Rowan Pennington-Benton and Nicholas Leah speak at Arbrix Construction Group Autumn 2025 Meeting

Rowan Pennington-Benton and Nicholas Leah will be speaking at the Arbrix Construction Group Autumn 2025 Meeting at Coppid Beech Hotel, Bracknell on Saturday 18 October.

Rowan and Nicholas will be speaking on the topic of “Reasonable Costs on Termination” following their involvement in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council’s landmark decision in Waterworks Ltd v Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago [2025] UKPC 9.  

The decision addresses an important point of contractual interpretation related to clause 19.6(c) of the FIDIC General Conditions of Contract (1999 edition). Under that sub-clause, termination of a construction contract for convenience by the Employer allows the Contractor to recover “any other Cost or liability which in the circumstances was reasonably incurred by the Contractor in the expectation of completing the Works”. The question, however, is how should courts assess what is “reasonably incurred” in this context. The Board clarified the meaning of reasonably incurred and what Contractors are expected to evidence to be compensated under clause 19.6(c).

With the FIDIC suite of contracts being the most internationally used standard form construction contracts, Rowan and Nicholas will be discussing the impact of the Privy Council’s decision on the construction industry and what costs and liabilities are likely to be considered reasonably incurred by judges and arbitrators going forward.