Newsletter
Information for members
October 2004

Previous issue: September 2004 | Next issue: November 2004

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Programme

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 .

Tuesday, 7th September, 6.15pm
“The tribunal in the driving seat – inquisitorial procedures in adjudication and arbitration”
Speaker: Peter Aeberli
Chairman: Jonathan Hosie
Venue: National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1

Tuesday, 21st September, 6.00pm
“Project Information & Exchange ( PIX ) Protocol Guide and Tool Kit: The Impact on Communication Protocols for Construction”
Speakers: Paul Wilkinson and John George
Chairman: Jocelyn Taylor
Venue: Renaissance Hotel, South Normanton , Derbyshire DE55
Organiser: jocelyntaylor@scl.org.uk

Monday, 4th October, 6.30pm
Joint SCL / SCS meeting
“Does a sub-contractor have any rights under the main contract?”
Speaker: Thomas Wren
Chairman: John Lyden
Location: Rochestown Park Hotel, Rochestown Road, Douglas, Cork

Tuesday, 5th October, 6.15pm
Joint SCL /Adjudication Society meeting
“The Construction Act Review – some thoughts on what could be done”
Speaker: Chris Dancaster
Chairman: Nicholas Gould
Venue: National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place , London SW1

Thursday, 7th October, 6.00pm
Southern region inaugural meeting
“Ethics – the latest developments”
Speaker: Professor John Uff QC
Venue: Chilworth Manor Hotel, Southampton , SO16

Tuesday, 12th October, 6.15pm
“ADR (Antipodean Dispute Resolution) with special references to construction”
Speaker: Tómas Kennedy-Grant
Chairman: Anthony Lavers
Venue: National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place , London SW1

Tuesday, 12th October, 6.00pm
“Claims under the Contract and at Common Law”
Speaker: Andrew Noble
Chairman: Andrew MacCuish
Venue: Brunswick Lecture Theatre, Leeds Metropolitan Univ.
Organiser: jonathanhawkswell@scl.org.uk

Thursday, 14th October, 6.00pm
"Some problems of delay in construction contracts"
Speaker: Professor Michael Furmston
Chairman: Simon Goss
Venue: The Brunel Room, The Hawthorns, Bristol BS8
Organiser: simongoss@scl.org.uk

Thursday, 14th October, 6.00pm
“Novation unveiled ”
Speaker: Rachel Barnes
Chairman: Frances Paterson
Venue: Linbury Building , Wocrcester College , Walton St. Oxford
Organiser: richardwade@scl.org.uk

Tuesday, 26th October, 6.00pm
“Ethics and Construction Law: Where to start?”
Speaker: HHJ Anthony Thornton QC
Chairman: Anthony Lavers
Venue: Eversheds LLP, 1 Callaghan Square, Cardiff CF10
Organiser: alisonshort@scl.org.uk

Tuesday, 2nd November 6.15pm
Joint SCL /TECBAR meeting
“Construction and Technical Dispute Resolution”
Speaker: Mr Justice Jackson
Chairman: Paul Darling QC
Venue: Middle Temple Hall, London EC4

Monday, 8th November, 6.30pm
Joint SCL/SCS meeting
“Fair valuation of variations under civil engineering contracts and building contracts”
Speaker: John Lyden
Chairman: Eamonn McCarthy
Location: Rochestown Park Hotel, Rochestown Road, Douglas, Cork

Tuesday, 9th November, 6.30pm
“The 100 day arbitration procedure”
Speaker: Professor John Uff QC
Chairman: Michael O’Shea
Venue: Liverpool – venue to be announced

Tuesday, 16th November, 6.00pm
“Completion”
Speaker: John Nestor
Chairman: tba
Venue: Nottingham Trent University (tbc)
Organiser: jocelyntaylor@scl.org.uk

Tuesday, 7th December, 6.30pm
“Performance management and the Proceeds of Crime Act”
Speaker: Inspector John Buttress
Chairman: Peter Fenn
Venue: Room G/1, Pariser Building, UMIST Campus, Manchester
Organiser: peterfenn@scl.org.uk

Tuesday, 7th December, 6.15pm
Joint SCL /TECBAR meeting
“Construction law – the outer limits”
Speaker: Paul Darling QC – Chairman of TECBAR
Chairman: Lord Justice May
Venue: National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place , London SW1

New Regional Co-ordinator

A welcome to Alison Short who is the new co-ordinator for the Cardiff region.

Alison has already managed to organise her first event which will take place at 6pm on Tuesday, 26 th October (see details listed in the above programme). HHJ Anthony Thornton QC will be the guest speaker and the title of his talk will be “Ethics and Construction Law: Where to start?”.

