Opinion

Kirsteen Milne is legal director at Brodies LLP The New Engineering Contract 4 (NEC4) was published in 2017 and has seen a few amendments, with revisions in January 2019 and October 2020. The 2023 revision incorporates those amendments and secondary option X29 (from 2022), as well as introducing some new…

Construction is a risky industry. From a financial perspective, the number of firms falling into administration consistently runs higher than in any other sector. History is littered with examples of companies that have gone under due to jobs that have not worked out as planned. Our news analysis hears from…

Joanna Hunt is head of immigration at law firm Fieldfisher It is no surprise to learn that the construction sector is still impacted by labour shortages. A recent survey of construction companies found that 68 per cent have vacancies. The pandemic and the end of free movement have buffeted the…

Hannah Vickers is chief of staff at Mace Jeremy Hunt’s second fiscal statement since becoming chancellor has given to the construction sector with one hand – and taken with the other. It is clear this government understands how our industry can drive forward economic activity across the country, but there…

Mark Robinson is chief executive of Scape Having worked in the construction industry and engaged with local authorities for more than 30 years, I have seen a number of government administrations and departmental systems come and go. While we have witnessed great progress on key issues during that time, the ability…

Angus Nice (pictured left) is an associate and Mark Breslin is a partner at law firm CMS  A recent Court of Appeal decision is the first to comment on whether a contractor would be prevented from challenging the validity of an interim payment application received from one of its subcontractors…

Grace Mair is regional director and M&E team leader at Thomas & Adamson It’s no longer a case of if or when new climate legislation will impact the construction industry – it’s already here. “In the here and now, we still don’t know how this radical and fundamental change to…

Barry Hembling is a partner and Laura Lintott is of-counsel in the construction and engineering team at Watson, Farley & Williams LLP The hotel and leisure industry is bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic with a projected £2.5bn development pipeline. The lifting of travel restrictions and the desire to travel…

Mark Leeson is operations director at property and construction consultancy McBains The news that for the first time in six years there’s been an increase in the number of apprentices starting careers in construction is welcome. More than 26,000 apprenticeships began in the year to July 2022 – that’s 6,000…

Nick Bradley is special projects manager at Beard Construction Big-ticket, multimillion-pound building projects will always grab the headlines. And rightly so. But there is another vital element of building work going on in many large construction companies that I think deserves wider recognition. I’m talking about special projects – refurbishment…