Newsletter
Information for members
January 2003

Previous issue: November 2002
Next issue: February 2003

Programme

A reminder that the general evening meetings are free of charge to members and guests and that no booking is necessary

TCC Users Committee Meeting

At the last TCC Users Committee meeting, it was decided that in future all TCC Judges will send copies of their (reserved) judgments to HHJ Bowsher QC for him to put on to the Court website at www.bailii.org

This will be following the procedure adopted by several other Courts, including the Criminal Courts and the Courts in Scotland; it is intended to apply to all TCC Judges, not just those in London.

At the meeting, Mr Justice Forbes reported that, as of 1 October 2001, 350 claims had been issued during the preceding 12 months but that this had gone up to 389 claims for the 12 months to 1 October 2002. This was, however, largely due to an increase in adjudication enforcement proceedings.

The next meeting of the Users Committee will take place on 29 January 2003; if you have any points which you would like to be raised at the meeting, please let the Society's representative, Victoria Russell, know by e-mail on vrussell@fenwickelliott.co.uk

Lunch at the Brewery

There are still tickets available for the Society’s annual lunch to be held at the Brewery, Chiswell Street, London on Friday 28th February. The speaker this year will be Philip Naughton QC whose talk is entitled “Mediators are magicians – a modern myth?” Tickets cost £45 each and can be booked either on the website, or by sending a cheque to the admin office.

SCL Web Site: www.scl.org.uk

SCL is always plugging its website, and - unless you have visited it recently - you may not quite understand why. Do check it out.

One good reason is that the links have been augmented and reorganised. There are currently 56 links covering:

1 Professional interest and UK Government: including Acts of Parliament, BAILII (the British and IrishLegal Information Institute, an invaluable source for judgments etc), the Law Commission, HSE etc.
2 The Construction Act: including not only the Act, but the Schemes, Commencement Orders and Exclusion Orders for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
3 International: including for example FIDIC, the ICC and European Society.
4 General interest: including the Construction Best Practice Programme, PFI Network and Rethinking Construction sites etc.
5 Grants.
6 Organisations: including many trade and professional bodies in the industry.
7 Universities and
8 Charities.

If something is missing which you feel should be there (so long as it is not a commercial site) do please get in touch with the publications editor, Frances Paterson

Dispute Resolution Board Foundation Annual Conference

On 23rd and 24th May, 2003, Paris will host the third annual International Conference on the use of "Dispute Boards", a unique project-oriented technique that has had remarkable success in avoiding and resolving disputes in construction and engineering projects.

The conference, organised by the "Dispute Resolution Board Foundation" ("DRBF") will examine the use of this technique, which is already contained in World Bank and FIDIC contracts for international construction procurement. Full details will be available shortly but for advance registration for the conference (open to all interested persons) please contact drbf.fra@wanadoo.fr

Dispute Resolution Guidance

As you may know, the Office of Government Commerce has recently published a document on Dispute Resolution Guidance together with the Lord Chancellor's Pledge on ADR for Government procurement. These may be found on the Office of Government Commerce's website, www.ogc.gov.uk

If you have any comments on these documents, they should be forwarded to Roger Hankey, Construction Division, Property and Construction Directorate of the OGC; his e-mail address is roger.hankey@ogc.gsi.gov.uk
CIC ADR Directory - January 2003 update

The only place where you can find all this information conveniently assembled, this Directory gives full details of no fewer than 33 bodies offering adr services to the construction industry (for example, maintaining lists of mediators, appointing mediators and setting up mediations, offering accommodation, training courses etc). Full contact details are given, a description of the organisation and its particular characteristics, and the services provided. It includes regional, national and international bodies, and those specialising in construction as well as those dealing with all types of commercial disputes. Some have small panels and others have substantial numbers on their lists - the Directory will also tell you whether the lists of mediators are published, either in hard copy or on the web.

