The Irish Construction Contracts Bill 2010

23 May 2011

The Construction Industry Federation is urging its members to contact local TDs in order to ensure changes are made to the Construction Contracts Bill which is on the government's legislation programme and will be debated over the coming months.

The purpose of the legislation is to provide a mechanism for ensuring payment in construction contracts. The bill provides for a fast track dipute resolution process in the form of adjudication. The model is tried and tested and has been very successful in other jurisdictions most notably the UK. Some changes to the draft bill are necessary if the legislation is to achieve what it set out to do.

As drafted, the bill provides that the adjudicators decision will not be binding in circumstances where a dispute is referred to arbitration. This effectively removes the "teeth" from the legislation. If this is not changed prior to enactment of the legislation, we will lose a prime opportunity to regulate and ensure payments in the industry.

The CIF has prepared a document outlining the changes it requires to the legislation and has provided a draft letter for members to send to local TDs in relation to the issue.

Proposed Amendments

Draft Letter to Policiticians

For further infomation contact Susan Bryson, Mason Hayes + Curran