John Hughes-D’Aeth, partner, Berwin Leighton Paisner:

The adoption of Project Bank Accounts (PBAs) is one of the key elements in the Office of Government Commerce’s (OGC) drive to promote fair payment practices in the construction industry. So, with the draftsmen of the JCT, NEC and PPC2000 contracts vying for the prize of most OGC-compliant standard form, it comes as no surprise that they have all issued specimen PBA clauses for use with their respective contracts.

This post is the first of two examining the PBA documentation issued by the JCT. This week, I consider the format and purpose of the JCT PBA, together with the trust provisions that are intended to protect sub-contractors in the event of contractor insolvency. (more…)

Rebecca Conrad, associate, Berwin Leighton Paisner:

Current market conditions mean there may be valid commercial reasons why a developer may not want to build out a development. Equally, there may be valid commercial reasons why a purchaser may not want to continue with its purchase of a completed development. This issue was the focus of a recent case, Menolly Investments 3 SARL v (1) Cerep SARL (2) Menolly Homes. (more…)