First published in 2001, an addendum now updates all the entries as at January 2003. Copies are £7.50 plus 10% p&p, and can be obtained from Rhiannon Pugh at the Construction Industry Council, 26 Store Street, London WC1E 7BT, tel 0207 637 8692, fax 0207 580 6140, e-mail rpugh@cic.org.uk

Environment Agency Website

The Environment Agency have just launched a new website called NETREGS, giving clear guidance and advice on all legislation governing the construction sector.

Use of the site is free and aims to make it easy for clients and the supply side to find their way through the every growing mound of legislation covering the environmental aspects of construction.

The website address is www.environment-agency.gov.uk/netregs

SCL Papers

Twenty nine papers were published (in hard copy and/or on SCL's website) during 2002. The most recent were those by Michael Furmston, The Impact of Construction Insurance on Risk Allocation (an updated version of a paper he gave in London in November 1999) and Martin Lenihan on PFI (given in London in October), Private Finance Initiative/Public Private Partnership: A Contractor's Perspective. Members will have received hard copies, together with copies of papers by John Uff (Arbitration with the Benefit of the Construction Act) and Andrew Bartlett and Kim Franklin (Playing with Fire and the Contribution Act: The House of Lords' Decision in the Co-op v Taylor Young case). All can also be found at www.scl.org.uk. Papers in the pipeline include Anthony Speaight's stimulating contribution on the suing without a contract debate, entitled I Have No Direct Contract with the Wrongdoer - How Can I Sue in 2003? and a paper which John Lyden gave in Cork in November on Construction Tenders and the EU Procurement Regime.

CUBATG Guidance for Adjudicators

This Guidance, launched by the Construction Minister Brian Wilson MP on 23rd July, is now available on the SCL website as a pdf file. Drafted and published by the pan-industry Construction Umbrella Bodies Adjudication Task Group, it arises out of the review of the Scheme and Construction Act and covers a number of specific issues raised in that review. It is essential reading for all adjudicators - and others involved in adjudication too.

University of California

The University of California is running a number of international law courses in Summer 2003 that they think might be of interest to members of SCL.

The courses include "Orientation in USA Law" providing a four week overview of the US legal system, a two week "Structuring and international joint venture" course and also their "Summer Master of Arts Degree in International Commercial Law", which entails attending courses over a six week period during 3-5 consecutive summers.

Further information about the University and its various courses may be found on its website www.law.ucdavis.edu

Links with Barcelona

The current President of the European Society for Construction Law, Prof Dr Alfonso Hernandez Moreno is seeking to expand the list of law firms affiliated to the Masters of International Law, which course is run by the ISDE and University of Barcelona. During part of the study period, Masters degree students find placements with the affiliated firms. For more information please contact Christopher Miers, christophermiers@scl.org.uk

Users in Adjudication Course

The CIOB has announced a Users In Adjudication course to be held at its headquarters in Englemere, Kings Ride, Ascot, Berks on Thursday, 6th March 2003. The course objectives are: to understand the nature and limits of the adjudication process, the nature and relative merits of the process, and presenting a case and assisting an adjudicator. The cost (inclusive of VAT) is £470 per delegate. For more information please contact Samantha Hawkes on shawkes@ciob.org.uk or visit their website at www.ciob.org.uk/iande/index.jsp

Membership

The 2003 renewal of membership invoices were despatched to all members in mid December and many of you have already renewed your membership by paying your 2003 subscription. Thank you.

A reminder to those of you who have not yet renewed, that you have until 31st January to take advantage of the offer of the £5 reduction in the membership fee, as shown on the invoice. Thereafter, the full fee of £95 must be paid.

Spring/Summer Diary of Events

Enclosed with this newsletter is your copy of the pocket sized Spring/Summer 2003 Diary of Events, which includes a list of contact details for the Regional Organisers. Some information not available when the diary went to press is given in the programme in this newsletter and on the website.

SCL Membership

Finally, we are pleased to welcome a record number of 84 new members to the Society during the month of October. They are:

Regional Coordinators

Are you moving? Will your contact details change? Do we have your email address? Please tell Membership Administration so that we can keep our records up to date.

Membership/Administration
67 Newbury Street
Wantage, Oxon., OX12 8DJ
Tel: 01235 770606
Fax: 01235 770580
Email