Construction Law Solicitors

We cover the entire life cycle of a project from inception to completion
From strategic procurement advice to dispute resolution, acting for clients in the public and the private sector, we have built an enviable base of construction knowledge and expertise. Bringing all this experience to bear, we work with and on behalf of clients in the UK and beyond to provide solutions that deliver the maximum commercial benefit. We maintain an overview based on adding value but do not lose sight of the detail.

We operate in your industry and in these sectors

• Commercial and Mixed Use Development
• Construction
• Education
• Energy - CCGT, CHP, Nuclear
• Engineering
• Health
• House Building
• Mechanical and Electrical
• Nuclear Decommissioning
• Remediation and Regeneration
• Residential Development
• Transport
• Waste
• Waste to Energy

Transactional work
Protecting our clients' interests and minimising their risk through strong negotiation, due diligence and expert drafting is the focal point of our non-contentious work. Our capabilities encompass all aspects relating to construction and engineering or technical contracts including:

• Project Scoping, Planning and Tendering
• Advising on Appropriate Contractual Structures
• Drafting and Approval of Contracts, Appointments, Warranties and Terms of Business
• Research and Development
• Procurement Advice and Logistics
• Professional Terms of Engagement
• Legal Audit Facility

Set up Projects
From the very outset of a project we have the expertise to help you. We will work with our specialist property lawyer colleagues during site acquisition to identify and resolve issues pro-actively.

We will identify construction issues that affect your scheme and how it is set up or funded.

We will work with you to set up your project up in a way that will:

• Strike the balance between the requirements of an institutional lender and the position taken by professional indemnity insurers
• Minimise the fees you pay for your Funder's advisors
• Achieve a swift transition from sign up to draw down

Procurement Advice
If you are involved in public sector work as procurer or as a provider, then you need to navigate a safe course through the relevant European Law. Our construction solicitors have advised on major public sector projects covering the implications of UK and or European Law on compulsory competitive tendering, Competition Act, Public sector procurement rules, transfer of undertaking for protection of employment regulations and the entire range of secondary legislation.

Working closely with our public sector solicitors, we will advise you on the implications of the relevant legislation for your project. If you are seeking to establish a fair tendering process or have somehow been disadvantaged by what looks like an unfair one, then our expert procurement lawyers can help you. Working closely with our team of Regulatory solicitors, we will advise you on the pitfalls and indeed criminal offences established by the Competition Act. We will assist you in establishing dialogue with the relevant lobby groups.

Risk Management
Our team of construction solicitors will advise you on risk management so that you understand how the risks on your project are most appropriately allocated. Retrospectively, we can provide legal audit services but moving forward we will advise on a pro-active strategy that strikes the right balance for you. We also advise in relation to the health and safety aspects on site or the financial and regulatory risks in relation to major projects.

Contract Choice
Our solicitors are familiar with all the major forms of contract and are experienced in drafting bespoke contract terms and amendments to the standard terms.

We deliver seminars giving interpretation and meaning to the standard forms. We will help you manage any developments, for example, the shift from NEC2 to NEC3 and from JCT 98 to JCT 2005.

We routinely advise on the ICE Conditions of Contract and also the more esoteric forms including IChemE form and FIDIC. We will help you refine your choice of procurement route whether it be a traditional fully designed scheme or design and build or a hybrid of the two and recommend the form of contract that best suits your needs.

Partnering and Alliances
Partnering and alliances are now commonplace in the construction industry. The benefits of collaborative working, repeat business, secure supply chain and dispute avoidance have convinced many public sector procurers to insist on partnering as the way forward and contractors have embraced this.

Partnering comes with a health warning though. Partnering forms of contract are still contracts that impose obligations that must be met. Our expert construction solicitors and engineering lawyers will advise you on the interpretation of partnering arrangements and the individual clauses that support those arrangements. We have experience of all the main forms of partnering whether PPC2000, P21, NEC3 or bespoke terms.

PFI / PPP
Working closely with our public sector solicitors we have been involved in some of the region’s most significant and high profile projects that have been procured jointly between the public and private sector. With an appreciation of the legal, political and commercial interests involved, we are able to steer a path through the potential obstacles to ensure such high profile projects are delivered to plan. Able to draw on the support of in-house solicitors in our public sector, property, corporate and tax practices, we can provide a one-stop solution for public sector projects.

