Beale & Co Winter Webinar Series Gets underway!

Chapter sponsor, solicitors Beale & Co’s winter lunchtime webinar series is well underway.  The five webinar series concludes on the 20th of January.  Attendees can earn one Learning Unit for each webinar.  Registration for the two remaining webinars, taking place on the 13th and 20th of January, is here: Where will the Golden Thread lead – the Draft Building Safety Bill   Registration (gotowebinar.com) & Contractual Considerations in 2021 – a New Landscape?  Registration (gotowebinar.com)

The series started on the 25th of November with a webinar called, “Software as a Service – Consultants as Technology Providers and the Legal Ramifications”.   Architects are increasingly taking the role of technology providers and face new legal issues because of this.  Presenter James Hutchinson examined the concept of Software as a Service.  Something as simple as cloud computing can expose architects to liabilities not addressed by traditional and standard forms of contract.  

James cited real world examples and suggested contracts should acknowledge the intellectual property rights are owned by the supplier and should limit the license granted to the client to a specific project or time frame.

The second webinar, “External Wall Fire Safety and Form EWS1” took place on the 2nd of December.  It was presented by Beale & Co partners Will Buckby and Ian Masser.  They discussed the ongoing industry challenges surrounding external wall fire safety on buildings over 18 metres in height initiated by the Grenfell Tower disaster.  The position in relation to new developments is now relatively clear given the 2018 Building (Amendment) Regulations, which ban the use of combustible materials anywhere on buildings over 18 metres in height.  But what about the significant number of existing buildings that already contain combustible materials? This webinar discussed the use and limitations of certifying building safety and combustibility through Form EWS1.  Among their concerns for design professionals is joint and several liability, and the fact the Form does not state how the assessment was carried out or the extent of the investigations.

“Prolongation and Variations in Consultant’s Appointments” was presented by James Vernon and Andrew Croft on the 16th of December.  This webinar discussed the thorny issue of delays caused to consultant’s services due to reasons beyond the consultant’s control.  This is a particularly topical point given the impact of COVID-19 on our project schedules.  James and Andrew looked at how the various standard forms of contract address this issue, or not, as the case may be.  They suggested architects keep detailed records of additional costs incurred by prolongation and raise the issue with the client in a timely manner.  Architects should include “entitlement to additional payment” clauses in contracts and avoid contract clauses that allow the unilateral right for a client to update the project programme. 

Written by: Michael Lischer