Commercial Construction

In the second BCLP Insight in our three-part series exploring the evolving Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC) model for major water infrastructure, Freya Scott examines Ofwat’s new Baseline CAP Agreement and considers how standardisation could reduce procurement costs, improve bid comparability and create a more predictable market.

Freya Scott launches a three-part series examining the evolving Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC) model for major water infrastructure. In this first article, Freya reviews recent developments in the DPC programme, including the project pipeline, contractor feedback, Ofwat’s new CAP Agreement template and the evolving relationship between DPC and Specified Infrastructure Project Regulations (SIPR).

An article, first published in PLC Construction, considering the Commercial Payments Bill, in particular the provisions that ban the practice of deducting and withholding retention payments under a construction contract, and the implications for the construction industry.

The judgment in Deerns UK Limited v VDC LHR11 Limited [2026] EWHC 1509 (TCC) is a useful reminder that if payment provisions in construction contracts do not comply with the requirements of the Construction Act they risk being superseded by the Scheme for Construction Contracts. This can lead to unexpected consequences: in this case, a payer being liable to pay a notified sum in full after the pay less notices it served were deemed to be out of time.

At the start of July 2026, the government published its responses to two earlier consultations on reducing  the scope of work subject to the higher-risk building (HRB) regime (Consultation outcome: Proportionality in building control: categorisation of higher-risk building work and Consultation Outcome: Improving proportionality and safety outcomes in building control: telecommunications work) and also launched a new consultation on the application of the HRB regime to emergency repairs (Consultation: Improving proportionality and building safety outcomes in building control: emergency repairs under the higher-risk building regime). Alongside this, it announced new funding to support the remediation of unsafe cladding on multi-occupied residential buildings under 11 metres in England (Guidance: Buildings under 11 metres: new funding and Guidance: Buildings under 11 metres: leaseholders' and residents' guide).  This Insight considers the key takeaways from each of these developments.

In this BCLP Insight, Richard Dupay and Muhammad Hassan explore how easily parties operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) could transition to NEC from FIDIC and, specifically, consider how many Y clauses an NEC contract would need in the KSA.

In this BCLP Insight, first published in PLC Construction, Zaynah Mirza considers the new requirement for second staircases in residential buildings introduced by amendments to Approved Document B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2214).

In this BCLP Insight, a version of which was published in PLC Construction, Natalie Wardle reflects on her time at the Datacloud Conference in Cannes focusing on the key ingredients necessary for a successful construction project.