for purpose;
- Limitation Clauses: the law and in practice;
- Limitation Periods and Decennial liability;
- Damages under UAE law (including liquidated damages, penalties and interest);
- Dispute Resolution (local Courts vs arbitration); and
- Enforcement and Recovery.
Please click on the following link for a PDF of the webinar slides.
To view a recording of the seminar, please click on the video below.
Following our overview of the NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) in our webinar on 12 April 2016, we look in more detail at the following topics which are of perennial interest:
- compensation events, including guidance on how to avoid pitfalls in the mechanisms for their notification and assessment; and
- the role of the Project Manager, both in relation to compensation events and more generally.
This webinar provides practical tips which can help improve your current procedures. In particular, we will highlight the important differences from the equivalent provisions in the other standard forms of construction contract, and the steps which must be taken in order to administer the NEC3 ECC and to secure entitlements.
In addition, we will take the opportunity to consider some of the topics on which questions were raised in the last webinar including:
- Is there a “gap” in design liability as between the NEC3 ECC (with or without the use of Option X15 – Limitation of Contractor’s liability to reasonable skill and care) and the NEC3 Professional Services Contract?
- Which party bears the risk under NEC3 ECC of delay or other defective performance by statutory undertakers?
- Option X12 (Partnering);
- The additional clause issued by NEC3 in November 2015 for early contractor involvement; and
- Contractor-initiated proposals to change the Works Information.
If you have any questions about Beale & Co webinars, please contact webinars@beale-law.com.
For a pdf of the slides, please click on this link.
To view a recording of the seminar, please click on the video below.
