Newsletter
Information for members
October 2003

Previous issue: September 2003
Next issue: November 2003

* STOP PRESS *

Response to the Construction Minister

At the beginning of September we (along with over a hundred other construction organisations) received an invitation from the Construction Minister to: "…provide a concise briefing note on the issues, which you and your members feel are vital to making Britain world leaders in construction. I also expect the note to raise with me your main concerns."

The timescale for response was very tight, however thanks to the wonders of email we have consulted our membership and received over 50 responses. Great credit is due to Vicky Russell for co-ordinating the consultation exercise and producing an excellent summary. You can see the SCL response, which was sent to the Minister last week, at our web site.

Programme

Unless marked otherwise, the meetings are free to members and guests. All are welcome, but for those meetings where the organiser’s email is given it would be helpful if you could please email your intention to attend.

Members Directory: Apologies due …

Sincere apologies to the 14 SCL members whose names did not appear on page 103 of the Members Directory as a result of a typographical error. They are: Martin Wood, Michael Wood, Peter Wood, Steven Wood, Tracey Wood, Rodney Woods, Jeremy Woodward, John Woodward, Stephen Woodward, Michael Woolley, Graham Woolnough, Peter Wootten, Roger Wort and Kevin Woudman. Full contact details for these members can be obtained from the admin office.

Also, unreserved apologies to Nerys Jefford, Julie Forsyth and Dr Derek Ross; the three members of Council whose names were omitted from the Council list that appears on the back cover of the Directory!

SCL Hudson Prize 2003 (5,000 word essay)

A reminder that entries for this year’s SCL Hudson Prize are now invited. The closing date for receipt of entries is 31st December 2003.

In addition to the kudos that comes with winning, the winner will receive a cheque for £1,500 and a case of fine wine. The winner of the second prize will receive a cheque for £750 (plus wine) and commendations may also be awarded. Entries must be original, ie, not previously published elsewhere and the Society reserves the right to publish the winning entries in hard copy and/or on its website, with copyright being held jointly by the author and the Society.

Jackie Morris at the admin office can provide a copy of the leaflet setting out the entry details, or you can download a copy from the SCL website.

Ethics Group

The SCL Ethics Group got off to a good start at its first meeting on 23rd September. Picking up the challenge thrown down by Professor John Uff in his lecture on the subject at King's College in June, the group has begun work. Many helpful comments and suggestions came out of the discussion. Subgroups are being set up to undertake a number of tasks, for example undertaking research, defining unethical behaviour and looking at the options. Further details will be emailed to all group members and put on the SCL website.

The 45 members of the group are listed below. If you would like to join, it is not too late - please email Jackie Morris. Further details can be found on the SCL website; members of the group can then access their own section of the website where further details and working papers will be posted.

The Group: Chairman Peter Higgins, assisted by John Burgess and Frances Paterson. Monya Anyadike Danes, Daniel Atkinson, John Barber, Richard Bayfield, John Bellhouse, Geoffrey Beresford Hartwell, Tony Bingham, Charlotte Blake, Geoffrey Brewer, Charles Brown, Peter Chapman, Caroline Cree, Jim Daniels, Andrew Davies, Robert Dobrik, Richard Dyball, Roland Finch, Frances Fowler, Conrad Freedman*, Ian Griffiths, John Haywood, Mark Hedderly, Christopher Hill, Christopher Hillier, David Hvass, Joanna Kennedy, Robert Knutson, Rashmi Lathigra, Humphrey LLoyd*, Nigel Lowe, Martin McKervey, Scott McKinnell, George McNeill, David Parratt, Jim Pragnell, David Richards, David Roberts, John Sims*, John Sparkes, Neill Stansbury, John Tackaberry* Ray Turner*.
(* SCL Founder members.)

Consultants to the Group are Sir Philip Otton and Professor John Uff.

Junior SCL – Half Day Seminar at King’s College

The half-day seminar held at King’s College in London on Tuesday 9th September 2003 was far more successful then originally contemplated. Initially we had hoped to get at least 30 to 40 people to the conference. However, 142 delegates turned up on the day. The feedback that we received was that the conference was very good, although much was packed into a short period of time.

Around 100 people stayed for the buffet and wine that was provided after the conference from 6.30 pm onwards. Many stayed late into the evening, and a few (no names mentioned) were forced to continue their discussions in the local hostelries.

