Newsletter
Information for members
March 2004

Previous issue: February 2004 | Next issue: April 2004

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Unless marked otherwise, the following meetings are free to members and guests.

Location maps are now always available on the website.

All are welcome but for those meetings where the organiser's telephone or email is given, it would be helpful if you could please let them know of your intention to attend .

Programme

Tuesday, 2nd March 6.15pm
“Procurement best value”
Speaker: Tom Connolly and Neil Perrin
Chair: Richard Bayfield
Venue: National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place , London SW1

Tuesday, 2nd March 6.00pm
“A Judge on Judging Techniques”
Speaker: His Honour Judge Simon Grenfell
Chairman: Martin Green
Venue: Brunswick Lecture Theatre, Leeds Metropolitan University
Organiser: jonathanhawkswell@scl.org.uk

Thursday, 11th March, Registration: 8.45am – 9.20am
Joint SCL /RICS/Leeds Metropolitan University half day conference
“Innovation and Change in Construction Law
Speakers: Paul Darling QC , Fiona Hammond and Peter Hibberd
Chairman: His Honour Judge Humphrey LLoyd QC
Venue: Cedar Court Hotel , Wakefield (Junction 39, M1)
Cost: £50, plus VAT
Bookings must be made directly with RICS – see booking form on the SCL website and attached to this newsletter.

Thursday, 11th March 6.00pm
“HGCRA and the Water, Process and Energy Industries”
Speaker: Edward Davies
Chairman: Peter Fenn
Venue: Pariser Building , UMIST, Manchester
Organiser: peterfenn@scl.org.uk

Tuesday, 6th April 6.15pm
“Project Information exchange ( PIX ): Protocol Guide & Toolkit:
The impact of communication protocols for construction”
Speakers: John George and Peter Goodwin
Chairman: Jonathan Hosie
Venue: National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place , London SW1

Tuesday, 4th May 6.15pm
Presentation of the SCL Hudson prize winning paper
(see announcement below)
Venue: National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place , London SW1

Thursday, 6th May 6.00pm
“Novation after Blyth and Blyth ”
Speaker: Scott McKinnell
Chairman: Simon Goss
Venue: The Brunel Room, The Hawthorns, Bristol BS8
Organiser: simongoss@scl.org.uk

Wednesday, 12th May 6.30pm
AGM and Annual Dinner
Venue: Middle Temple Hall, London
This function is for SCL members only. See separate item and booking form

Tuesday, 18th May 6.00pm
“An update on arbitration cases”
Speaker: Rowan Planterose
Chairman: Barbara Colledge
Venue: Brunswick Lecture Theatre, Leeds Metropolitan University
Organiser: jonathanhawkswell@scl.org.uk

Tuesday, 8th June 6.15pm
“Putting the Protocol into Practice – the PFE Change Management Supplements. Is it what the industry wants?”
Speakers to include: Julian Critchlow, Nicholas Gould and Keith Pickavance
Chairman: Richard Bayfield
Venue: National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place , London SW1

Tuesday, 8th June 6.00pm
“Professional liability and construction professionals”
Speaker: Andrew Noble
Chairman: Andrew MacCuish
Venue: Brunswick Lecture Theatre, Leeds Metropolitan University
Organiser: jonathanhawkswell@scl.org.uk

Thursday, 10th June 6.00pm
(Topic to be announced)
Speaker: Andrew Bartlett QC
Chairman: tba
Venue: Room 2, Faculty of Law, University of Birmingham
Organiser: arulselvaratnam@scl.org.uk

Advance Notice : In association with King's College London, a conference on International Construction Law (provisional) will be held at the Strand Campus on 1 st /2 nd July. Further details will be announced very shortly.

The AGM and Annual Dinner

The AGM will take place at Middle Temple Hall at 6.30pm on Wednesday, 12 th May. See separate item below on this year's ballot.

After the AGM , pre-dinner drinks will be served - in the gardens, if fine - followed by dinner itself in the splendid atmosphere of Middle Temple Hall. This year the musical interlude will be provided by the highly acclaimed Abbott O'Gorman Duo, widely recognised as one of the foremost piano duo ensembles. Those wishing to know more about them can visit the music website www.cubittmusic.co.uk

The flyer giving details of how to book is attached to this newsletter and the price of £65 per member is the same as it was last year (and the year before). We hope that as many of you as possible will be able to join us and we particularly urge those of you who have never been before to come along to this very friendly function and meet your fellow members.

Would you like to stand for Council?

