Construction contract claims

by Reg Thomas

I was pleased to be asked to prepare the Foreword to the second edition of Construction contract claims by Reg Thomas.

Reg has been a friend and colleague for more years than I care to count. One aspect of Reg’s work is that he is always very thorough.

This hallmark shows through in the revisions he has introduced.

A great deal of change has taken place with regard to the subject matter since the book was first
published in 1993.

Little change of any consequence has been left out.

The impact of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 on the construction industry has probably had more affect than anything else in the last hundred years.

Reg in his Construction contract claims has incorporated in some detail the changes brought about by this piece of legislation.

The courts have been busy in the past ten years.

Legal cases which have developed the law relating to interisland finance charges, head office overheads, liquidated damages and the power of the courts to open and review the decisions of engineers and architects are well catered for.

Most of the leading text books such as Hudson’s Building and Engineering Contracts and Keating’s Building Contracts have been thoroughly revised.

Their effect on the subject of claims is well catered for.

Evey standard form of contract has been revised and re-issued in the past ten years and, as you would expect, a very professional job has been carried out in amending the text and providing cogent explanation.

Throughout his career Reg has spent a great deal of time either working overseas or being involved
in overseas projects.

This experience shines through in the manner in which the new FIDIC contracts are dealt with.

The observations on the relative merits of FIDIC and the NEC make for vey interesting reading.

The revisions to the book do not merely deal with the question of updating.

I particularly like the revised and much expanded section on the evaluation of loss of productivity.

Few claims written by contractors and subcontractors tackle this area of loss in a convincing manner.

They are advised to study this part of the Construction contract claims with care if they are looking to improve their recovery rate from loss of productivity.