In its latest offering, "CLC COVID-19 Claims and
Disputes in Construction" the Construction Leadership
Council (CLC) predicts that disputes related to COVID-19 are set to
rise in 2021. While the optimist may hope that parties will
continue to or aim to work collaboratively in order to find
workable commercial solutions to claims arising from the global
pandemic, the realist knows that such disputes are inevitable.
From data gathered by the CLC, it appears that commercial
behaviour is hardening in the supply chain and that many of the
more complex COVID-19 disputes from 2020 have been left to a later
date; the CLC expects that parties will turn their attention to
them in 2021. Throw into the mix Brexit, financial year-ends and
the dire economic outlook for 2021, and everything points towards
to an increase in the likelihood of disputes.
