We are facing a Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and, as a result, administrative solutions have been adopted and a state of emergency has been declared. All this has had an impact on the whole of the economy and it has also had serious adverse effects on works contracts in progress ...
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) following the spread of SARS-CoV2 (Coronavirus) and disease it causes, Covid-19. Subsequently, on 18 March 2020, a state of emergency was declared in Portugal. Against this background, a legislative package has been approved and published, and this package has established exceptional and temporary measures relating to the spread of COVID-19 ...
The coronavirus has arrived in Germany. This is the central statement of the press conference held by Chancellor Angela Merkel on March 12, 2020. Ongoing construction projects are therefore also affected by the corona crisis, with considerable construction delays to be expected. Contractual provisions are usually lacking Contracts are reflecting the parties’ experiences and expectations. They provide for conceivable or expected circumstances, aiming to create legal certainty ...
Current status: March, 26, 2020 The joint guidelines of the federal government and the German states of March 16, 2020 also provide for the closure of retail and wholesale stores and the partial closure of restaurants and food outlets. It is now at the latest that it becomes apparent how the COVID-19 pandemic will also have a direct impact on commercial lease law ...
The information in this article is based on new regulations issued by the City of San Francisco, and supersedes the article published in early June of this year. San Francisco has recently enacted the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), a law that provides San Francisco nonprofits with the right to purchase apartment buildings of three or more units before they are put on the market ...
One of the main rationales for using a cash box structure is that equity securities issued by PLC are issued for a non-cash consideration so that the statutory pre-emption provisions set out in the UK Companies Act 2006 do not apply. The issue can therefore take place without the timing implications of seeking shareholder approval to disapply the pre-emption rights or conducting a pre-emptive issue ...
Convening Scheme Meetings: Cayman Islands Court in China Aoyuan confirms the applicable principles Introduction The first stage in any restructuring by way of a scheme of arrangement in the Cayman Islands involves meetings of such classes of creditors or shareholders (as the case may be) to consider, and if thought fit, approve the terms of the scheme. An application to Court is required for orders to be granted for convening such meetings ...
The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted the manufacturing, transportation and supple chains underpinning countless aspects of trade and commerce on a global basis. Additionally, the shelter-in-place orders have caused nonessential businesses to shut down, resulting in many of them being unable to meet their contractual obligation. Force Majeure Whether coronavirus can be considered a force majeure depends on the wording of the provision ...
The regulation governing contracts of public bodiesleaps into the digital age. The amendments, passed on April 13, 2016, and coming into force June 1, 2016, aim to clarify the rules pertaining to the results evaluation.1Five key changesTenders in electronic form are mandatory if so required in the tender documents ?> change of computer systems will be needed to ensure the integrity of the signatures and tenders ...
Last June 10, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) announced that the floor amount for obtaining a public contract dealing with services without its prior authorization would be reduced to $1 million ...
No one can escape the basic rules of contracting, even the federal government. If the contract is clear and unambiguous, then the four corners of the agreement set the rules for the project and the parties – and there’s not much room for interpretation. The government was recently reminded of this cold, hard truth after it refused to grant a contractor an equitable adjustment of the contract price for purchasing wetland mitigation credits. In Kiewit Infrastructure W. Co. v ...
It behooves construction professionals, be they materials manufacturers, general contractors, or lower-tier subcontractors, to carry some form of commercial general liability insurance (“CGL Insurance”). Having such coverage alleviates some of the potential risk and financial exposure a construction professional carries on a particular project. That is, of course, unless the construction professional gets sued and the insurer refuses to pay ...
The government is consulting on a proposal to introduce a new UK-wide tax for residential property developers from 2022, with a view to generating revenue to cover the costs associated with the removal of unsafe cladding. The measure is intended to generate at least £2 billion over the course of a decade, which the government says is a “fair contribution” to the overall cost of the remediation programme ...
Earlier this year, the government released a proposal paper: Extending Unfair Contract Terms Protections to Insurance Contracts outlining a model to extend unfair contract term (UCT) provisions to insurance contracts regulated under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) (IC Act) for consultation. The consultation period closes on 27 July. A high level summary of the proposed model is below ...
The risks to employers of proceeding with construction works whilst relying solely on letters of intent are nothing new. The risks to employers of proceeding with constructions works whilst relying solely on letters of intent are nothing new ...
In the decision in 9058-4004 Québec inc. c. 9337-9907 Québec inc.1 rendered on October 21, 2022, the court granted compensation to a subcontractor for its extrajudicial fees further to a general contractor?s unfounded contestation of its claim as part of a hypothecary action. The facts In May 2019, Portes de garage Citadelle Ltée (?Citadelle?) and general contractor 9337-9907 Québec inc ...
Throughout the industry press, the topic of conversation at networking breakfasts, you can’t escape the doom and gloom of the global credit crunch. But what does this really mean for the industry? First and foremost, it means that risk will increase. There is more chance of a party experiencing cash flow difficulties, or even going bust. There will be less work around, resulting in keener prices and greater competition ...
Product liability insurance is often offered as an alternative to professional indemnity insurance by sub-contractors but is it really an alternative? The two forms of insurance have some fundamental differences. Professional indemnity insurance covers claims arising out of the professional activities of design consultants, sub-contractors or the contractor ...
As if employers and contractors needed reminding, two recent decisions emphasise the importance of having a contract in place as soon as possible, and the dangers of starting work on a letter of intent ...
On March 19, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom and the Director of the California Department of Public Health ordered all Californians to stay home, “except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of the federal critical infrastructure sectors.” The order provides that the State Public Health Officer “[m]ay designate additional sectors as critical in order to protect the health and well-being of all Californians ...
Some things change, others never change. The choice of procurement route is still governed by three main factors:· Time· Cost· Quality It is hard, if not impossible to achieve the best of all these three but when choosing a procurement route consideration must be given to the list of priorities so that people's expectations are properly managed ...
Recently, the Supreme Court of Virginia issued two decisions which have some potentially far-reaching implications for construction and development contracts. First, the Supreme Court issued an opinion in Uniwest Construction, Inc. v. Amtech Elevator Services, Inc.,280 Va. 428, 699 S.E.2d 223 (2010), which involved several issues regarding the scope and effect of certain indemnification provisions typically seen in development and/or construction contracts ...
Construction law is NOT boring, at least that’s what I tell my daughters. In these series of posts, I will explore some of the VERY interesting historical facts about construction law that can be used at your next motion hearing, family gathering, social event or fellow lawyer meeting. While these anecdotes may not keep your kids or significant others from rolling their eyes, hopefully they can provide a small respite from your (yes, I admit) sometimes boring life in construction law ...
