Newsletter
Information for members
August 2003

Previous issue: July 2003
Next issue: September 2003

Dear Member

Re John Uff Lecture – Kings College - Ethics

Recently Professor John Uff QC, CBE gave a challenging lecture on the subject of ethics. Although it was not an SCL event the Officers have agreed that we publish the paper and distribute it to all members. The Society with the kind permission of the author and Kings College now publish the paper and a copy is enclosed with this newsletter.

In the paper John suggests, “ethical rules will be needed to provide for the following activities:

1. Drawing up of conditions of contract, including the appropriate placing of risk;
2. Obtaining and processing of tenders;
3. Negotiating and awarding of contracts;
4. Administration of contracts, including the initial settlement of contentious matters;
5. Formulation and processing of claims;
6. Acting as an advocate in formal proceedings; and
7. Acting as an expert (including expert witness) in formal proceedings.

Professor Uff contended that “To provide an effective sanction in respect of an ethical code for construction law professionals requires, some form of registration which is capable of being revoked or withheld by an appropriately empowered body …………and that a body, capable of encompassing all the professions involved, is the Society of Construction Law.”

SCL Council has agreed to set up an “ethics group” to look at the issue and I am pleased to say that our President, Sir Philip Otton and also Professor Uff have agreed to act as Consultants to the group.

At this time the remit of the “ethics group” is open, as is its membership. The group will need to look at whether there is the need for action as articulated by Professor Uff and if so whether the Society is in fact an appropriate body to carry out such a function.

Council is now looking for volunteers who are prepared to join this group. It is envisaged that the group will meet in London in September to formulate a remit and to decide how any further research and consultation should take place (e.g. via SCL web site).

If any of you would like to join this group then please email our administrator Jackie Morris with your details (admin@scl.org.uk). If you would like a preliminary discussion with me first then please call me on 01865 311800.

Yours sincerely

Richard Bayfield
Chairman

Programme

Unless marked otherwise, the meetings are free to members and guests. All are welcome, but for those meetings where the organiser’s email is given it would be helpful if you could please email your intention to attend.

A new SCL Construction Law seminar: Introduction to the Basics

The Junior Committee of SCL and the Centre of Construction Law at King’s College London have together devised a new half-day seminar entitled Construction Law: Introduction to the Basics. The seminar is intended for those considering construction as a possible specialisation and for junior or recently appointed staff who are encountering construction issues in their work for the first time. The purpose is to provide a general introduction to many of the widely encountered principles and also discuss some of the current important topics in the area. Subjects that will be covered in outline include procurement, PFI, standard form contracts, claims, defects, and the range of dispute resolution techniques currently used in the industry.

The first Construction Law: Introduction to the Basics takes place on Tuesday 9 September 2003 from 3pm to 6.30pm in room 11F of the Strand Campus at King’s College London; a buffet with wine follows, on the mezzanine overlooking the Thames. Professor Phillip Capper (Lovells & King’s) will provide the opening lecture. Confirmed speakers also include Nicholas Gould (Fenwick Elliott & King’s) and Philip Britton (King’s). The all-inclusive cost (including documentation and supper) is £80 for SCL members, £95 for non-members; there will be discounts for more than two delegates from the same firm or company.

All SCL members should by now have received further details and booking information. If you have not received these but would like to register your interest, contact Susan Hart at King’s College London on susan.hart@kcl.ac.uk or 020 7848 2643 or else you can book online at the SCL website: www.scl.org.uk.

Three events for next year’s diary!

Lunch at The Brewery: Friday, 27th February 2004
The AGM & annual dinner: Wednesday, 12th May 2004
SCL’s 21st Birthday Party: Monday, 18th October 2004 .

Further details on how to book for these three events will be sent to members in due course

SCL Hudson Prize 2003 (5,000 word essay)

You write a winning entry and SCL will send you a cheque for £1,500 and a case of wine! The winner of the second prize will receive £750 (plus wine) and commendations may also be awarded.

The official leaflet inviting entries for this year’s SCL Hudson Prize (closing date 31st December) is enclosed with this newsletter. For entry details, please contact Jackie Morris at the admin office or download them from the SCL website.

Regions

We are delighted to welcome Simon Goss as the new Regional Organiser for Bristol. A talk in Bristol is planned for the autumn and full details will be published shortly. Simon’s contact details are telephone: 0117 917 7777 email: simongoss@scl.org.uk.

Also, as stated in last month’s newsletter, although our organisers do a splendid job in arranging meetings within their regions, we do not believe that we have covered every possible location for a meeting so if you think there is demand for an event in your area then please contact Jackie Morris in the first instance on admin@scl.org.uk or 01235 770 606.

Report from the TCC Users' Committee meeting on 25 June 2003.

As some of you may by now know, Judge Bowsher is retiring from the TCC on Friday, 3rd October; his plans are then to join a leading set of construction chambers and practise as an arbitrator.

Judge Bowsher's Valedictory will be in Court 7, St Dunstan's House, Fetter Lane, London EC4 at 10am on Friday 3rd October. The Lord Chief Justice has indicated that he will be attending.

192 claims have been issued in the TCC in London so far in 2003, broken down as follows:

Construction: 115
IT: 9
Arbitration: 10
Enforcements of adjudicators' decisions: 20
Other (eg. dilapidations claims): 35
Environment: 3

One to eight day trials can now be heard from November 2003 onwards; longer trials can be dealt with from January 2004 onwards.

All the Judges' clerks are now on e-mail.

Mr Justice Forbes is still hoping to arrange a TCC seminar; he has been told that the idea is acceptable in principle but has not been able to make any further progress in the arrangements.

The next meeting will be taking place on 26th November.

The Members Directory

The 2003 Members Directory is currently being printed and bound. Every member will receive a copy by post in the near future.

Member benefits

Members are reminded that they may use the Construction Law library at King’s College, London. However, please contact Sue Hart on 020 7848 2643 or susan.hart@kcl.ac.uk beforehand to check availability.

In addition, the website contains a list of discounts that have been negotiated on behalf of members. The list includes discounts on subscriptions to journals and on conferences, courses and books.

Grants

Every year SCL awards grants to educational establishments. We have previously given grants of over £1,000 each to King’s College London and to Glasgow Caledonian, Strathclyde and Wolverhampton universities for purchase of books and journals and for help towards the setting up of web facilities.

The award of grants is shortly to be reviewed again. If you know of a likely recipient, please encourage them to apply, either directly to Council Member David Risbridger on davidrisbridger@scl.org.uk or through the SCL website.

Invitation to contribute to the Newsletter

If any member has an item related to construction law that they feel would be of interest to others, then please email text to Jackie Morris at admin@scl.org.uk. A member of Council will thereafter decide whether to include the item in the next newsletter. Please note that we do not accept advertisements or items of a commercial nature.

SCL Web Site: www.scl.org.uk

For those members new to the Society and/or to the www, our website is a constant source of new information. Items which have arrived too late to be published in a newsletter, or details of meetings which have been arranged after the seasonal Diary has gone to print, will be posted on the website. It is where you will find a list of over 100 titles of past papers, quite a few of which are available as free downloadable files. In addition, the website has links to more than 50 other sites considered to be of interest to members.

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

SCL Membership

Finally, we are pleased to welcome the following new members to the Society:

IMPORTANT!

If your company is changing its name, or your postal address or email address is going

to change, please let Admin know so that we can keep our membership records up to date.

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