DOUBLE BOOST TO BIRMINGHAM CONSTRUCTION TEAM
We’re delighted to welcome partners James Bessey and Mark Robinson to the construction team who have joined us from Hammonds in Birmingham. James was Head of Construction, Engineering & Projects and is widely regarded as one of the leading construction experts in the region. He specialises in contentious construction, including dispute avoidance and dispute resolution and has handled a number of significant High Court, Court of Appeal and arbitration proceedings, as well as international actions.
Mark has over 15 years’ experience of advising on non-contentious construction and engineering projects, including procurement advice and the drafting and negotiation of project specific documentation.
Their arrival will boost the firm’s contentious and non-contentious construction capabilities to over 20 lawyers, including nine partners, and is evidence of the commitment the firm has to building truly national teams.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Disputes are a fact of life in the construction and engineering sectors. Cobbetts has the expertise to guide you through the process of resolving those disputes in the most cost effective and time efficient way. The key to dispute resolution is controlling the dispute.
There are many options open to you. Choosing the right one can be difficult but experience and sensible commercial legal advice will help.
The main forums for dispute resolution are:-
Adjudication
For domestic construction contracts adjudication has become mandatory under the Housing Grants Construction & Regeneration Act 1996. Most construction contracts incorporate adjudication provisions but where they are absent, the Act imports such provisions by means of the statutory Scheme.
Adjudication is a statutory "quick-fix" which produces an enforceable decision from an adjudicator within a month or so of inception. The decision is binding unless it is overturned by subsequent arbitration or Court proceedings or by agreement between the parties.
It is similar in style to a quick short form arbitration although it does not lend itself to complicated disputes. In the absence of agreement between the parties, the costs you incur in the adjudication cannot be recovered from the losing party.
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