Construction and Engineering Contracts
We handle contractual negotiations and disputes at a technical and interpersonal level to get a good commercial deal for our clients.
We know that despite the large prices of many contracts, margins are tight, and we will work hard but intelligently to ensure that our clients do not lose out.
We have experience stretching back into the last millennium of drafting, negotiating and arguing over the terms and conditions of construction contracts. We work with our clients to get a good commercial deal, be that in mapping one out at the start in contractual negotiations, or in presenting or responding to claims. We have dealt with JCT, ICE, NEC, GC/Works and FIDIC standard forms of various vintages, and numerous bespoke arrangements, particularly for PFI deals, and are familiar with standard form consultant appointments produced by the RIBA and NHS.
We have been involved, either on one side of the table or in the middle as mediator, in most of the regular industry commercial relationships:
- employer-contractor;
- contractor-consultant;
- employer-consultant;
- contractor-subcontractor;
- and relationships between the above and joint venture partners, funders or insurers.
We offer a range of services which cover the whole life of a contract.
Whether you are an employer, contractor or consultant, you will want:
- your contractual relationships to be clearly defined, with risks allocated to those best able to manage them;
- a clear set of obligations to fulfil over a planned period of time, with the flexibility to make necessary or desirable changes as the project progresses; and
- sufficient safeguards against default by the other contracting parties.
In return, you will want your project, or your fee, free from defects or deductions.
We can help to ensure this in the following alternative ways, by either:
- (a) preparing appropriate contract documentation; (b) providing a watching brief on behalf of one party during the performance of the contract, and (c) issuing any formal proceedings which may become necessary to protect that party’s rights, if negotiation and contractual or alternative methods of dispute resolution have failed; or
- providing an external mediation service during the life of the contract under a mediation agreement entered into by Thea Limited and all the parties, either (a) from the outset, or (b) as and when the need for such a service becomes apparent; or
- entering into a retainer to "troubleshoot" issues as they arise via telephone, email or Skype with designated personnel.
We find over and again that parties start projects with incomplete or unclear contractual documentation. This inevitably increases the likelihood of disputes arising, as the parties can then end up arguing about what their respective obligations are, as well as about whether they have been fulfilled or breached.
It is expensive to have the court decide what your contract means, and can also lead to some unpleasant surprises. It really is worth spending the time to document everything clearly at the beginning when everyone is in a positive frame of mind.
