Opinion

Politically and economically, 2022 was a tumultuous year. Despite an encouraging start, by the third quarter it was clear that Scotland’s property sector was being impacted by spiralling inflation, soaring energy costs and increasing interest rates, writes Barry McKeown. Yet, let me recall som

Employment lawyer Pauline Hughes outlines the implications of changes to flexible working laws. The Scottish Government has recently announced that they will soon be passing new legislation around flexible working, updating the current rules to, ironically, make the scheme more flexible for emp

Anderson Strathern’s employment law specialist Musab Hemsi has long argued that engaging someone through the Construction Industry Scheme doesn’t necessarily always mean they will be defined as self-employed – and this recent ruling (Richards v Waterfield Homes Limited) confirms hi

Construction lawyer Andrew Boccoli believes that a question mark hangs over the continuation of fixed-price arrangements. For the past 20 years, convention in the construction trade has been that contractors take on much of the financial risk when they tender successfully for projects. But, as the w

Litigation lawyer Richard McMeeken discusses a recent decision involving a building contractor which has clarified certain aspects of the law of bribery in Scotland. In Oil States Industries (UK) Limited v "S" Limited; Lagan Building Contractors Limited (in administration); John Hansen and Stuart Ir

Andrew Diamond, partner and head of residential property at Lindsays, reveals how ‘subject to purchase’ bids hold potential for unlocking opportunities to bring more homes on to market as well as greater buying power. Contract clauses which make home sales subject to the seller buying th

Keith Kilburn and David Arnott outline how international arbitration can be used in the construction industry. International arbitration is a well-recognised dispute resolution process for construction projects throughout the world. It offers numerous benefits to parties, including the ability

To protect customers, the UK government has introduced a new code of practice and ombudsman scheme applying to all private buyers of new homes for owner-occupation anywhere in the UK. Finlay Campbell explains the details. The New Homes Quality Board (NHQB), an independent body established by Westmin

Charles Livingstone and Jamie Dunne from Brodies respond to last week's announcement from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which provisionally found more competition law breaches in the construction sector. The UK's competition law enforcement body, the Competition and Markets Authority (

With the bidding process closing today, Sheelagh Cooley, real estate partner in the Edinburgh office of law firm Shoosmiths, considers the benefits and potential challenges ahead for the operators of Scotland’s Green Freeports. It has been well publicised that the Scottish Government is curren

Recent changes to the law of prescription in Scotland mark an important development to the law in Scotland that will certainly have an impact on construction-related disputes, argues Jonathan Seddon at Morton Fraser. What's the background?

Jamie Dunne, an associate in the Government, Regulation and Competition team at Brodies LLP, and an accredited specialist in public procurement law, highlights changes to the procurement bill, which will have a significant impact on how construction firms go about bidding for public work contra

Pinsent Masons partner Katherine Metcalfe discusses the expansion of the Single Building Assessment programme. The Scottish Government’s cladding remediation programme continues to generate law reform with the announcement yesterday that the Single Building Assessment (SBS) programme

Frances Tait, who works in the construction and engineering team at Womble Bond Dickinson, outlines the combustible cladding legislation changes set to be introduced in Scotland. Everyone's full attention has been on the Building Safety Bill (now the Building Safety Act 2022) receiving Royal Assent

Alice Minick, an associate at Dentons UK and Middle East LLP, believes the Court of Session case Van Oord UK Ltd v Dragados, which overturned an adjudicator's decision on the grounds of a breach of natural justice, provides an interesting opportunity to examine a successful challenge of an