Ben Quiney KC

Construction

Ben has wide experience in construction disputes including trial work in the TCC, Arbitrations (domestic and international), and Adjudications. He has dealt with cases for both employers and contractors. Ben regularly works on insurance issues arising from construction projects, including claims under CAR, PI, Property, and Liability policies.

Ben has wide experience of arbitrations and has acted in ICC, DIA, LCIA, LMAA, ARIAS, SIAC, and ad hoc arbitrations.  Ben also acts as an arbitrator and accepts appointments in this and other areas.

Ben has particular experience in cases involving construction professionals. The cases that he has been involved in have included allegations against professionals including architects, engineers, valuers, M&E Consultants, quantity surveyors, and emerging professions. Ben has experience of most standard form contracts, including JCT, ICE, NEC, FIDIC, and professional terms (such as ACE, RIBA, RICS). In the latest edition of Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 he is identified as a Leading KC in Construction Professional Negligence and in Construction.

Selected Cases

Recent cases include:

• Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust v Lendlease & ors – Ben led team in the TCC acting for architects that were part of a large professional and contractor team involved in the construction of a specialist emergency care hospital. The case is a complex multi party claim for over £100m raising numerous legal and technical issues. It was noted as one of the Top 20 trials of 2022 in the Lawyer as considered in the recent decisions of [2022] EWHC 1266 (TCC) and [2022] EWHC 2116 (TCC) (DACBeachcroft).
• Shepherd Construction v Dunnett Craven and ors – Ben is acting for professional indemnity insurers in a £50m claim brought under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 and the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 arising from alleged remedial works to defective fire safety elements of a very large residential complex. This case raises complex architectural issues and insurance law defences relating to prior notifications and an absence of fair presentation (Mills & Reeve).
• Scottish Arbitration – Ben acted in a multi-million pound claim made against a large engineering company involved in a project to rehabilitate a large part of the main water system in Scotland. Allegations of breach of contract arising from the design and issues of defective products arose, requiring the examination of a number of complex scientific, chemical and technical matters, as well as matters of arbitration law and practice; as considered in Arbitration Appeal No 1 of 2021 [2021] CSOH 41. (Beale & Co).

Construction Insurance

Ben frequently advises on insurance disputes arising from construction projects. This includes claims and recoveries. Ben has particular experience with CAR policies (including LEG3 and DE5 wordings) and professional indemnity cover. Recent projects he has acted on include:

• Coverage issues arising from a large PFI Hospital project.
• CAR and PI coverage issues with respect to multiple power stations across Europe.
• Professional Indemnity and CAR claims following the modernisation of a major railway system.
• Coverage issues arising from a prestigious University project including CAR and LEG3 issues.
• Co-insurance problems arising in various projects including the construction of a prestigious development in London and the construction of a landmark office block also in London.
• Coverage issues arising from product liability policies and the failure of products in various large construction projects, such as construction materials, wall systems and marine engineering products.
• Recoveries arising from fires on various projects, including a major National Trust Property and specialist engineering facilities that involved the use of “Hot Works”.
• Claims involving decennial defects liability policies issued for new build developments and high rise buildings.

Adjudications and Enforcements

Ben has extensive experience in complex and high value adjudications. He deals with adjudications from start to finish, including enforcement. Recent adjudications and enforcements have included:

• A Power Station Project – Ben acted in a multi-million claim arising from the construction of a power station and complex issues of professional negligence (RPC).
• A Large University Project – Ben acted for an architect in a complex and multi-million pound adjudication dealing with the nature and extent of the duties of various professionals and the difficulties arising from works on listed buildings (DWF).
• A Large London Hotel Development – Ben acted for a developer in a series of multi-million pound adjudications arising from a serious fire in a very prestigious London development. The series of adjudications have focused on the cause and culpability for a large fire, operation of a JV agreement, liquidated damages, and the role of project managers (Howard Kennedy).
• A Significant University Accommodation Block – Ben acted for the a firm of architects in defending an adjudication arising from alleged defective cladding and fire safety design. The dispute raised questions of the state of the art in cladding claims, the extent of liability in the context of allocated risks and scope of duty, and the effect of allegedly reasonable settlements (Beale & Co).

Cladding and Fire Safety Claims

• Following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower Ben has advised on a large number of claims, arbitrations and recovery actions for both claimants, insured and insurers. This has included a number of policy issues ranging from coverage, claims issues, and the level of permitted recovery. Ben has advised primary and excess insurers as to the application of coverage clauses, exclusions and aggregation on a number of high profile projects. Claims have included:
• Hospital: acting for an architect defending claims arising from the construction of a dedicated A&E Hospital, including alleged defects in the wall system used and internal fire protections (Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust v Lendlease).
• Student Accommodation: acting for insurers defending claims relating to the monitoring of construction work with respect to internal compartmentation and other elements, as well as coverage issues (Shepherd Construction v Dunnett Craven and ors).
• Large Apartment Complex: advising on multiple claims arising from a class action of claims dealing with alleged defects and decennial insurance products.
• Retirement Complexes: alleged claims arising from multiple developments relating to the construction and design of cavity walls including the operation of exclusions in various layers of insurance cover.
• Professional Indemnity Policies: advising on various PI policies for various construction professionals as to the diverse forms of wording on cladding and fire safety clauses and underlying claims.
• Large Apartment Complex: acting for the Defendant engineers facing multiple claims from flat owners for allegedly defective cladding and fire protection (The 52 Occupiers of the Ceramic Works v Bowmer & Kirkland Ltd).

Awards

News

• Crown Office Chambers shortlisted in eleven categories at The Legal 500 Bar Awards 2023
• Court of Appeal upholds anti-suit injunction

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Articles

• 2 Entertain Video Ltd & Ors v Sony DADC Europe Ltd [2020] EWHC 972 (TCC) – TCC gives judgment in major insurance claim arising out of the 2011 London Riots
• Ben Quiney KC, Carlo Taczalski and Frederick Simpson discuss the recent Judgment on the Ingenious Litigation for Practical Law Company

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Events

• David Sears KC and Ben Quiney KC to speak at the White Paper Conference
• MBL: Construction Law Conference 2016 – London

Qualifications

• Birkdale School, Sheffield.
• University College, Oxford. BA (Hons) in Law – First Class.
• Tax Trainee with Ernst & Young
• University College, Oxford. BCL.
• Admitted to Gray’s Inn. Awarded the Lord Birkenhead Scholarship.
• Inns of Court School of Law.
• Called to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Virgin Islands Circuit.

Seminars

Ben regularly gives seminars in his areas of expertise. He is happy to do so as part of in-house training. In the past few years he has given seminars on the following topics: Insurance Act 2015; liquidated damages; fire and disaster claims; bonds & guarantees; conflicts of interest; privilege and the law of evidence; damages; fiduciary and directors’ duties; interim commercial remedies; restrictive covenants; the impact of Covid 19 and insurance claims; loss of a chance in professional negligence claims; and the Law Commission reform of Insurance Law.

Memberships

• LCLCBA
• TECBAR
• COMBAR
• PNBA