English High Court holds that there should be no presumptions when construing clauses purporting to exclude or limit liability in the context of allegedly deliberate or repudiatory breach

20 May, 2021
Mott MacDonald Ltd v Trant Engineering Ltd [2021] EWHC 754 (TCC) concerned an application for summary judgment by Mott MacDonald Ltd (“Mott”) on whether the fundamental, deliberate and wilful breaches of contract alleged by Trant Engineering Ltd (“Trant”) fell within scope of the clauses limiting and restricting Mott’s liability. Trant took the position that the counterclaim … Read more

Case Digest: TCC adjourns application for strike out/summary judgment in relation to combustible cladding class action leaving (among other things) the calculation of diminution in value for consideration at trial

30 April, 2021
Elaine Naylor & Others v Roamquest Limited and Galliard Construction Limited [2021] EWHC 567 (TCC) concerned a class action brought by leaseholders of a mixed residential and commercial development against the developer/freeholder and contractor. In these proceedings, the Defendants applied to strike out (or for summary judgment to be granted in relation to) the Claimants’ claim … Read more

New Malaysian Latent Damages Regime: Uncertainty out of Clarity?

03 October, 2019
On 1 September 2019, the Malaysian Limitation (Amendment) Act 2018 (“Act“) came into force, introducing, for the first time, a statutory limitation period regime for latent damages claims[1] – currently only applicable to negligence actions that do not involve personal injuries.[2] With the new Section 6A, the limitation period for non-personal injury negligence claims is … Read more

Case Digest: The importance of the written word – delays in moving (Heaven) and Earth

10 September, 2019
In Lucas Earthmovers Pty Limited v Anglogold Ashanti Australia Limited [2019] FCA 1049, the Federal Court of Australia considered several issues that typically arise in large-scale resources projects. In so doing, it reinforced the sanctity of the agreed bargain between the parties and highlighted the inherent difficulties in proving the oft-claimed, but rarely successful, misleading … Read more

The unintended consequences of insurance

24 May, 2017
On 10 May 2017, the UK’s Supreme Court gave a decision by the closest of margins (3 to 2) which will have significant implications for construction projects where the parties have agreed a common approach to insurance. The Court held that, even where one party is in breach of a clear warranty, if the parties … Read more

Design liability under the NEC form of contract

30 January, 2017
In SSE Generation Limited v Hochtief Solutions AG and another decided on 21st December 2016, the Court of Session in Scotland considered a contractor’s potential design liability under the NEC Form of Contract. It concluded that the contractor was not obliged to guarantee the performance of the works where Option M (X15) was adopted so … Read more