Construction law is sometimes simple and at other times complex. Professionals need answers which are pithy and straightforward but also legally rigorous.
A number of questions come up time and again. They range in content from extensions of time, liquidated damages and loss and/or expense to issues of practical completion, defects, valuation, certificates and payment, architects' instructions, adjudication and fees. Some questions are relatively simple, such as "what date should be put on a contract?," but there are implications to even the simplest questions. More elaborate ones might involve whether the contractor is entitled to take possession of a section of the work even though it is the contractor's fault that possession is not practicable.
David Chappell is well known as an architect, lecturer and writer on construction law. He has served for many years as Specialist Adviser to the Royal Institute of British Architects, and this experience has given rise to this book. All the questions set outhere are real ones; and although most were originally asked by architects, their answers will be of wide interest to QSs, project managers, contractors, employers and others engaged in construction.