law for the built environment

Vocabulary flashcards covering the definitions of civil law and criminal law from Chapter 1.

Civil law

Resolves disputes between parties.

Criminal law

Deals with offenses against the law.

Court systems

Technology and construction court TCC a specialist court

County Court

High Court

Dispute resolution

Litigation resolving a dispute through the courts it is however expensive time-consuming and can what damage working relationships

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) Negotiation, mediation and arbitration

What is a contract?

A contract is a legally binding agreement with enforceable obligations and rights

And it must include:

Offer-Clear proposal on specific terms

Acceptance-Recipient must accept the offers times

Consideration-Something of legal value must be exchanged

Capacity-Parties involved must have the legal abilities to contract

Genuine consent

Invitation to treat,counter offer and silence

An invitation to treat is an invitation for an offer to be made not an offer in itself, Counter offer changes the proposed time and generally reject the original offer and silence is not acceptance.

Why are construction contracts important?

Who

What

How much

When

What

Who is responsible for each part of the project?

What work must be completed?

How much will be paid and when?

When the work must be completed

what happens if things go wrong?

Standard form contract

A published contract designed for repeated use across Projects

Familiar in the industry

Saves time and money

May not fit every situation

Bespoke contract

For very complex projects e.g. sky scrapers and power stations

Drafted specifically for particular projects

Can be made to be perfectly tailored for a project

It’s more expensive and time-consuming and a subject to disputes if drafting is poor

JCT AND NEC

Joint Contract Tribunal and New Engineering Contract

Both have different contract forms to different types of project projects and sizes

JCT a family of established building contracts offering different forms for different project situations

NEC a contract family that places particular emphasis on collaboration and proactive project management

Construction procurement

Determines how a construction project is organised including responsibilities, contractual relationships and risk allocation

Traditional procurment

Design and construction are seperate teams, Client appoints the design team first and then the contractor

This leads to greater design control however a longer project duration and minimal contractor input

Design and Build

One contractor responsible for both design and construction

Fast delivery and single point responsibility however less client control over detailed design

Management contracting

Construction management

Management contract contracting the client hires a management contractor who holds contract with the Work contractors

Construction management the client hires a construction manager to coordinate the works but the client still holds the contracts directly with the work contractors

Work can be done quicker before all the design is finish allow flexibility as well but the total cost may not be known at the beginning

Partnering

Project partnering their work in one project together

Strategic partnering they work over a long period on multiple projects

Better teamwork viewer disputes, however less competition

Choosing a procurement route

Cost-Is Price certainty important

Time-when does it need to be completed?

Quality-How much design control does the client want

Risk-Who should be responsible for the problems?

Complexity-Does the project need flexibility?

Experience-Can client manage the project effectively?

PPP AND PFI

(PPP)Public private partnership is when the public sector and a private sector work together to deliver a project or public service

(PFI) A ARRANGEMENT WHERE PRIVATE COMPANY FINANCES A PUBLIC SECTOR PROJECT OFTEN BUILDS THE FACILITY AND MAINTAINS IT TOO THE PUBLIC THAN TYPICALLY MAKES PAYMENTS OVER THE YEARS