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Ahead of my vacation scheme this year, I was asked to rank a list of departments in order of preference. Despite it not being my first choice, I spent the week with the construction team. I’d never formally learned about this area of law, but – in hindsight – I'm incredibly glad that I had the chance to try it.

Over the course of the week, construction law proved to be a fascinating and versatile practice area, situated at the intersection of contract law, tort, insolvency, planning and, increasingly, environmental and health and safety regulation. Though I was only there for a short time, the work I completed and the conversations I had with members of my team demonstrated just how wide-ranging and varied this practice area is – even for specialists. It offers the chance to work on tangible, visible real estate projects at a critical stage in their development, watching the effects of your work take shape in real time.

So, in this article, I'll be exploring what construction law actually looks like, the difference between contentious and non-contentious construction work, and what a construction lawyer actually contributes to a real estate project.

Find out more about what it’s like to work in construction law with this Practice Area Profile with Charles Russell Speechlys LLP’s Francis Ho.

What is construction law, really?

To understand construction law, it helps to first understand its place in the wider real estate asset lifecycle.

Construction is the bit that comes after the planning and development of a property, but before it’s actually used (typically leased or sold). By the time a project is handed over to construction lawyers, planning permission has already been secured, the site has already been acquired, a funding structure has already been secured against the site, and the design has already been signed off by an architect.

So, what is the role of a construction lawyer? It breaks down into three strands of work:

• Negotiating building contracts: these contracts are usually based on a standard form for the industry. Lawyers negotiate matters such as times for completion, what counts as an extension of time, and what to do in the event of a late completion.
• Drafting collateral warranties and third-party rights: construction is an area wholly dependent on contracts, sub-contracts, sub-sub-contracts (…and the list goes on). The main contract for a project is always between a developer (who owns or has an interest in the site) and main contractor (the company physically responsible for building the property), but the eventual purchaser or tenant of the property has no direct contractual relationship with the contractor or subcontractors. That’s where collateral warranties come in – they give those third parties a direct right to sue if something is built badly, even if they weren’t a party to the original contract.
• Handling contracts and professional appointments: lawyers straighten out the documents setting out the scope, fees and liability caps for various parties to the construction, such as architects, quantity surveyors, engineers and project managers.

What about construction disputes?

A construction disputes lawyer sits at a later point in the lifecycle. They come into play when one of the above methods of risk allocation goes south – often during or after construction (but also, occasionally, years later once defects surface).

The types of questions they deal with can encompass the following.

• Delays: if a project finished late, is the contractor liable for liquidated damages, or did they have a valid extension of time claim?
• Defects: if the building was constructed poorly, does it fall within the relevant limitation period?
• Payment disputes: what happens if one party hasn't been paid for work done or variations instructed?
• Termination disputes: is the contractor's breach serious enough to justify termination by the employer, or does the contractor have a valid claim for wrongful termination?
• Building safety disputes: given the Building Safety Act 2022 and post-Grenfell remediation, who in the contractual chain – developer, contractor, subcontractor, consultants – is actually responsible when defects are found?

Adjudication: a quirk of construction law

One of the more interesting things I learned during my vac scheme was that construction has its own dispute resolution process, separate from general commercial litigation, called adjudication.

Adjudication was designed as a fast-moving alternative to litigation, to keep cash flowing on live construction projects (as, unlike in other industries, you can’t really press pause on a building site while a dispute plays out). It resolves disputes within 28 days, producing a decision that’s binding on an interim basis – which means that either party can still take the matter to litigation or arbitration afterwards if they’re unhappy with the outcome. However, in practice, such decisions are rarely challenged.

By the end of my vacation scheme, conversations with my team (as well as helping with the odd task) showed me that whether you’re drafting the contracts that allocate risk, or picking up the pieces once a dispute breaks out, a career in construction law can provide you with a well-rounded view of how a project – and the people, money and risk behind it – actually comes together.

Looking back, being placed in construction rather than either of my top choices turned out to be the best thing about the scheme. Beyond the wonderful team, I was surprised by just how broad the scope of the work I did was – touching on contract, tort, regulatory and environmental law. This practice area has gone from one I was mildly curious about to one I definitely plan to try again. I hope this article has made you just as keen to give it a shot!