01
Construction disputes
THE PROBLEM
The construction industry is notorious for the prevalence of arguments and disputes on construction projects. As your business grows and embarks on more projects, litigation becomes a real risk. Even when you do everything right, problems remain on construction projects.
Cost and payment issues, variations, programme delays or ambiguity in the project specifications can all give rise to disputes. The adversarial nature of the industry and a misunderstanding of the distribution of risks in construction contracts create fertile grounds for disputes to fester.
Each dispute on average costs several thousands of pounds in legal costs and lasts several months.
A dispute can destabilise the best-planned cash flow; cause maximum anxiety; damage relationships; inhibit business growth and in many cases lead to insolvency and demise of the business.
Few Employers and even fewer Contractors and Sub-Contractors take pre-emptive steps to avoid these disputes. In our experience, the cost of obtaining timely proactive legal advice that helps in avoiding a dispute is only a fraction of the legal costs spent when a dispute arises.
THE EVIDENCE
A CBI and Oxford Economics report
published in February 2021 found that
the UK construction industry spent
£1.27bn last year on legal services.
This is 1.6% of all procurement spend
and twice the level seen across the UK
economy as a whole
£1.27bn
THE RISKS
02
Adjudication, Arbitration, Litigation
03
Thousands of pounds in legal expenses
04
Business disruption and damaged cashflow
05
Anxiety, physical and mental health problems
06
Damaged personal and business relationships
07
Inhibited business growth and loss of profits
08
Personal and / or business insolvency
THE SOLUTION
Mercantile Barristers have developed a Construction Disputes Avoidance Protocol
for Employers, Contractors and Sub-Contractors designed to save substantial
legal expenses.
As part of the plan, you will get 1-1 expert construction legal consultation, that will
interrogate your existing Operational systems to identify areas of legal and
financial vulnerability and risks; and then provide advice and guidance to enable
you reduce and possibly eliminate:
Costs Risks
Cost overruns and payment
difficulties on construction
contracts;
time risks
Programme delays and failure to
achieve practical completion
dates on construction contracts;
quality risks
Ambiguity in specifications, quality
control and late availability of
working drawings
&
overall contractual risks
We will guide you to do it right. Even if the paperwork is not watertight, we will prepare you to be ready.
Most businesses only seek legal advice and representation when a dispute has arisen and they have a crisis on their hands. This is imprudent because legal costs incurred dealing with a dispute are multiples of the legal expenses spent in timely advice to avoid that dispute.
Legal expenses are unavoidable and failure to seek early legal advice at a lower cost invariably leads to substantially increased legal costs when a dispute arises. For example, £100,000 of litigation costs could be avoided with as little as £5,000 – £10,000 cost of early legal advice.
Working with one of our specialist construction Barristers, we will assist you to identify gaps and weaknesses in your existing processes, systems and contractual arrangements. Our Barrister will then guide you to make the necessary changes to ensure that you are better prepared to avoid disputes wherever possible. Should a dispute however become inevitable, then you would have been better prepared for mediation, adjudication, arbitration or litigation than you would otherwise have been.
HOW IT WORKS
You will get 2 hours per month with one of our specialist construction Barristers to work through the 12 areas of recurrent problems in construction projects.
Working with our specialist construction Barrister, you will be guided through a process to help you close the gaps in your construction
management/business process that present legal and financial risks to your business.
Each month, Mercantile Barristers will dedicate up to 2 hours of a specialist Barristers time to consulting, advising and guiding you to implement necessary Dispute Avoidance Protocol actions depending on your specific needs.
THE BENEFITS
Direct access to a specialist construction law Barrister for consultation, advice and guidance
Peace of mind and preservation of physical and mental health
Reduced risk of construction/
commercial disputes
Avoidance of the risk of personal and/or business insolvency.
Substantial savings in legal expenses
Enhanced business growth and profitability potential
Business continuity and preserved cash flow
Preservation of personal and business relationships
GET IN TOUCH
020 3034 0077
enquiries@mercantilebarristers.com