The Effect of Construction Operations on Interests in Land

David Sawtell KC

September 2026

A paper based on presentation to a meeting of the SCL in London in November 2024 and published in the SCL Journal: Summer 2026 

In this paper the author questions what happens to any interests in the land itself when construction operations take place. He sets out the context and impact of his PhD research, both for practice and academic analysis. The paper examines the legal effect of the physical incorporation of materials into land, transfers of value arising from construction operations, including the contractor’s licence to occupy the site and the position of the mistaken improver. It considers the effect of construction operations during the in-use phase of a building’s life-cycle. 

1. Introduction – 2. Construction and land – 3. The implications of physical transfers of property – 4. The effect on interests in land of transfers of value pursuant to construction operations – 5. Post-construction service life – 6. Conclusion

The author: David Sawtell KC is a barrister practising from 39 Essex Chambers, a Bye-Fellow at Peterhouse, Cambridge and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre of Construction, Law and Dispute Resolution, King’s College London

Text: 12 pages