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A-Z of Guides and Templates

A-Z of guides and templates

How the Business Policy & Practice team can help

The Business & Legal team are here to help by providing you with practical and responsive, guidance, templates and tools to help you manage your business risks.

“We will give you the advice you need to navigate commercial risks and extricate yourself from commercial predicaments.”

Below is an outline of what we can do to support your business moving towards prosperity and growth.

  • Our aim is to be your trusted intuitive business adviser – a reliable friend who will help you learn more about running a contracting business, avoiding and managing the pitfalls with affect your contemporaries where possible.
  • We’re FREE! (unless stated otherwise) and can save you thousands of pounds that you would otherwise spend on professional fees – an equivalent specialist adviser may cost £350 an hour on the open market - in document reviews and objectively reality testing you position within the context of a dispute.
  • We have no monetary interest in disputes cascading further.
  • We can't represent you in proceedings or in your negotiations, but we are links to those that can.
  • We can guarantee that we'll give you advice you need to hear, rather than the advice you want to hear. 

Duty of care

Documents

We will review your documents to ensure they are fit for use; we deal with issues relating to:

  • PQQ, procurement and pre-tendering
  • Getting into contract & risk mitigation
  • Contract management
  • Compliance issues
  • Software solutions for managing risk
  • BIM risk mitigation

Disputes

We will work through your dispute and offer pragmatic advice on how best to manage your situation moving forward, including:

  • Payment & Retentions
  • Offer an ECA Mediation service
  • Reality testing the strength of your position, documents and evidence
  • Settlement negotiations
  • Court, arbitration and adjudication proceedings and insolvency processes

FREE forms, templates, documents and guidance

We continually update our bank of advice based on the nature and of frequency of your enquiries. We have therefore developed a number of key documents to help you protect your business, including:

  • Standard amendments to JCT Sub-Contract
  • Purchase of goods
  • Sub-sub-contract
  • Collateral warranty
  • Maintenance Agreement
  • Parent company guarantee
  • Director’s guarantee
  • NDA/Confidentiality
  • Consumer contract
  • Performance Bonds

 

Timeframes

  • During office hours - Monday - Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm - you can log a call and if we can deal with it there and then, we will.
  • If no one is immediately available, your call will be acknowledged, and a member of the team will then advise you of any further information we required and a timescale for a substantive response to your enquiry.
  • We work to a KPI of a 7 working day turnaround.  However, we try to provide Members with advice and support within the timeframes appropriate to the enquiry.
  • Where we are given a restricted window because we have been engaged later in the process, this may not be possible.

A-Z of guides for Legal & Business

A 

Adjudication – low value system (guidance)
Jan 2024

Asbestos claims – historic insurance tracing
Jan 2024
 Assurance Schemes (Guidance)Feb 2023
 Autumn Statement 2022: HeadlinesNov 2022
B 
 Brexit (Guidance)Jan 2020
C 
 Collateral Warranties (Guidance)Nov 2022
 Competition Law (Guidance)Feb 2020
 

Construction Act - This is a link to the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996

 

Contract for use direct with commercial/business client (template)
April 2024

Cyber Security (Guidance)Mar 2022
COVID-19 Business Recovery Guidance
 Business Continuity Planning
This document outlines key strategic areas for a business to consider in assimilating their business continuity planning.    
Mar 2020
 

CLC Guidance on contractual disputes
How industry can protect and collaborate to avoid disputes and accommodate the impact of COVID-19

May 2020
 CLC Site Operating Procedures v1 
Initial guidance from the Construction Leadership Council on working on site. This has been superseded by v4.    
Mar 2020
 CLC Site Operating Procedure v2
This CLC version was live for a matter of hours, and any businesses who took decisions based on this should seek legal advice. This has been superseded by v4.
Apr 2020
 CLC Site Operating Procedures v3Apr 2020
 CLC Site Operating Procedures v4May 2020
 CLC Site Operating Procedures - Version 5Jul 2020
 CLC Site Operating Procedures (SOP) - Version 6Oct 2020
 Commercial Insolvency ChangesJul 2020
 Contracts Force MajeureMay 2020
 Coronavirus (Guidance) Mar 2020
 Coronavirus - Contractual Issues 
This is summary guidance on what contractual issues will need to be considered in light of COVID-19. Please click here for a related webinar.
May 2020
 Disputes & Collaboration - Summary GuideJul 2020
 Government guidance to businesses on responsible contractual behaviourMay 2020
 Future Proofing - Guidance Jul 2020
 Obtaining Bonds/Surety during COVID-19 Jul 2020
 Procurement Policy Note - Government Procurement
As a direct or indirect public sector supplier, you could use this as the basis for negotiating critical payment and other contractual relief measures.
Apr 2020
 Procurement Policy Note - Supplier Relief 
As a direct or indirect public sector supplier, you can use this as the basis for negotiating critical payment and other contractual relief measures
Apr 2020
 Record Keeping - GuidanceJul 2020
 CLC Site Operating Procedures v1 
Initial guidance from the Construction Leadership Council on working on site. This has been superseded by v4.
Mar 2020
 CLC Site Operating Procedure v2
This CLC version was live for a matter of hours, and any businesses who took decisions based on this should seek legal advice. This has been superseded by v4. 
Apr 2020
 CLC Site Operating Procedures v3Apr 2020
 CLC Site Operating Procedures v4May 2020
 CLC Site Operating Procedures - Version 5Jul 2020
 Template - Commercial letter SOP compliance
Precedent letter for sending to principal contractors to confirm safe site conditions
Apr 2020
 Travel to work letter template
This template is for those who need to provide employees/sub-contractors with a letter of authorisation to confirm why they are travelling to work (which cannot be performed remotely), should they be requested by the authorities
Apr 2020
D 
 

