The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) introduces various amendments to the previous guidance of the Building Act 1984. The new legislation was sparked by the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy and aims to extend the government’s power to regulate and enforce works in order to remedy and improve safety aspects of high-risk buildings. 

What is a high-risk building?

Part 1, Section 31, of the Act defines buildings as “high-risk”, when under construction, if they:

Earlier this year, we examined the Court of Appeal's decision in Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council and discussed how this case highlighted the court's ability to compel parties in court proceedings to engage in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) such as mediation. 

Introduction

On 19 May 2023 sitting in the Technology and Construction Court, within the High Court of England and Wales, J Waksman handed down his judgement in James Waste Management LLP v Essex County Council. 

The decision in question concerned whether a local authority had lawfully modified its contract with a waste management company under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCRs). 

In the post-pandemic era and in challenging economic times, rural landowners and rural businesses may be considering diversifying their business in order to expand and grow. 

We have seen rural properties starting to open up ancillary business operations such as farm shops, cafes, and restaurants, which may require the premises to obtain a Premises Licence under The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, in order to sell alcohol both on and off the premises. 

The Register of Persons holding a Controlled Interest in Land (RCI) was introduced on 1 April 2022 as part of the Scottish Government's strategy for increasing transparency of land and property control in Scotland.

The perceived problem it was created to solve was that while a person could be registered at Registers of Scotland as the “owner” or “tenant” of land, another person could be the one actually making the decisions in relation to the property.

Background

In 2023, the construction industry continued to provide many interesting and relevant cases. We’ve highlighted some of the key commercial lessons arising from them below. 

Contractor insolvency is continuing to dominate headlines with the recent announcement of the Stewart Milne Group entering administration. By August 2023 as many as 35 construction firms had gone under since June – 29 went under in July alone, six more than in July 2022.