What issues are industry professionals facing in the construction world? | HJ Housing Week 2022

The fourth day of our HJ Housing Week 2022 looks at construction. RIBA’s Contracts and Law Report 2022 brings together insight shared by over 950 clients, contractors and consultants about the current contracting landscape. Join Natasha Nicholas, Associate from our Construction team for her insight into the latest findings and how this might impact the decisions you make going forward.

Blending our expertise in contracts and disputes with the report’s forecasts about sustainable and commercial outcomes, this session will focus on the solutions that can be found for the issues construction professionals have found most challenging in the last 12 months.

What is RIBA’s Contract and Law report?

Natasha drills down into the responses from RIBA’s most recent Construction Contract and Law report. The report gathers industry insight from over 950 employers, developers, consultants, contractors and subcontractors, across both the private and public sectors. Last published in 2018, the latest report gives a snapshot of the state of the construction sector in a post-pandemic and post-Brexit world.

What issues are industry professionals finding most challenging?

According to the report, the types of issues that industry professionals have found most challenging in the last 12 months included contract administration, Covid regulations, insurance and liability for risks, dispute resolution, rules governing payment, rules governing procurement and rules on insolvencies and more.

Formal Disputes

Many of the issues that industry professionals are facing lead to formal disputes. These formal disputes include; extension of time claims, defect claims, loss and expense claims, disputes relating to final account valuation, valuation of variations, payment issues, disputes surrounding termination and more.

What dispute avoidance techniques can we utilise?

No one wants to be involved in a dispute and the intention at the outset of any kind of construction project is for it to run as smoothly as possible ad that the works will be completed on time and to budget, but things don’t always go according to plan.

When this happens, there are a few things that you can do to stop a dispute occurring. Natasha shares her top 5 tips to avoid disputes.

What should happen when there is a dispute?

When all of the dispute avoidance techniques in the world don’t work and you end up in a dispute anyway, it’s key to know what you need to do.

Natasha shares her top tips for how to best manage this process, including getting legal advice (the earlier, the better) and using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

Her most important takeaway is that it doesn’t matter what the preferred method of ADR is or how you intend on resolving your disputes, but not to wait until the dispute notice has landed before getting your solicitors involved.

HJ Housing Week 2022

With the largest social housing team in Wales, we’re continuing to bring our legal experts together every year in a week dedicated to everything housing. ‘HJ Housing Week’ strives to cover the full spectrum of housing issues using our 40 years of experience advising the sector.

Whether you are looking for a deep dive into a particular issue with a masterclass, an introduction to a new practice area that impacts your work or opinion on the commercial and policy decisions of the future, our blend of webinars, in-person events, articles and videos throughout HJ Housing Week will deliver the information you need at a time that suits your schedule.

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