Construction analysis: The Court of Appeal (CoA) overturned a decision of the Technology and Construction Court (TCC), in a dispute relating to the termination provisions of the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) Design and Build Contract 2016. It found that, under clause 8.9.4, the contractor was entitled to terminate the contract where the employer repeated a specified default—even if the contractor had no accrued right to terminate in respect of the original default, under clause 8.9.3.

For a taxable capital gain to arise, there has to be a disposal, or a deemed disposal, of an asset. The taxpayer will need to establish when the disposal took place. This will determine when the tax must be paid, and in some cases will also decide: • the amount of tax • who has to pay it, and/or • whether it is payable at all This Practice Note describes the timing rules that apply to: • assets that are disposed of under a contract • deemed disposals, and • options and forfeited deposits In this Practice Note CGT means both capital gains tax and corporation tax on chargeable gains. Disposal under a contract The general rule is that when an asset is disposed of under an unconditional contract, disposal is treated as taking place at the time when the contract is made. This applies even if the asset is actually transferred at a later date. For example, when land is sold there is normally a contract, followed, at some later date,

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) are governed primarily by Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004 (HA 2004) (HA 2004, ss 55–78). HA 2004, Pt 1 (HA 2004, ss 1–54) also contains provision for the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) which enables the local authority to assess housing conditions and enforce standards. The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006, SI 2006/372, govern the general management of HMOs. If a HMO meets certain standards (occupied by five or more people living in two or more households) a licence must be obtained by the person managing or controlling it, which will ordinarily be the landlord or their agent. See Practice Note: Houses in multiple occupation (HMOs)—applying for a licence. There must be an

For information on flexible working generally, see Practice Note: Flexible working. The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/1328, which comes into force on 6 April 2024, removes Flexible Working Regulations 2014, SI 2014/1398, reg 3, which provides that only an employee who has been continuously employed for at last 26 weeks is entitled to make a flexible working application. Once Flexible Working Regulations 2014, SI 2014/1398, reg 3 is removed, there will be no regulations specifying who is a ‘qualifying employee’ for the purpose of section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996). Any ‘employee’ will then be able to make a flexible working request. The change has been described as giving workers

Arbitration analysis: This case involved an application by Muzama, an Iraqi company (the ‘Claimant’) to set aside an arbitral award rendered under the ICC Rules (the ‘Award’) that had been rendered in favour of Mihanti, a Dutch company (the ‘Defendant’). While the Claimant relied on a number of grounds in seeking to set aside the Award, the DIFC Court dismissed the application in its entirety. In doing so, the DIFC Court gave helpful guidance on the interpretation and application of several key provisions of the DIFC Arbitration Law of 2008 (the ‘DIFC Arbitration Law’), including in relation to Article 9 (waiver of right to object); Article 41(2)(a)(iii) (where a dispute or matter may have been decided outside the scope of the submission to arbitration); and Article 41(2)(b)(iii) (where an award may be in conflict with the public policy of the UAE). The judgment is of particular interest in terms of how the DIFC Court dealt with last point, which dealt with an argument that the award should be set aside on the basis of its being tainted by corruption. Written by David Hume, partner at Shearman & Sterling LLP.

Stop Press: With effect from 1 January 2027, section 25 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) amends the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal set out in section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) from two years to six months, and removes the cap on the compensatory award in ERA 1996, s 124. Transitional provisions are set out in the Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No 4 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/559. For information on the implications of the reduction in the unfair dismissal qualifying period for probationary periods, see Practice Note: Probationary periods. This Precedent will be reviewed to take these changes into account. [Insert employer name and address] [Insert employee name and address] Dear [insert name of employee] This letter sets out the terms and conditions on which we will employ you as a [full-time OR part-time] [insert job title]. It includes the information we are required by law to give you about the terms of your employment. 1 Start date Your employment will start on [insert date], which will