Avoiding Disputes
As trusted advisor to our clients we provide strategic, pro-active advice with a view to avoiding disputes whenever possible. Effective dispute avoidance begins with a sound understanding of the contractual relationships between the parties. We will work with you to help you understand not only the strengths and weaknesses of your own position, but also those of your ‘opponent’. Where necessary we can introduce you to a range of experts in other disciplines if an understanding of such issues is likely to 'unlock' the dispute.

Our experience (of dispute avoidance and resolution) means we are ideally placed to advise on strategy in terms of engaging your opponent. We firmly believe that ‘controlling the agenda’ in a pro-active manner offers the best prospects of avoiding a full blown dispute and ensuring the best possible commercial outturn. We are also well placed to advise you as to the most effective ways to achieve your commercial goals through negotiation. We will assist your drafting of correspondence and/or support you in commercial meetings so that opportunities can be maximised and exposure can be managed without the need to commence or defend proceedings.

Dispute Resolution
It is, unfortunately, a fact of life in our industry that disputes can and often do happen. When they occur, it is our approach to resolve such disputes constructively and in the most time and cost effective manner possible. Able to take an objective, long-term view of our clients’ best interests, we analyse individual situations from every perspective to determine the most appropriate approach. We will discuss, in advance, the potential consequences of alternative courses of actions and the likely costs involved. We will maximise the recovery of costs where these can be recovered.

Adjudication
Adjudication is now established as an integral part of the construction and engineering industries. Our solicitors have experience of all aspects of the Adjudication process, acting on behalf of Referring and Responding Parties (and, on occasion, advising Adjudicators). The level of our involvement can range from leading multi-disciplinary teams to providing discrete legal input to client led proceedings.

Our advice is geared towards identifying the most effective route to restore / preserve cash flow or to achieve strategic advantage. Even though Adjudicators’ Decisions are only binding on an interim basis pending final resolution, research has shown that (in the majority of circumstances) such decisions do not tend to be challenged / overturned. As a result, it is vitally important to secure the best possible representation to protect your position.

Our team of construction solicitors is structured so that we can respond rapidly to your needs in the short time frames that are inherent in the process. Our experience also means that we are well placed to identify the key issues at stake thereby streamlining your approach and maximising your prospects of achieving a favourable outcome.

We will assist you in converting Decisions into cash by means of enforcement proceedings. We also have extensive experience of raising and defending jurisdictional challenges both before Adjudicators and before the Courts on enforcement (members of our team have acted on several reported cases both enforcing Decisions and resisting enforcement).

Arbitration / Litigation (TCC)
We have significant experience of larger, more complex matters being resolved by Arbitration proceedings or before the Technology and Construction Court.

Our construction solicitors and engineering lawyers will provide you with an effective case strategy and work with you to deliver that strategy through forward thinking case management. We will provide you with a clear understanding of the relevant procedure so that you are armed with the information you need to understand the process as it develops.

The combination of our ability to identify the key issues in any matter and our understanding of the relevant processes allows us to provide pro-active strategic advice.

The issue of cost control and recoverability is always at the forefront of our minds. Pannone LLP use bespoke software, designed by our in-house costs analyst, to provide detailed and bespoke budgets at the outset of a case that allow us to accurately estimate the parts of the Arbitration / Litigation in hand, and the likely total cost.

This detail, our historical and experience-based analysis and the user-friendly way in which the information is presented will allow you to understand the costs you face when you commence proceedings and to make sound commercial decisions.

The information that we will provide will also enable you to plan cash flow, make informed decisions regarding costs / benefits as the matter develops and will increase the prospects of recovering your outlay from your opponent.

ADR
ADR comes in many forms and we have experience of all the forms typically used in relation to construction and engineering disputes, from mediation to early neutral evaluation, expert determination to judicial appraisal.

The amalgamation of our capacity to recognise the important issues in any matter and our knowledge of the various ADR processes enables us to provide pro-active, considered guidance as to your best way forward.

ADR tends to be entered into by the parties by consent. In those circumstances we will advise you on the process that best suits your strategic goals. We will advise on appropriate amendments to established ADR procedures but can also suggest bespoke processes that best suit your circumstances.

Call 0870 164 2372 now to speak with a Construction Solicitor or an Engineering Lawyer at Pannone LLP.