SCL International

UK

It’s Always the First Place You Look: Finding Harm and Completing the Cause of Action in Negligence for a Defective Building

Kevin Touhey

May 2026

The winning entry in the SCL’s Hudson Prize, published in the SCL Journal: Spring 2026 and presented to a meeting of the SCL in London on 5 May 2026

The paper poses the question: when does a victim of negligence suffer harm, and so accrue a cause of action? Over sixty years ago Diplock LJ took the view that harm was suffered once construction was complete, and the building owner acquired a defective building instead of a sound one.

When ‘More’ Is a Breach: Overdesign and the Limits of Design Obligations in Modern Construction Contracts

Jovana Veletić

May 2026

The second prize winning entry in the Society of Construction Law’s Hudson Prize 2025, published in the SCL Journal: Spring 2026 

The paper examines the issue of overdesign and the possibility of being in breach of contract by exceeding an agreed limit. The paper looks at the traditional limits of liability under reasonable skill and care and why overdesign claims usually fail.

A Private Law Theory of the ‘Just And Equitable’ Requirement In Remediation Contribution Orders

Alec Chen

May 2026

A Highly Commended entry in the SCL’s Hudson Prize, published in the SCL Journal: Spring 2026 

This paper examines the ‘just and equitable’ requirement for a remediation contribution order under the Building Safety Act. It examines the case law and the factors courts have treated as relevant and irrelevant and considers whether private law theories – fault-based, cost-based  and choice-based – reflect the courts’ approach to the just and equitable requirement for making an RCO.

What Qualifies as a ‘Dwelling’ under the Defective Premises Act 1972?

Sheriar Khan and Nicholas Zeolla

May 2026

A Highly Commended entry in the SCL’s Hudson Prize, published in the SCL Journal: Spring 2026 

This paper explores what constitutes a ‘dwelling’ for the purposes of the Defective Premises Act 1972, addressing both the ordinary meaning of the word in non-DPA cases and how this definition has been modified for the purposes of the DPA, including the approach outlined in the Uratemp and Rendlesham Estates cases.

Professional liability after the Building Safety Act 2022

Seb Oram

February 2026

A paper presented to the Society of Construction Law in Reading on 11 February 2026

The paper has a new look at the Building Safety Act 2022 and asks two questions: First, given the stated statutory purpose of allowing claims to be brought directly against those responsible for building defects, what impact has it had upon claims against construction professionals? Secondly, to what extent does it impact on claims not concerning building safety risks, and not having the characteristics that pertain to building liability orders?

A Cross-Jurisdictional Comparison of a Contractor’s Duty to Warn of Design Defects Under English Law and French Law

Professor Anthony Lavers and Rebecca Shorter

November 2025

Published in the SCL Journal: Autumn 2025 

This paper considers the circumstances when a contractor may come under a duty to warn the employer, or the employer’s contract administrator, of deficiencies in the design which the contractor has undertaken to build.

Limitations of Liability

Simon Hale KC

November 2025

Published in the SCL Journal: Autumn 2025 

In this paper Simon Hale KC provides a comprehensive review of limitation of liability clauses from an English & Welsh law perspective. He explains that these clauses are of vital commercial importance to parties on construction or technology projects. If there is clarity the limitation of liability clause will generally be enforced, but that is a big ‘if’.

How Complex Systems Fail: Lessons from Boeing’s 737 Max 8 Crashes

Dr Sean Brady

November 2025

Published in the SCL Journal: Autumn 2025 

When we examine systems, we tend to believe that everything that happens has a definite, identifiable cause and effect. We expect that significant failures happen because of significant causes, and vice versa. The author looks at the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash in 2018, and introduces the sand pile model, explaining that taking a complex systems approach provides a more useful way of viewing these types of incidents.

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