Construction and Engineering
"There will be new investment screening legislation, anticipated to apply to transactions that directly or indirectly relate to, or impact upon, one or more of several matters"
CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING
Collaboration
Use of collaborative contracting will continue to be promoted as a way of better aligning parties’ objectives to improve productivity, efficiency, and overall project outcomes. A further driver will be the objective of reducing the whole-life carbon emissions of construction projects. We expect to see more frequent testing of new mechanisms such as Secondary Option X29 produced by the NEC, and the range of clauses developed by The Chancery Lane Project, which are increasingly being adapted for use in different jurisdictions.
Managing Disputes
The scale of infrastructure required to be delivered this decade, coupled with global shocks and supply chain pressures, may bring a greater focus to dispute management and resolution in 2023. In Ireland we are now equipped with some helpful case law to inform certain aspects of the statutory adjudication regime, and we expect to see increasing efficiency and clarity around the use of this swifter, more cost-effective, dispute resolution scheme. It will be important as well, in contract negotiation, to be astute to areas that can be effectively dealt with through other ADR forms, such as expert determination.
Critical Infrastructure – Investment Screening
There will be new investment screening legislation, anticipated to apply to transactions that directly or indirectly relate to, or impact upon, one or more of several matters. Those matters include critical infrastructure such as energy, transport, water, health, communications, media, data processing or storage, aerospace, defence, electoral or financial infrastructure and sensitive facilities, including the land/real estate used crucial for the use of such infrastructure.
For further information on the Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022, see our detailed briefing here.
"A further driver will be the objective of reducing the whole-life carbon emissions of construction projects."