Article 700 launches our legal digest
To celebrate our 700th article, we’re launching a new legal digest in collaboration with construction lawyer Najma Dunnett.
Najma has practised both contentious and non-contentious construction and commercial law in private practice as well as in-house for an international firm of architects and for an architects’ insurance mutual company. She will be posting a new article every week, keeping you up to date with what’s going on in the legal world, what significant cases have passed through the courts and what the implications are for practitioners.
She’s kicking off with the recent case of Hunt v Optima which relates to defects and the issuing of certificates and will have implications for architects’ appointments and professional indemnity insurance.
“This case is significant for architects in terms of the nature of their appointments and the particular services they have agreed to undertake for their employer. It will also have significance for architects’ professional indemnity insurers and the RIBA in terms of issuing guidance on the nature and wording of certificates, including Council of Mortgage Lenders’ certificates and the potential risks in issuing certificates without due care. Where there is doubt whether defective works have been remedied the option of withholding or qualifying certificates and limiting the number of recipients should be carefully considered rather than issuing unqualified certificates as here.”
Najma’s practice N Dunnett Consulting provides legal advice to contractors, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, project managers and other consultants on their terms of appointment as well as offering advice on building contract terms and risk management, training and compliance services.
Featured articles and news
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Awareness of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
What CBAM is and what to do about it.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.
Future Homes Building Standards and plug-in solar
Parts F and L amendments, the availability of solar panels and industry responses.
How later living housing can help solve the housing crisis
Unlocking homes, unlocking lives.
Preparing safety case reports for HRBs under the BSA
A new practical guide to preparing structural inputs for safety cases and safety case reports published by IStructE.
Male construction workers and prostate cancer
CIOB and Prostate Cancer UK encourage awareness of prostate cancer risks, and what to do about it.
The changed R&D tax landscape for Architects
Specialist gives a recap on tax changes for Research and Development, via the ACA newsletter.
Structured product data as a competitive advantage
NBS explain why accessible product data that works across digital systems is key.
Welsh retrofit workforce assessment
Welsh Government report confirms Wales faces major electrical skills shortage, warns ECA.
A now architectural practice looks back at its concept project for a sustainable oceanic settlement 25 years on.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.
Embedding AI tools into architectural education
Beyond the render: LMU share how student led research is shaping the future of visualisation workflows.
Why document control still fails UK construction projects
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor explains what needs to change and how.
Inspiration for a new 2026 wave of Irish construction professionals.
New planning reforms and Warm Homes Bill
Take centre stage at UK Construction Week London.