If those of you in the Cardiff region have any suggestions on what talks you would like to hear, you can contact Alison at alisonshort@scl.org.uk or telephone her on 029 2047 7378.

New overseas e-membership category

Until now, there has been a single category of SCL membership for all, with members living abroad paying the same fees as those who live and work in the UK . Now, thanks to the successful development of the SCL website and widespread use of the internet, the Society is able to offer membership to those living abroad at greatly reduced joining and annual fees.

Overseas members will pay an initial joining fee of £25 and an annual fee of £15. The main feature of e-membership is that subscriptions must be paid online and all SCL documents will be transmitted by email only – nothing will be supplied in hard copy.

A summary of membership benefits for e-members can be seen at on this website but if you have any queries please contact Jackie Morris at admin.

The 2004 subscription paid by existing overseas members will expire on 31 December. These members will receive an email at the end of this year inviting them to renew their 2005 membership in the e-membership category.

SCL Hudson Prize 2004

A cheque for £1,500 and a case of fine wine awaits the author of the 2004 prize winning essay!

A leaflet inviting entries for this year’s SCL Hudson Prize has already been distributed. If you are interested in submitting an essay, Jackie Morris can send you a copy of the entry details, or alternatively you can download a copy from the website.

The closing date for entries is 31 st December 2004 . Why not submit an entry this year? - If you don’t enter, you can’t win!

The Society’s 21 st Birthday Party and President’s Reception

All the tickets for this event have now been sold. We have a waiting list for any returned tickets so if any member has already bought a ticket but might not now be able to attend, please let Jackie Morris know as soon as possible. We can resell your ticket and refund your payment !

Ethics Group

SCL Council considered the report by the ethics group at their recent meeting, and agreed to the recommendations in the report. These were:

* the Society prepare and issue a statement on ethical issues setting out core principles of ethical conduct and giving guidance on the application of these principles in each area of construction law. The objective of the statement is to:
a) increase awareness,
b) inform and guide (that is, influence) construction law professionals, and
c) provide a standard against which others may review compliance;

* the Society establish a working group to implement the recommendations and keep their effects under review;

* an SCL ethics “champion” be appointed from Council to lead this work and act as a focus for other organisations;

* the Society should not, at present, engage in regulation or the imposition of sanctions.

Peter Higgins, who chaired the group that investigated the issue and prepared the report, has been asked to set up a new group to prepare a draft statement.

Peter is setting up a team to take this action, and involvement of SCL members is welcomed. Whether or not you were involved in the previous work of the ethics group, if you feel you have a contribution to make in preparing this ethical statement, please send a note to Jackie Morris at admin@scl.org.uk

You can see more details of the previous work of the ethics group in the ethics section of the SCL web site.

Sustainable Supply Chain Forum and CITB Construction Skills

Sustainable P rocurement in the Construction Sector will take centre stage at the next Sustainable Supply Chain Forum and CITB ConstructionSkills meeting on Tuesday  12th October 2004  in  The Edinburgh Room, The New Connaught Rooms, 61-65 Queen Street,  London WC2B 5DA.

The meeting aims to:

• Share the latest thinking and best practice approaches to sustainable supply chain management
• Identify opportunities for the sector to increase its contribution to Sustainable Development through supply chain management
• Identify skills needs for the construction sector to improve sustainable supply chain management

For further information, see the SSCF website at www.sscf.info/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=28

Papers

The paper by Richard Bayfield and Paul Roberts Contracts or Co-operation?  Insights from Beyond Construction - Collaboration - The Honda Experience (given to the SCL  meeting in Oxford in June) is now on the website and a bound copy of it is enclosed with this newsletter .

Lecture at Leeds Civic Hall

On the afternoon of Friday, 1st October 2004 , His Honour Judge Anthony Thornton QC will give a lecture entitled “Adjudication and arbitration: A symbiotic relationship”. The event will be held in the Banqueting Suite of Leeds Civic Hall and tickets cost £20 each (to include coffee and biscuits before and after the event). A leaflet and booking form can be found on the SCL website.

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.

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 September:

Iain Layden, Warsaw, Poland
Khalil Shaat, Giza, Egypt
David Bunch, Chandlers Ford
Frederic Gillion, London
Anthony Harkins, Co Dublin
Peter May, Uttoxeter
Vivianne Infante, London
Catherine Ripley, Reading
Simon Ridpath, London
Paul Gill, Liverpool
Neil Emerson, London
Huw Thomas, London
Andrew Couch, London
Susan Black, Glasgow
Kevin Trash, London
Anna Parr, Cambridge
Paul Marsh, London
Elizabeth Denny-Gouldson, Cambridge

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