Now is the time of the year to think about standing for Council. More information on the number of vacancies on Council will be given in the next newsletter. Most members of council are likely to say that being on Council is enjoyable, fun and also hard work (not necessarily in that order). There are no precedents or protocols on  Council membership, the current Chairman is an Engineer, the previous Chairman is an Architect and the one before that a Solicitor. The one thing they have in common is a sense of humour and an appreciation of good wine! The strength of Council is its diversity of backgrounds and experience, it is up to us members to ensure that this diversity remains. Council members typically attend up to 6 Council meetings per year and join one or more subcommittees in areas such as the Hudson prize, the talks programme, social events programme, TCC , CIC, policy matters, ethics and IT. Once elected to Council then the normal period of office is either 2 years or 3 years depending on the number of retiring members amongst other factors.

Meanwhile if you would like to know more about the work of the Council before deciding whether or not to stand, please contact the Chairman Richard Bayfield on 01865 311800 or richardbayfield@scl.org.uk or contact any other officers of the Society, who will be happy to give you further information. If you would like to stand for election to Council, please contact Jackie Morris on admin@scl.org.uk   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 a 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 (if you cannot remember, then admin can help)
4. You must also provide an election statement, not exceeding 100 words.

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 Wednesday 12th May. More details over election arrangements will follow in the next newsletter.

SCL Hudson Prize

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2003 SCL Hudson Prize is Philip Britton for his entry entitled “ The architect, the banker, his wife and the adjudicator: unfair contract terms and construction ”. This is the second year in a row that Philip has won 1 st prize!

Commendations were awarded for the following three entries:

•  “Joint and Several Liability in the Construction Industry: Is it Time for (Proportionate) Law Reform in the UK ?” by Adrian Baron

•  “Parallel Partnering: Background and Benefits” by David Evans

•  “Completion is the key to liquidated damages. But what is completion? And what should it be?” by John Nestor

Our congratulations go to the winners and our thanks to all those who submitted entries.

Philip Britton will present his prize-winning paper at 6.15pm on Tuesday, 4 th May at the National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place London SW1. In due course, the paper will be published and sent to members free of charge.

Ethics group - your help required!

Please do help the ethics group in its investigation of unethical behaviour in the industry.  As part of its work (with which members will be familiar from recent Newsletters and the ethics section at www.scl.org.uk ) the group is collecting information from members.   All those on email will recently have received a message from Peter Higgins (chairman of the group), with the following request:

SCL requests your assistance with the investigation of unethical behaviour in the construction industry. We have identified four categories of behaviour which could be regarded as unethical:

• that which is criminal;
• that which is covered by other rules (eg failure of experts to comply with the Civil Procedure Rules);
• that which is covered by the requirement of a professional body or trade association (ie failure to comply with their ethical requirements); and
• that which does not fall into the above categories but nevertheless is regarded as unethical.

A copy of the questionnaire is also attached to this newsletter. In this questionnaire we are seeking areas of uncertainty . We want examples of action that might be regarded as unethical: what problems are people encountering, and what might be done about them? We are asking for examples and whether they have been encountered occasionally, frequently etc.

Please provide examples and details of unethical behaviour from your knowledge and experiences.

Please reply by 12th March to Chris Hill at chrishill@scl.org.uk by fax at 020 7061 9074 or by post at Cyril Sweett, 60 Gray's Inn Road , London WC1X 8AQ . In any publication of the results, anonymity will be preserved.

Thank you for your assistance.

Ethics Group - second meeting

A second meeting of the whole group will be held on Monday 5th April at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, 12 Bloomsbury Square , London WC1A. Confirmation of the time of the meeting will be sent to all members of the Ethics group

It is envisaged that by then the work of the subgroups will be complete, and everyone will have had a change to review the output.  At the meeting, the subgroups' work will be discussed and the next steps determined. The ethics section of the website now includes related documents and links to related sites.  The private pages also include more details, including the revised timetable.

Subscriptions for 2004

Some subscriptions still remain unpaid. A reminder therefore that, if you have not already done so, you must make your payment of £100 as quickly as possible please if you want to continue receiving membership benefits. Payments can be made either online at the website, or send a cheque (sterling please - payable to SCL ) to the admin office.

If you have mislaid the renewal of membership invoice sent to you in December, then you can request a replacement copy from Jackie Morris at admin.

Papers on-line

Three new papers are now, or shortly will be, on SCL 's website.  They are -

Valuing payments due in adjudication by Peter Collie

The JCT Major Project Form 2003: commercial considerations by Neil Jones

Recent treatment of construction awards by the ICC International Court of Arbitration by Robert Knutson.

Don't forget that you can opt to receive web only papers direct - the pdf file is emailed to you.  Just visit the website to register.