This Practice Note explores the use of pre-construction services agreements (PCSAs) which are typically used in two-stage tendering. Construction projects are often procured using a two-stage approach, which is very different from the traditional single stage tender method. Rather than asking contractors to submit a bid for the works in a competitive tender process and proceeding to enter into a contract with the selected contractor, many employers (although still opting to use a traditional or design and build lump sum contract) are choosing to negotiate with contractors and to use their expertise at an early stage in the procurement process. This alternative process is generally referred to as two-stage tendering (see Practice Note: What is two-stage tendering?). The services to be carried out by a contractor up until the building contract is entered into, and the contractual arrangement between the parties, are typically governed by a PCSA—sometimes also called a preliminary contract. What is a pre-construction services agreement? A PCSA is, in effect, an interim contract that fills the legal gap until a building contract can be entered

A search for insolvency or bankruptcy (in the respective cases of a corporate and individual vendor) is good practice in all cases to determine whether that vendor has been made insolvent or bankrupt, or whether a petition has been presented against them. The reason for this is that a purported transfer of an asset such as a property will be voided by, respectively, sections 127 and 284 of the Insolvency Act 1986. These provisions provide protection to creditors for reasons of public policy that means any such sale will not take effect. This can result in the purchaser being placed in a difficult situation

For information: • on data subject access requests (DSARs) generally, see Practice Note: Rights of data subjects, in particular section: Right of access (Article 15 of the UK GDPR) • on DSARs in the employment context, see Practice Note: The UK GDPR and DPA 2018: key data protection issues for employment lawyers, in particular section: Data subject access requests (DSARs)—the right of access See also the ICO’s detailed guidance on the right of access. Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation, Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (UK GDPR), individuals have the right to obtain: • confirmation that their data is being processed • access to their personal data, and • other supplementary information, which largely corresponds to the information that should be provided in a privacy notice, ie details of: ◦ the individual’s right to request rectification,

Deferred SDLT has the meaning as set out in clause [insert number] HMRC Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs SDLT stamp duty land tax as provided in Part 4 of Finance Act 2003 and any amending or supplementary legislation SDLT return a land transaction return as defined in section 76 of the Finance Act 2003, including any required additional or supplementary forms, documents or information Clauses 1 [Where it is intended that the Buyer will take over responsibility for paying the Deferred SDLT and submitting related SDLT returns:] Deferred SDLT 1.1 Payment of SDLT on the purchase of the Property by the Seller was deferred

This Precedent is a short form clause providing for non-mandatory adjudication in the event of a dispute arising out of a commercial, business-to-business (B2B) contract (non-construction). It provides for the appointment of an adjudicator and the terms of reference of the adjudication. Adjudication is an informal dispute resolution procedure, designed to be an intermediate method between expert determination and full arbitration. Under adjudication proceedings, the parties generally retain full control of the procedure to be adopted and can decide whether the adjudicator’s decision is finally binding, temporarily binding or merely advisory. This will all depend on the terms of the reference and on the dispute resolution clause itself. Adjudication is commonly used as a method of resolving disputes in the construction industry but could be a consideration for parties to some commercial B2B contracts. Adjudication is a method of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and may be an alternative to litigation for parties in a dispute. For more information on alternative dispute resolution clauses, see Practice Note: Ireland—Dispute resolution clauses—what and why. For more information on ADR generally, see Practice

Claims by contractors for time and/or money are a common feature of construction projects. A claim for time refers to a claim for an extension of time (EoT) in which to complete the works (or meet a contractual milestone date) due to the occurrence of a delay event, while a money claim normally refers to a claim for reimbursement of additional loss and/or expense which has been incurred by the contractor due to a delay or disruption to the works. Such a claim might also be brought, for example, by a sub-contractor under a sub-contract. Time and money claims are normally based on an express contractual entitlement—ie the contract states that the contractor is entitled to time and/or money in certain circumstances. They are also made and determined in accordance with the terms of the contract. They do not necessarily involve a breach of the contract or the existence of a dispute between the parties, although they may ultimately give rise to a dispute. This Practice Note sets out key issues to consider in relation to time