Joint ventures for construction lawyers

Choosing the joint venture vehicle

Parties wishing to enter into a joint venture may:

•
establish a separate limited company of which each party is a shareholder (a corporate joint venture)
•
establish a legal entity other than a company (eg a limited liability partnership or European Economic Interest Grouping)
•
establish a partnership or limited partnership
•
set out all the details of their joint venture relationship in a contract (a contractual or commercial joint venture)

The choice of joint venture vehicle will depend on the individual circumstances of the parties. See Practice Note: Setting up a joint venture—choice of structure.

Preliminary considerations

Once the parties have decided to use a limited company for their joint

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Construction News

DESNZ signs contracts for UK’s first CCUS projects in Teesside

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced the signing of contracts for the UK's first carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) projects in Teesside. Construction of the East Coast Cluster project is scheduled to commence in mid-2025, supported by a £21.7bn government funding commitment announced in October 2024. The agreements will unlock £4bn worth of contracts to be awarded by East Coast Cluster projects to supply chains. In addition, the Low Carbon Contracts Company has signed the Dispatchable Power Agreement (DPA) contract, positioning itself as the contractual private law counterparty and settlement body to the DPA Net Zero Teeside Power project, while also overseeing the Revenue Support Agreement to mitigate financial risks for carbon dioxide transport and storage companies.

CLC publishes letter to Skills England

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has published a letter to Skills England, emphasising the construction industry’s critical role in promoting economic growth and the necessity for an effective skills system tailored to the industry's specific needs. The letter outlines three primary objectives for Skills England: firstly, to facilitate an employer-demand driven skills system across government; secondly, to foster a more collaborative approach to evidence gathering, sharing, and analysis; and thirdly, to ensure that the growth and skills levy effectively supports and incentivises employers to meet the industry's strategic skills requirements.

KCL publishes report on international use of disputes boards in construction

The Centre of Construction Law and Dispute Resolution at King's College London (KCL) has published its ‘2024 Dispute Boards International Survey’, providing insights into the use and effectiveness of dispute boards in the construction and infrastructure sectors. The survey, which analysed data from 4,019 dispute boards over six years, found that 50% of individuals and 32% of entities reported frequent adoption of dispute avoidance measures by dispute boards. It also highlighted that compliance with dispute board recommendations varies, but both individuals and entities indicated that binding decisions are generally followed ‘most of the time’. The report further revealed a low frequency (0-10%) of subsequent proceedings after dispute board decisions. In addition, there is substantial support among stakeholders for an international convention to facilitate the enforcement of dispute board decisions.

Arbitration or not arbitration? (Bugsby Property LLC v Omni Bridgeway (Fund 5) Cayman Invt Ltd)

Arbitration analysis: An agreement varying a litigation funding agreement contained a clause providing that any party shall be entitled to resolve a dispute by referring it to a KC who would be instructed to provide a final and binding opinion. The court held that the claimant did not have a good arguable case that the clause was an arbitration agreement, and the court could not, therefore, appoint an arbitrator pursuant to section 18 of the Arbitration Act 1996. Written by Jennifer Haywood, barrister, arbitrator and mediator at Serle Court.