Countering Corruption in the Construction and Engineering Industry

Transparency International (UK) is holding an open meeting on Tuesday 9th March 2004 at 6 pm .   The topic will be "Countering Corruption in the Construction and Engineering Industry".  The speakers will be Bob McKittrick , immediate past president of the Institution of Structural Engineers and director of Scott Wilson, Douglas Oakervee , president of the Institution of Civil Engineers and previously project director of the Hong Kong airport, and Neill Stansbury , a solicitor with over 20 years experience in the international construction and engineering industry who is leading a TI(UK) initiative aimed at preventing corruption in the industry.

The meeting will be held at the offices of PricewaterhouseCoopers, 1 Embankment Place , London WC2.   Drinks will be served and there will be time for discussion after the formal presentations.  Admission for non-members of TI(UK) is £10.  To attend it is necessary to register with TI(UK) by 8 March.  Contact Jan Lanigan or Susan Côté- Freeman on tel. 020 7981 0345; fax: 020 7981 0346; email: info@transparency.org.uk

Kings Cross Redevelopment Project (CTRL)
Junior SCL Site Visit – 1 st April 2004

*** Last few places remaining ***

This is a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes (and below the ground) at what will become London 's newest International transport hub – the King's Cross/St Pancras complex.

Hosted by guides from Metronet, you will see for yourselves the current state of progress on this multi-million pound project which, when complete in 2007, will see the creation of seamless interchange for passengers using the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link, Midland Mainline, GNER, WAGN and Thameslink and the Metropolitan, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Piccadilly, Northern and Victoria Underground lines.

During the visit you will be given a presentation on the project, and visit two of the three ticket halls currently under construction beneath these two major London landmarks. You will be shown how 21 st Century construction has been designed to compliment the 19 th Century listed structures, and see for yourselves the steps being taken to ensure that passengers can continue to use the stations as reconstruction takes place.

There will be two site visits run in parallel, and approximately 30 people can be accommodated. The site visit will commence at 2.30pm and last for about 2½ hours. Complimentary drinks will be provided by Junior SCL at the end of the site visit.

If you would like to be in one of those groups then please provide your details to Nicholas Gould by email as soon as possible. The last Junior SCL site visit was extremely successful and so you are urged to respond as soon as possible as numbers will be limited and places will be allocated to those who put their name forward first. Please email your request to Nicholas Gould's secretary at mlawrence@fenwickelliott.co.uk

SCL Website

If you have not yet done so, take a look at the new website which has been completely redesigned to make it easier to use. Members can now log in from the homepage, and stay logged in throughout the site until they log out. When you log in you will see a new navigation link to 'Members' which is where you can update your contact details, email subscriptions and data protection info - as well as search for information about other SCL members who have agreed for their data to be accessible to other members on the website (currently over 500 members). In due course some new facilities will be added for members.

Other site enhancements include:

• Easier site navigation, more sections and links from the new left-navigation on all pages except the home page.
• A News page and a separate Newsletters list page.
• Forthcoming events can now be filtered by city.
• A new 'ethics' section of the site.

If you have any questions, problems or suggestions, please contact our webmaster, Edward Peters, at Webmaster

Contributions invited from Members

What construction law related topic would you like to see presented as a talk? Please email your suggestions to Jackie Morris on admin@scl.org.uk and we will do our best to organise a talk in your area.

You are also invited to contribute to the newsletter. If you have an item related to construction law that you 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.

New members

Finally, we are pleased to welcome the following new members who joined the Society in February:

Timothy Bunker, Cumbria
Dr Robert Chaplow, Oxfordshire
Mark Gordon, Oxford
Nadine Emsley, London
Stephen Malley, London
Charles Lilley, London
Anthony Martshall, London
Melanie Willems, London
Julie Tuck, Milton Keynes
Daniel Somers, Essex
Stephen Gaskell, Essex
Gonzalo Stampa , Madrid
Iain Kirkpatrick, County Down
Simon Longley, East Sussex
Kar Lai Lee, London
Diane Everist, London
Alexandra Cunliffe, London
Derek Dutton, Gwynedd
Graham Parsons , Kent
Wan Tak Chui, Hong Kong
John Evans, West Yorkshire
Fred Dennis, Leeds
Dr David Doyle, NSW, Australia
Peter Johnson, South Yorkshire
Simon Gore, Norfolk
Tom Duncan, London
Claire Wilkinson, Lancashire
Graham Glassey, Hertfordshire
Christopher Wood, Lancashire
Nigel Quelch, London
Michael Mulvey, Kent
Simon Elliott, London
Louise Robling, Bristol
Elena Vassiliadou, Kozani Greece
Limor Gonen, London
Frances Pigott, Birmingham
Petros Andreou, Cholargos Greece
Monica Lesny, London
Michael O'Reilly, Bristol
Jeremy Dixon, Surrey
Evans Barba, New Jersey , USA
Peter Thurlow, Gauteng, South Africa
Robert Warwick, Kent
Andrew Tweeddale, London
Mark Lebihan, London

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