What is a DPS? A Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) allows a contracting authority to purchase goods, services and works for which they have a regular need, without having to carry out a full procurement process for each individual purchase. Procurement via DPS is intended for common use items that are generally available on the market and meet the contracting authority’s requirements. A DPS is a two-stage process involving an initial procurement stage followed by individual call-off stages. DPS awards are conducted electronically and governed by the restricted procedure under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, SI 2015/102, reg 28, subject to the additional rules specific to DPS under in PCR 2015, SI 2015/102, reg 34. For background reading, see: • Q&A: What are the requirements for the award of a contract under a dynamic purchasing system under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015? In particular, what are the requirements applicable to the supplier when accepting an award? • Crown Commercial Service (CCS): Dynamic Purchasing System guidance Public procurement

This Q&A is limited to the law in England under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), SI 2015/102. In answering this question, it is necessary to remember the important distinction under the public procurement directives and PCR 2015, SI 2015/102 between exclusion criteria, selection criteria and award criteria. When an authority is considering bids, a first step will be to apply the statutory exclusion criteria. Some of these criteria are mandatory while others are discretionary, which means that it is for national law and/or contracting authorities to determine the extent to which they apply in particular exercises. After the exclusion criteria are applied, the selection criteria will be applied to short-list tenderers for consideration. Finally, the successful bidder will be selected by applying the award criteria. Human rights considerations

It is possible for a contractor to be appointed both the principal contractor and the principal designer under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/51. Practice Note: Construction (Design and Management) Regulations

Occasionally, an employer/developer might ask its contractor to start building work before planning permission for the project has been granted by the local planning authority (LPA). This puts the contractor in a difficult position: it is likely to want to co-operate in order to protect its relationship with the employer but, at the same time, there are potential risks and liabilities that it must understand and take into account when deciding whether to proceed and it must therefore take steps to protect itself. Why would the employer ask the contractor to commence building if the project does not yet have planning permission? In short, it is usually because, for the employer, time is money: waiting for planning permission to be granted means a longer wait for the date when the employer can sell or rent its property to purchasers/tenants and begin to make money from the development. There may be other circumstances which mean that an employer is prepared to take risks, such as commencing building work without planning permission.

The contractor has various health and safety responsibilities on a building site that it needs to be aware of and ensure compliance with. See Practice Notes: • CDM Regulations 2015—the role of the contractor and principal contractor • Health and safety requirements—preparing to begin works and setting up the site • Construction phase—site management and on-site health and safety requirements In addition, section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 requires employers and self-employed persons to ensure that their activities do not expose people to health and safety risks. See Practice Notes: • Safety and the risk to safety under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 • Health and safety law and the self-employed It is worth noting too that the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM Regs 2015), SI 2015/51, reg 13(4)(b) requires the contractor to take the necessary steps to prevent access by unauthorised persons to the construction

An indemnity is a contractual term under which a party promises to reimburse another in relation to specified loss or damage or, in some cases, to absolve them of liability. Indemnities give rise to an ‘on demand’ payment as opposed to a contractual right to sue. Provided that an indemnity relates to a specific loss (often referred to as a claim for a debt), it will not be subject to the usual rules on causation

The pre-action protocols themselves provide that when a defendant makes an admission of liability, they admit that the accident occurred, and that the accident was caused by their breach of duty. This does not preclude, on the right facts, there being some other defendant who was also in breach of duty, and whose breach of duty was a co-extensive cause of the accident. Section 1(1) of the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 (CL(C)A

In the case of In Re Ellenborough Park, the Court of Appeal set out the essential conditions for the creation of an easement—there must be a dominant tenement and a servient tenement, the easement must accommodate the dominant tenement, the owners of each tenement must be different persons, and the right must be capable of forming the subject-matter of the grant. In Regency Villas Title Ltd v Diamond Resorts (Europe) Ltd, the Supreme Court considered the extent, among other things, of the fourth limb of the test, and took the view that the common law should as far as possible accommodate itself to new

This Q&A covers solvent charities with no insolvency issues. A corporate charity (limited by guarantee) has the same legal structure of a company limited by guarantee. A company limited by guarantee is treated in the same way as a company limited by shares when it comes to available insolvency procedures. Therefore a corporate charity (limited by guarantee) that is not insolvent can wind itself up. There are several procedures available to wind up an insolvent charity, as can be seen in Practice Note: Charity insolvency—a guide to available insolvency procedures. In order to wind-up a solvent charity,

The current LLP regime permits a corporate entity to be a member of a LLP. An applicant will need to file form Appointment of a corporate member of an LLP (Form LL AP02) at Companies

Under section 44 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006), companies can execute deeds in their own name and in their own right by way of: • fixation of the company seal • signature of two authorised signatories (two directors or a director and the secretary), or • a director in the presence of a witness who attests the director’s signature Where a company seal is used to execute a deed, the company name must be clearly legible

As a corporation has no physical presence, it must appoint an individual to attend and act on its behalf at a general meeting of a company in which it holds shares. For this purpose, a corporation may appoint one or more individuals to act either as its proxy, or its corporate representative. Appointing a proxy The appointment of a proxy is governed by the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) (see CA 2006, s 324–331). CA 2006, s 324 provides that a member of a company is entitled to appoint another person as his proxy to exercise all or any of his rights