6th Annual Conference for the Construction Industry

This year’s update Conference was held in the shrine to the glory days of the British automotive industry - the Heritage Motor Centre in Warwickshire.

In-keeping with these straitened times, the main theme revolved around costs, budgeting and payment terms. The impressive line-up of speakers kicked off with Liz Bennett of Habilis Health & Safety who emphasised that, by fully incorporating H&S requirements at the beginning of the contract process, costs will be considerably reduced in the long run. Andy Appleyard of Tenon explained what companies caught in a lengthy supply chain can do if one of the parties in that chain is declared insolvent and explained the common types of insolvency arrangements and how creditors could deal with them.

John Riches of Henry Cooper Consulting delivered a wry look at the proposed changes to the JCT 05 suite of contracts. He was followed by Professor Rudi Klein reviewing the proposed changes to the Construction Act (the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996), focusing on the thorny issue of improving cash flow. Tim Pollard, Director of Sustainability for Wolseley’s Sustainable Building Center, sought to persuade the audience to invest in sustainable building materials in the light of the probable, major increases in energy costs in the not too distant future. Finally, Philip Harris cantered through some of the more interesting case law that has featured this year.