The conference was therefore a resounding success, and further similar events will be planned.

The next Junior Committee event will be a site visit, followed by drinks the details of which will be issued shortly.

Papers

A further facility has been added to the papers section of the website www.scl.org.uk. The 75 papers published or made available online since 1999 are now listed under certain categories, as well as chronologically. You may therefore view a list of the papers on a particular topic. Just choose your category from a drop down list. Try it!

Members will find on the website an interesting paper by Robert Akenhead QC, given at the joint Adjudication Society - Society of Construction Law meeting on 17th September, The Written Contract and Disputes in Adjudication. Essential reading for anyone involved with adjudication!

The papers from the conference at King's College London on 11th September will be made available on the website in due course. Copies will also be emailed to all those attending the conference. Remember that if you would like to routinely receive email copies of papers put on the website, you can register to do so by visiting Member Login.

Members will recently have received a copy of Geoff Brewer's paper on the new JCT Major Project Form. Also, Art McInnis' substantial paper (given in London in April), Relational Contracting under the New Engineering Contract: A model, framework and analysis can now be found on the website.

Grants

Every year SCL awards grants to educational establishments. We have previously given grants of over £1,000 each to King’s College London and to Glasgow Caledonian, Strathclyde and Wolverhampton universities for purchase of books and journals and for help towards the setting up of web facilities.

The award of grants is shortly to be reviewed again. If you know of a likely recipient, please encourage them to apply, either directly to Council Member David Risbridger on davidrisbridger@scl.org.uk or through the SCL website.

Government and risk

We thought you may be interested to see the following press release issued on the 12th September 2003:

Anti-corruption Initiative in the Construction & Engineering Industry

Transparency International (“TI”) is the world’s largest non-governmental anti-corruption organisation. It works in a non-confrontational way with government, business and civil society. It has chapters in approximately 90 countries (www.transparency.org). TI(UK) is the UK national chapter.

After holding discussions with a number of organisations and individuals involved in the international construction and engineering (“C&E”) industry, TI(UK) has determined that it will launch an initiative to reduce corruption in the C&E industry. The initiative will involve representatives of all sectors connected with the industry, including C&E and consulting organisations, trade and professional associations, banks, export credit agencies, enforcement agencies, lawyers, insurers and other relevant bodies. The initiative is intended to result in the reduction of both bribery and deceptive practices in the C&E industry.

TI(UK) has published a report entitled “Anti-corruption Initiative in the Construction and Engineering Industry” which can be freely downloaded at www.transparency.org.uk. This report provides information on:

* recent changes to the legal and business environment;
* the law in relation to bribery and deception;
* examples of corruption;
* the possible risks facing organisations and individuals which engage in corrupt practices;
* the advantages of corruption-free business.

In addition, the report recommends actions that could be taken by various sectors of the industry to reduce corruption.

For further information contact Neill Stansbury of TI(UK) on telephone 01494 775309 or email neill.stansbury@transparency.org.uk

Construction Contracts Survey

Nabarro Nathanson have commissioned a survey of leading developers and leading contractors to establish the extent to which construction contracts are now addressing the withholding of retentions and the rectification of defects; the use of partnering arrangements; and the impact of e-construction. The findings of the survey will be published in a report later this year.

If you would like to participate in the survey or receive a copy of the report when it is published, please email constructionsurvey@nabarro.com

Member benefits

Members are reminded that they may use the Construction Law library at King’s College, London. However, please contact Sue Hart on 020 7848 2643 or susan.hart@kcl.ac.uk beforehand to check availability.

In addition, the website contains a list of discounts that have been negotiated on behalf of members. The list includes discounts on subscriptions to journals and on conferences, courses and books.

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.

SCL Website

SCL Newsletter on line: A reminder that past copies of the newsletter are available at the website. You can also have a copy of the newsletter emailed to you every month. Just go to: www.scl.org.uk.

For those members new to the Society and/or to the www, our website is a constant source of new information. Items which have arrived too late to be published in a newsletter, or details of meetings which have been arranged after the seasonal Diary has gone to print, will be posted on the website. It is where you will find a list of over 100 titles of past papers, quite a few of which are available as free downloadable files. In addition, the website has links to more than 50 other sites considered to be of interest to members.

If you think something is missing which should be there (so long as it is not a commercial site) then please get in touch with the publications editor, Frances Paterson

New Members

Finally we are pleased to welcome the following new members to the Society during September: