24-03-2020
With Boris Johnson addressing the Nation last night, announcing “you must stay at home”, as he placed the UK on lockdown in a bid to stop the Covid-19 Pandemic, the reality of lockdown for the UK has struck, but has it? Boris was so flowery in his delivery last night that everyone is confused, especially contractors and what this means for construction sites. Rightly so, contractors are in total confusion as to what this means for them and have asked for clarity after a Cabinet minister said it was fine for sites to remain open – less than 90 minutes after the Prime Minister announced the three-week Coronavirus lockdown.
Boris Johnson ordered people to stay at home, work from home if they can, if it isn’t essential to go into work. There was very little definition or direction and lack of assertive language. At the end of his speech, Boris said that the police will have the authority to stop you and possibly fine you…..how does that work?
Is essential work open to interpretation? There is no exact definition on who can work, obviously it is not possible to work from home with construction sites, so unless you are building a hospital or building something that would be used to fight the Coronavirus and save lives, does this mean they will close down?!
Uncertain times for the construction industry but given the broadcast dialogue should the government be going further to suspend the works and close down construction sites? This would limit the amount of blame on contractors for unauthorised walk out.
If disputes do occur, another question that arises in what Arbicon
do in resolving them... can an Adjudicator carry on in the lockdown period? An
adjudicator only has a short period of time to make a decision and there may be
witnesses or advocates missing due to illness or unavailability. A site
meeting/inspection may not be possible due to the isolation required or closed
site. It will be every case on its own merits, but adjudication can also be
suspended by the parties by agreement. It is not unusual for no agreement
between sides! The defending side will obstruct saying proceeding will breach
natural justice without their star witness or Quantity Surveyor. Alternatively,
the responding party might also demand the process proceeds if the claimant is
unable to put its case. There is a risk that the process can be derailed in
that a breach of natural justice may occur due to a party not being able to properly
put its case. That would be decided by the Technology and Construction Court (TCC)
at enforcement, but the Court is closed!
You can read our recent article to find out more about your rights and how the contract can deal with this unprecedented situation here. Arbicon can assist in the management of all notices, agreements and settlements or handle any disputes that arise thanks to Covid-19! Get in touch with our expert team for more help or advice by using our contact form or calling our offices on:
01733 233737 Peterborough
0207 406 1494 London
0121 262 4086 Birmingham
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