Newsletter
Information for members
April 2003

Previous issue: February 2003
Next issue: May 2003

Programme

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

The Annual Dinner

The Society’s Annual Dinner will take place on Friday, 16th May 2003 at Middle Temple Hall. Please note the change of date from that previously published. The ticket price for the dinner is £65 and enclosed with this newsletter is the booking form.

Due to popular request, there will be no speaker at this year’s event, however we will have a musical interlude during the evening.

The annual dinner is the one function of the year reserved for members only and we hope that many of you will decide to join us in the splendid medieval Middle Temple Hall for what promises to be a memorable occasion.

Would you like to stand for Council?

As required by the Constitution, five members of Council are retiring; all are seeking re-election. If you would like to stand for election to Council, please contact Jackie Morris by Thursday, 10th April to let her know. If you decide to stand, the procedure is as follows:

1. You must be a paid up member of the Society.

2. You must be nominated and seconded by paid up members of the Society.

3. You must provide the following information:
(a) Your name
(b) Your work/practice address
(c) Your professional qualifications, if any
(d) The names of your proposer and seconder
(e) The year you joined the Society

4. You must also provide an election statement, not exceeding 100 words.

If you would like to know more about the work of the Council before deciding whether or not to stand, please contact the Chairman Christopher Miers on 020 7583 2244 or cmiers@probyn-miers.com or any other officers of the Society, who will be happy to give you further information.

Paid up members will be able to vote by postal ballot or, alternatively, at the AGM to be held at 6.30pm at Middle Temple Hall on Friday, 16th May.

Renewal of Membership 2003

To those members who have already renewed their 2003 membership, thank you. To those of you who have yet to do so, a reminder that if you wish to continue to be a member and to be eligible to vote and/or stand for election to Council in May, then you must pay the £95 subscription, which is due now please. Payment can be made either by cheque (payable to SCL) sent to the admin office, or by Debit Card on the website. If you have mislaid the renewal invoice sent to you in December, Jackie Morris can supply a copy.

Website Registration

As you may know, SCL has recently crossed the 1500 member mark, and we want to thank you all for your support in making the Society such a success.

Almost 500 of you have so far registered on our website for free downloads. However, for the sake of those of you have not yet understood this major benefit, as well as those who have registered but do not realise all that registration offers, here is a brief summary.

Online registration brings three benefits:

1 The chance to download SCL papers for free (non members have to pay £2.50 per paper).
2 The ability to update your contact details directly in our online database, so that the Society always has your up-to-date information.
3 The chance to opt to receive the monthly newsletter by email (as well as, or instead of, by post) and to have new papers emailed to you as attachments.

Registering on the website is easy. You can do so via a link on the 'Papers' page, or from the 'Member Login' page.

Alternatively, please go direct to: http://www.oxfordinform.com/scl/members/memberregform2.php. You choose your own username and password, which should be stored in a safe place.

Once registered, you can access the papers for free (you will need your username and password) or log in via the 'Member Login' button on the right hand side of the homepage, to a private page only accessible to you, where you can update your contact details, and choose email subscriptions.

Please contact our webmaster at Webmaster if you have any questions about any aspect of this process.

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

SCL Papers and the Hudson Prize Competition

All six prize winning and commended papers in the SCL Hudson Prize Competition will in due course be going on the website; the first and second prize papers (those of Philip Britton and Hamish Lal) will in addition be printed and circulated to all members.

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 has 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

CUBATG Guidance for Adjudicators

This Guidance, launched by the Construction Minister Brian Wilson MP on 23rd July 2002, 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

SCL Membership

Finally, we are pleased to welcome the following new members to the Society during February and March:

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