Overview

Our team offers a dedicated expert service to the construction industry.

Our team has advised on some of Ireland’s largest and most complex construction projects, adopting a commercial and technically proficient approach to advising on project documentation, mid-stream challenges, and dispute resolution.

We act for a range of industry participants, including contractors, developers, public bodies, consultants, financial institutions and insurers, materials suppliers, subcontractors and insolvency practitioners. Our approach is to offer a lean and cost-effective service to our clients, with early collaborative engagement to pre-empt and mitigate commercial and legal risks.

We advise on the various standard forms of contract, and in the drafting and negotiation of bespoke agreements. We work closely with our commercial property and banking teams on development agreements and the funding and security aspects of development. Where necessary, we help clients resolve disputes successfully, whether through negotiation, mediation, conciliation, adjudication, arbitration, expert determination or litigation.

Services

We offer the full range of legal services required in the sector:

  • Drafting and negotiating bespoke and standard construction contracts (including RIAI, IEI, PWC, JCT, NEC and FIDIC)
  • Representation in adjudication and enforcement of adjudicators’ decisions
  • Representation in all other forms of construction-related dispute resolution
  • Drafting and negotiating ancillary construction documents, including subcontracts, consultants’ appointments, collateral warranties, and various forms of bonds and guarantees
  • Advice on insurance and risk management
  • Advising on compliance with building control and health and safety legislation (including BCAR, PSCS and PSDP)
  • Advising owners, developers and funders on development finance and development agreements.
  • Advising on termination and insolvency impacts on project completion
  • Procurement and tendering strategy
  • Negotiating the terms of agreements for lease, leases, forward sale agreements and contracts for sale on:
    • PRS and social and affordable housing schemes including AHBs and local authorities
    • Retail developments
    • Warehousing and distribution centres
  • Advising and training on broader legislative developments affecting the industry, including ESG, industrial relations and planning and environmental regulations

Experience

The members of our team have advised various clients on high value projects including:

  • Pursuit and defence of numerous adjudications under the Construction Contracts Act 2013 for various contractors
  • A number of logistics operators in relation to the construction and letting of warehouses and distribution centres
  • The contractor in relation to the construction of a 575-unit residential development in Sandyford
  • The liquidators of a major construction company in relation to a defects claim by the management company of a docklands development
  • Various contractors in relation to contractual negotiations for the construction of pharmaceutical plants, data centres and a computer chip fabrication facility
  • A financial institution in relation to the defence of a claim on a performance bond
  • A multi-national bank in relation to the fit-out contract for its Dublin headquarters
  • A contractor in a conciliation arising from defects at a retail development
  • A number of retailers in relation to the development of new retail premises
  • A contractor in relation to building defects at Beacon South Quarter
  • Criminal prosecutions under Section 18 of the Building Control Act 2007
  • A pillar bank in relation to its exposure under planning bonds granted to local authorities
  • A local authority in relation to the construction of a road bypass
  • Defence of large-scale claims in respect of alleged property damage due to pyrite
  • Training to leading funding participants in the construction finance sector including the main clearing and lending banks and direct funders with regard to security and construction requirements on development finance and social housing/ AHB transactions

Articles

 

20 Practical Adjudication Questions Answered

There is now a helpful body of case law on adjudication in Ireland, which establishes some guiding principles on how the process ought to work. While there are issues yet to be teased out, a lot of insight is now available in terms of how the High Court interprets the Construction Contracts Act 2013 (the “Act”).

This article endeavours to take into account the various Irish cases to date, in the round. It is presented in a simple Q&A format by reference to the key questions which are emerging and, in many instances, being answered by the cases. It seeks to distil the lessons from the cases to their essence, with the focus very much on the provision of practical guidance to users of the process.

To access the article, simply follow the link below. We hope it is of value to you in your business.

Click here to download PDF version.

 

 

 

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