Engineering

Negotiating Uneven Ground

Civil Engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the built environment including roads, airports, pipelines, railways etc.
Under this global umbrella are specific sub-types such as

Many disputes arise because a contractor on commencing works finds the ground conditions it was expecting are not as found on site. What the contractor can do about this will depend on the type of contract.

We have significant experience of advising on disputes in respect of ground conditions including such projects as:

Tunnelling under a live railway
Tunnelling under a river
Groundworks for a flood defence scheme.
Groundworks for a substantial housing development
Groundworks for a substantial nuclear power station; and
Groundworks for a wind farm

M&E is an extremely complex area which deals with all of the systems to be integrated into a building including such things as:

lighting,
heating,
ventilation,
fire and alarm systems,
lifts

This will usually involve many different specialist contractors. The programming and planning for such works to interface and co-ordinate is extremely complex. Disputes may often arise because one sub-contractor is delayed which then requires other follow on trades to work out of sequence adding time and cost.

We have experience of advising in a number of complex mechanical and electrical disputes.

Drainage

This involves drainage both above and below ground. Again, often this requires a complex interface between specialist contractors and designers to calculate the capacity requirements for a drainage system.

We have experience of working on a number of projects where disputes have arisen in respect of drainage issues including, airports, a new housing estate, and a medieval building.

We can advise on all aspects of engineering projects from procurement through to dispute resolution. We have staff who have worked in this field in a commercial setting with engineering qualifications.