Matters / Construction disputes
Establish responsibility and the route to resolution.
Construction Disputes
Corvinus reconstructs the project, tests the competing accounts and determines what the agreement, technical evidence and documentary record support before a legal route is chosen.
What Corvinus does
What Corvinus does on this matter.
The work within Corvinus's control, subject to the agreed scope.
- 01Reconstructs the project from the contract, drawings, instructions and correspondence.
- 02Tests each competing account against the contemporaneous record.
- 03Separates supported allegations from inference and contradiction.
- 04Defines the resolution route, or prepares the matter for specialist legal escalation.
Typical situations
- The scope of work is disputed
- Work is incomplete or has stopped
- Several parties blame each other
- Instructions and variations were not recorded
- Correspondence has escalated without resolution
Typical situations
- The scope of work is disputed
- Work is incomplete or has stopped
- Several parties blame each other
- Instructions and variations were not recorded
- Correspondence has escalated without resolution
How it is examined
How the matter is examined.
- 01
Reconstruct the project
Assemble the contract, drawings, instructions, valuations and correspondence into one record.
- 02
Test the accounts
Compare what each party says against what the contemporaneous record shows.
- 03
Establish responsibility
Map each issue to the obligation, the party and the supporting evidence.
- 04
Define the route
Set out the resolution options and what escalation would require.
The difficulty
Why the matter becomes difficult.
Construction disputes rarely turn on a single question. Scope, instruction, design, workmanship, coordination, valuation and payment interact, and the accounts of the parties often diverge long before any legal issue is identified.
What Corvinus establishes
What is established before any position is advanced.
- 01
Scope and contract
The agreed scope and the contractual framework.
- 02
Responsibility
Who carried design, instruction, workmanship, coordination and payment responsibilities.
- 03
What was delivered
What was built, omitted, changed or left incomplete.
- 04
Allegation status
Which allegations are supported, inferred or contradicted.
- 05
Causation issues
Causation and responsibility issues requiring specialist technical input.
- 06
Available routes
The available remedial, valuation, negotiation or escalation routes.
- 07
Evidence gaps
What evidence is missing.
Legal and technical framework
What may govern this matter.
Jurisdiction: England and Wales. Applicability depends on the contract, lease, works, parties and facts. This page provides general information and does not determine the position on a particular matter.
View the legal and technical framework
- The agreement governs
- The actual contract, quotation, specification, drawings, instructions and professional appointments govern the analysis.
- Consumer Rights Act 2015
- Duties under the Act may apply to qualifying consumer contracts, including the duty to perform a service with reasonable care and skill. Applicability depends on the parties and the contract.
- Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996
- The Act and the Scheme for Construction Contracts may apply to qualifying construction contracts, subject to the statutory exclusions and the actual contractual arrangement.
- Technical standards as evidence
- Building Regulations, Approved Documents, technical standards and manufacturer requirements may be relevant evidence, but must be applied according to their legal and contractual status.
- Non-compliance is not liability
- Technical non-compliance does not automatically establish a particular party's legal liability. Causation, responsibility and loss are separate questions.
- The agreement governs
- The actual contract, quotation, specification, drawings, instructions and professional appointments govern the analysis.
- Consumer Rights Act 2015
- Duties under the Act may apply to qualifying consumer contracts, including the duty to perform a service with reasonable care and skill. Applicability depends on the parties and the contract.
- Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996
- The Act and the Scheme for Construction Contracts may apply to qualifying construction contracts, subject to the statutory exclusions and the actual contractual arrangement.
- Technical standards as evidence
- Building Regulations, Approved Documents, technical standards and manufacturer requirements may be relevant evidence, but must be applied according to their legal and contractual status.
- Non-compliance is not liability
- Technical non-compliance does not automatically establish a particular party's legal liability. Causation, responsibility and loss are separate questions.
Resolution
What resolution may look like.
These are the routes the work is intended to make available. Whether any is realistic depends on the lease, contract, works and facts.
- Agreement on remedial work
- Agreement on completion or scope
- Account reconciliation
- Narrowing disputed issues
- Supported pre-action correspondence
- Negotiation or mediation preparation
- Escalation with a prepared matter
What you receive
The output is the product.
The deliverables within Corvinus's control on this matter, subject to the agreed scope.
- 01Matter Reconstruction
- 02Contract and Scope Analysis
- 03Chronology
- 04Technical Issue Schedule
- 05Evidence Matrix
- 06Responsibility Matrix
- 07Resolution Strategy
- 08Draft Pre-Litigation Correspondence
- 09Escalation Pack
If the matter does not resolve
Prepared for specialist legal escalation.
Corvinus prepares the contract analysis, chronology, technical issues, evidence matrix and unresolved legal questions for a specialist construction solicitor or counsel.
- Matter summary and chronology
- Contract and scope analysis
- Technical issue schedule
- Evidence and responsibility matrices
- Strengths, weaknesses and unresolved issues
- Briefing for a specialist construction solicitor or counsel
Common failure points
What goes wrong, and the better route.
Escalating before the record is assembled
Positions are taken that the documents may not support.
Better route
Reconstruct the project record before correspondence hardens.
Treating a technical view as a legal conclusion
Responsibility is assumed where the contract may allocate it differently.
Better route
Map technical findings onto the contractual obligations.
Leaving instructions unrecorded
Variations and scope changes become contested from memory.
Better route
Reconstruct and evidence the instruction history.
Common questions
Questions about construction disputes.
Other matters
- Consent and alterationsLicence to AlterMove the alteration towards consent.Move the alteration towards consent.Establish what the lease requires, what the works involve, whether the objections and conditions are supported, and what submission or response moves the application forward.Establish what the lease requires, what the works involve, whether the objections and conditions are supported, and what submission or response moves the application forward.
- Consent and alterationsRetrospective ConsentCreate a route to regularisation.Create a route to regularisation.Establish what was built, which consents were required, what evidence exists and what route may be available to regularise or otherwise resolve the position.Establish what was built, which consents were required, what evidence exists and what route may be available to regularise or otherwise resolve the position.
- Construction disputesDefective WorksEstablish what is defective and what should put it right.Establish what is defective and what should put it right.Compare the delivered work with the obligations that apply, examine causation and responsibility, and define the remedial and evidential position.Compare the delivered work with the obligations that apply, examine causation and responsibility, and define the remedial and evidential position.
Present a matter
Establish responsibility and the route to resolution.
Present the issue first. Corvinus will determine whether the matter is suitable, what information is required and what the proposed scope should address.
Initial enquiry · No obligation to proceed