Legal

The director of a small home renovation contractor has been given a suspended prison sentence after a worker’s pelvis was fractured when a number of plasterboards fell on him. Subcontractors employed by SS Reforms were refurbishing a house in Thames Ditton, Surrey, on 12 April 2019, when the incident happened.…

The construction industry’s largest trade bodies have called on the chancellor to permanently scrap plans for reverse charge VAT “as a matter of urgency”, Construction News can reveal. Reverse charge VAT will change how cash flows through the supply chain as subcontractors will no longer charge VAT, which currently they…

The government has started legal proceedings to ban up to eight former Carillon directors from holding boardroom posts. Days before the third anniversary of Carillion’s collapse, new business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng launched the legal bid to ban the former bosses from holding director positions. Chief executive Richard Howson, chief financial…

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has warned that the number of contractual disputes related to COVID-19 is likely to rise across the sector this year. It issued a plea for the industry to continue “to support the long-term health of our sector by constructively resolving all contractual disputes arising from…

Two groundworks-product firms have been fined a combined £14.9m for illegal price collusion. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said VP and MGF (Trench Construction Systems) shared confidential information on upcoming pricing and commercial strategy. A statement from the watchdog added that the firms coordinated their commercial activities, monitoring each…

The Supreme Court has lifted a ban on the Heathrow Airport third runway scheme, meaning the project team could seek planning permission for the megaproject. The ban was issued by the Court of Appeal in February, when judges ruled that the plans had been unlawfully approved by government. They said…

Liverpool City Council has been told to hand details of its property plans over to the government as a police investigation continues into the awarding of building contracts in the city, reports CN’s sister title The Architects’ Journal. Last Friday, (4 December) five men, including Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson and…

A Swedish state-owned iron ore mining giant has accused a newer player in the market of copyright infringement. LKAB Minerals, which produces high-density iron ore aggregate MagnaDense, has sent a legal letter to London-headquartered Aethel Mining, asking it to rename its recently launched MuaDense product. Both products can be used…

VP has upped its provision in relation to an investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices involving one of its groundworks businesses. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into three groundworks businesses in April 2019. VP’s excavation support systems business, Groundforce Shorco, was included in this. In its interim…

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson has been bailed following an arrest connected to a police investigation into construction contracts. In a statement released to local paper Liverpool Echo, Anderson said he was arrested as part of ‘Operation Aloft’ – Merseyside Police’s year-long investigation into developments in the city. “I was arrested…