Ben is a Partner in the Construction team.
Specialising in non-contentious construction, Ben advises on the procurement and structuring of large projects, contract terms, professional appointments, security documentation, insurance and warranty obligations, supply arrangements, operation and maintenance, infrastructure, power purchase and estate management.
Ben works with all industry standard forms of building contracts; development agreements and bespoke arrangements for large developers and construction companies; renewable energy generation through wind farm development and solar power plant construction.
He also advises commercial occupiers on lease, agreements for lease and licence terms, ensuring appropriate warranties are in place to mitigate exposure for design faults under repairing obligations. He provides in-house training on the legal considerations that arise in the context of major projects, including interpretation of construction documents, drawing on his experience of having worked in-house for both a major construction company and an internationally-renowned university’s estates team.
Ben’s experience of major projects includes the construction of the ‘Walkie Talkie’ building in central London, the Canary Wharf Crossrail Station, the University of Oxford’s Stephen A Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities and the redevelopment of the Shell Centre on the South Bank.
Recent examples of how Ben has helped clients include:
- assisting the project team in the procurement process for the main contractor for the Stephen A Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities at the University of Oxford, including negotiating the Pre-Construction Services Agreement and Building Contract with the main contractor to obtain a very beneficial position for the Employer compared to previous projects;
- advising a Client on complicated Joint Venture Projects, including clauses to be inserted into Development Agreements to fully protect their position, and assisting the Client with the obligations arising out of the Development Agreement for the new Life and Mind Building in the centre of Oxford;
- rapidly putting in place a Pre-Construction Services Agreement and Building Contract to enable the Contractor to begin work on specialist facilities for testing coronavirus vaccines;
- advising on different procurement strategies for the installation of state-of-the-art CT and MRI Scanners at world-renowned hospitals, assisting the Client and the Academics to obtain the best results possible given the various pressures the projects faced. This included negotiating the contract terms and working with the relevant NHS Trust to put Licences to Alter in place;
- assisting departments of the University of Oxford with procurement procedures, including producing various standard form documents and providing training to ensure their proper use;
- advising a Client on a complicated heat network to be constructed at a University campus which would enable the Client to make considerable savings on the cost of heating; and
- advising Clients on the various contractual and commercial options available to them when buildings have had issues, including (but not limited to) sending letters before action and managing external litigation counsel.