header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
27 June 2014 / Martin Burns
Issue: 7612 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Property , Housing , ADR
printer mail-detail

Early intervention

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Martin Burns examines key challenges & new ways forward in the construction sector

Disputes in the construction sector can often result in minor issues escalating over time into more serious issues. Meaningful negotiations can stall and positions become entrenched. Lots of people, capital and resources can be thrown into the fray again and again, with little or no success. People who have got on well may no longer speak to each other, except through intermediaries, and costs can mount out of control.

The dispute can then spread and people not originally involved can get drawn in. Eventually the small issue which started the whole thing can end up being all but forgotten.

The problem with most methods for resolving disputes is that they often happen too late. By the time litigation, arbitration or some other ADR methods have got started, lots of time and money has usually been spent on lawyers and claims consultants. Timely completion of the project will have been jeopardised. When court action or ADR has finished, relationships will have

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Your magistrates’ court needs you!
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll