We act for employers, developers, main contractors, subcontractors, consultants and insurers in significant construction and engineering disputes.
Our role is to understand the legal, contractual, technical and commercial position quickly, recommend an appropriate course of action and then carry it through. Sometimes that means adjudication or litigation. Often it does not.
A construction dispute can affect cash flow, project delivery and business certainty at the same time.
Money may be withheld, tied up in a claim or exposed to a claim brought against the business. On a live project, the programme and payment cycle continue while management deals with contracts, notices, evidence and other project parties. After completion, the dispute may still affect final accounts, remediation, insurance recoveries and the use or value of the asset.
The legal position matters, but so do the programme, the cost of remediation, the availability of insurance, the prospects of recovery and the commercial consequences of allowing uncertainty to continue.
Book an initial triageConstruction businesses will often have an initial view of who is responsible. The more difficult questions are what the documents and technical evidence will support, what the dispute is realistically worth and which course of action best protects the wider project or business.
What do the contract, appointments, notices and project records actually support?
What is the realistic value of the claim after counterclaims, remediation, legal costs and technical costs are considered?
Is there a payment, notice, adjudication, limitation or other deadline that removes the option of waiting?
What evidence exists now, what is missing and where will expert input be required?
Is the project still live, and how could the next step affect delivery, the supply chain or a commercial relationship?
Is the best result payment, a negotiated outcome, a decision in adjudication, a recovery from another party or an end to the dispute?
The relevant contract, appointments, scope, amendments, instructions, notices, payment provisions and termination rights.
Contemporaneous correspondence, programmes, site records, drawings, reports, valuations and the evidence the other side is likely to produce.
The present project stage, any live deadline and the operational consequences of acting now, later or not at all.
The realistic claim or exposure, counterclaims, costs, solvency, security, guarantees and prospects of recovering money if successful.
Whether expert evidence, remediation decisions, policy coverage, notifications or insurer involvement will shape the strategy.
Whether the right first move is correspondence, negotiation, mediation, adjudication, litigation, a protective step or no immediate escalation.
The commercial objective changes with the stage of the project. On a live project, the priority may be keeping work and cash moving without giving up contractual rights. After completion, the focus may be establishing liability, funding remediation, recovering loss and closing financial exposure.
Payment applications and notices; variations and valuation; delay and disruption; extensions of time; termination; threatened or live adjudication.
Final accounts and retentions; defects and remediation; design and professional negligence; cladding and Building Regulations; water ingress and project damage; insurance and subrogated recovery.
Our Dispute Viability Guide gives senior decision-makers a framework for assessing a dispute before committing to a course of action.
The same questions apply to a construction claim: what the evidence supports, what the dispute is realistically worth, what it may cost, whether recovery is achievable and how the decision affects the wider project or business.
Read our commercial dispute viability guide
Early merits and risk assessment; correspondence and protective steps; Construction and Engineering Pre-Action Protocol compliance; negotiation; mediation; adjudication; litigation; and enforcement.
Payment and final account disputes; contract, delay and variation claims; defects and remediation; design and professional negligence; termination; building safety and cladding; insurance and recoveries.
We take control of the legal process, identify the decisions that matter and coordinate the project documents, technical evidence, experts and counsel required. The aim is to reduce the management burden while keeping the key commercial decisions with the client.
Tenarys was founded by Kevin Timms, a solicitor with more than fifteen years’ disputes experience, including significant construction, insurance and complex multi-party matters.
Kevin’s construction disputes experience includes:
Experience acting for claimants and defendants, together with contractors, construction professionals and insurers, helps us test a client’s position from the perspective the other parties are likely to take. Counsel and technical experts are brought in where the matter requires them.
About Tenarys LawIf you are weighing up a construction dispute, start with a senior, commercially grounded view of where you stand. For suitable matters, the fixed-fee Viability Report gives you a clear written recommendation within 14 days. Where more urgent action is required, we scope the appropriate first step instead.
Book an initial triageThe initial triage is a short conversation to understand the dispute, its approximate value, any immediate deadlines and what the business is trying to achieve. There is no charge for it, and it does not commit you to instructing the firm.
To find out how we can help you, contact us now
Level 30, The Leadenhall Building,
122 Leadenhall Street,
London
EC3V 4AB
With a short triage conversation about the issue, the exposure and any urgent deadlines. If it is a matter we can help with, we explain what information is required and set out the proposed scope and fee before you commit.
A short outline of what has happened, the approximate value or exposure, the current project stage and any deadline. You do not need a complete evidence pack for the initial call. The contract or appointment, amendments, notices, payment documents, key correspondence and relevant technical material will usually be requested afterwards.
Yes. We advise on live payment, notice, variation, delay, termination and adjudication issues, as well as post-completion final account, defect, remediation, design, insurance and recovery disputes.
Yes. We act for claimants and defendants, including employers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants, insurers and insured businesses. Experience of both sides helps us test how the opposing party is likely to present its position.
No. Adjudication can be an appropriate route for many construction contract disputes, but it should not be selected before the documents, urgency, value, evidence and commercial objective are understood. The right first step may instead be correspondence, negotiation, mediation, evidence gathering, a protective step or no immediate escalation.
Costs are agreed in advance wherever the work can be defined. We use fixed fees for discrete pieces of work, including an initial written assessment, and will consider risk-sharing structures where they suit the facts of the case. The triage conversation itself is not charged.
We can be instructed part way through a matter, including where urgent representation or a second view is required. Tell us about any live timetable or deadline when you make the initial enquiry.
State the precise deadline in the triage form and provide any notice or document that created it. We will assess promptly whether we can assist and what immediate step may be required.
