First Parliamentary Debate On Construction Act Changes

Last Wednesday the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill was subjected to its first debate in the House of Lords. The Bill is expected to be enacted by the end of 2009 and to affect only contracts entered into after that date.

Baroness Andrews (the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government) introduced the Bill on which we recently reported (for details click here). She said that while the Construction Act 1996 has generally worked well, "it has become clear ... that it is defective in certain regards. Our amendments address these weaknesses and will create greater certainty and clarity of cash flow for all in the construction supply chain."