A Co Dublin building firm has been ordered by the High Court to pay pension contribution of more than €180,000 into a fund for its workers, in a landmark court case. Following an application by the Irish Pensions Board, Justice Laffoy ordered Limestone Construction to pay the amount outstanding to the Construction Workers Pension Scheme and also to register their 200 workers with the scheme. 
 

The Revenue Commissioners have enacted new regulations to strengthen the RCT (Relevant Contracts Tax) system with the aim of clearly classifying workers as either directly employed of self-employed contractors.  The regulations come into effect on April 1, along with a substantially revised declaration form (Form RCT1).

JCB share of the world construction equipment market now holds strong at 12%, up from 10.4 per cent in 2006, with India its single biggest market. According to the recent financial results released, its turnover figure increased to £2.25 billion in 2007 to £1.75 billion the previous year, with profits rising 30%.  India was also revealed as the machinery giant’s single largest market, surpassing the UK.

Despite Liam Carrolls stake-building at McInerney, growth projections at target acquisitions are too uncertain in the short-term to warrant board approval, by John Coolican, Director, CFM Capital. The volatility and confusion that we have seen in international markets over the last six to nine months has continued to rock investor confidence not just in the Irish construction sector but much wider – the majority of players are sitting firmly on the sidelines choosing to wait and watch rather than participate in either investments or trade transactions.

Our legal experts Finola McCarthy and Alice Crowley of RDJ Solicitors trawl through the minefield that is Employment Law to answer your legal questions, including: Q My firm has been approached to take over a project from another architect. What legal considerations do we need to take account of? Q I have recently set up in practice and I am about to do my first project for a developer client as opposed to an owner-occupier. What are my responsibilities to the subsequent purchaser of the property?

The greater the interface between temporary and permanent works, the more likely that contractors and engineers may each become subject to a duty to warn, writes Rachael Lee of Arthur Cox.

Don O Sullivan of CIF and Barry B LePatner, a solicitor with expertise in contracts come head to head on the issue of fixed price contracts and examine the Pro's and Con's involved in this contentious area.