UK

Seb Oram

February 2026

A paper presented to the Society of Construction Law in Reading on 11 February 2026

The paper has a new look at the Building Safety Act 2022 and asks two questions: First, given the stated statutory purpose of allowing claims to be brought directly against those responsible for building defects, what impact has it had upon claims against construction professionals? Secondly, to what extent does it impact on claims not concerning building safety risks, and not having the characteristics that pertain to building liability orders?

Melissa de Oliveira

February 2026

The paper awarded second place in the SCL Ireland Young Practitioners Essay Competition 2025

Paddy Mockler

February 2026

The winning paper in the SCL Ireland Young Practitioners Essay Competition 2025

Professor Anthony Lavers and Rebecca Shorter

November 2025

Published in the SCL Journal: Autumn 2025 

This paper considers the circumstances when a contractor may come under a duty to warn the employer, or the employer’s contract administrator, of deficiencies in the design which the contractor has undertaken to build.

Simon Hale KC

November 2025

Published in the SCL Journal: Autumn 2025 

In this paper Simon Hale KC provides a comprehensive review of limitation of liability clauses from an English & Welsh law perspective. He explains that these clauses are of vital commercial importance to parties on construction or technology projects. If there is clarity the limitation of liability clause will generally be enforced, but that is a big ‘if’.

Dr Sean Brady

November 2025

Published in the SCL Journal: Autumn 2025 

When we examine systems, we tend to believe that everything that happens has a definite, identifiable cause and effect. We expect that significant failures happen because of significant causes, and vice versa. The author looks at the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash in 2018, and introduces the sand pile model, explaining that taking a complex systems approach provides a more useful way of viewing these types of incidents.

James Bowling and Matthew Thorne

August 2025

Published in the SCL Journal: Summer 2025 

The paper looks at ‘hybrid contracts’ which contain operations some of which fall within and some outside the scope of Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. They have long had a bad reputation due to difficulties giving effect to the mandatory requirements of the Act and its imposition of the mandatory payment regime where the hybrid contract ‘bites’ on ‘construction operations’.

Ben Mellors

August 2025

Published in the SCL Journal: Summer 2025 

The paper considers tunnelling and underground construction work and the significant recent developments in contracting practice with the FIDIC Emerald Book 2019; the 2023 guidance on Geotechnical Baseline Reports by both CIRIA in the UK and ASCE in the US; and the third edition of the International Code of Practice for Risk Management of Tunnel Works in 2023.

Nia Moseley-Roberts

April 2025

Commended entry in the SCL Hudson Prize 2024, published in the SCL Journal: Spring 2025

The paper considers the tension between homeowner protection and the protection of commercial interests in a post-Grenfell world. The paper examines how the First Tier Property Tribunal determines a ‘relevant defect’ when considering applications for Remediation Orders under the Building Safety Act 2022.

Armando Castro and Mohamad El Daouk

April 2025

Commended entry in the SCL Hudson Prize 2024, published in the SCL Journal: Spring 2025

The paper considers the implications of UK construction law on Environmental, Social, and Governance issues, especially the governance of construction supply chains. The authors consider: does current UK legislation align with ESG considerations for the governance of construction supply chains? How might contractual provisions deliver governance oversight and robust enforcement?