Debt Recovery Guidance - ECA FREE letter before claim service

Mar 2023

Design Liability (Guidance)
Jan 2024
 Data Protection Registration Fee (Guidance)Feb 2020
E 

ECA Mediation ServiceMar 2024
 Employment Status GuideFeb 2019
F 
G 
H 
I 
 

Inflation: CLC call for industry collaboration on risks of inflation (July 2021) use of JCT fluctuations and/or NEC Option X1

Jul 2021
 

Inflation: CLC call for delay to introduction of UKCA in January 2023   

Aug 2021
 

Inflation: CLC PAG Statement on availability and inflation of materials

Oct 2022
 

Inflation: CLC PAG statement on availability and inflation of materials

Sep 2022
 

Inflation: CLC PAG Statement on availability and inflation of materials

Jul 2022
 

Inflation: CLC PAG Statement on availability and inflation of materials

Jun 2022
 

Inflation: CLC PAG Statement on availability and inflation of materials

31 May 2022
 

Inflation: CLC PAG statement on availability and inflation of materials

11 May 2022
 

Inflation: CLC PAG Statement on availability and inflation of materials

Apr 2022
 

Inflation: CLC Guidance to Supply Chain on Assessing and Mitigating risk of Russia/Ukraine

Mar 2022
 

Inflation: ECA Webinar: ECA with Ruth Wilkinson – Mitigating the contractual risk of inflation

Feb 2022
 

Inflation: ECA Webinar: ECA with EDA and guests – the size and shape of the problem

Nov 2021
 

Inflation: ECA Webinar: ECA with EDA and BEAMA – the size and shape of the problem

Jul 2021
 Inflation: Fluctuations and IndexationNov 2022
 Inflation: Prime Cost, Cost Reimbursable and Target Cost Contracts (Guidance)Nov 2022
 Inflation: Provisional sums under fixed price contractsNov 2022
 

Inflation: NI Govt Guidance on collaborative risk sharing of inflation - PAN 01/21 - Construction Materials Price Increases

Dec 2021
 

Inflation: Welsh Govt Guidance on collaborative risk sharing of inflation - WPPN 09/21: Sourcing building materials for construction projects in Wales

Oct 2021
 Insurance in Construction & FM (Guidance)Mar 2022
 Insolvency (Guidance)Feb 2020
J 
K 
L 
 Late Payment of Commercial DebtsAug 2019
 Legal & Business (Guidance)Feb 2020
 Loaning of Labour (Guidance)Feb 2020
 Letter of Intent (Guidance)Mar 2022
 Letter of Intent (Template)Mar 2022
M  
 Making Tax Digital (Guidance)Jan 2020
 Materials (Guidance) Dec 2021
 Maintenance Contract (Template)Mar 2022
 Materials Contract (Template)Jul 2022
N 
O 
 Onerous Terms Feb 2019
P
  
 Procurement Bill (Guidance)Jun 2022
 Pay Less Notice (Template)Jun 2022
 

Performance Bond - on-default

May 2023
 Precedent Brexit StatementJan 2020
 Presentation Skills (Guidance)Feb 2020
 Professional Indemnity Insurance (Guidance)Mar 2022
Q 
R 
 Retentions guidance working under NEC contractsNov 2022
 Retention of Title (Guidance)Feb 2020

Risks Surrounding Design Liability (Guidance)
Dec 2023
 Russia/Ukraine Analysis Mar 2022
S 
 Statutory Payment Reporting Requirements (Guidance)Mar 2023

Sub-Contract - Pro-Sub-Contractor (Template)April 2024

Sub-Sub-Contract - Pro-Sub-Contractor (Template)
April 2024
 Suspension Notice under the Construction ActMar 2023
T 
U 
V 
 VAT Notice: 708/6 Energy Saving Materials and Heating Equipment (Guidance)May 2022
 Vesting Certificate/Off-site Materials Agreement (Template)Jul 2022
W 
X 
Y 
Z