Construction lawyers who understand engineering and surveying
HQ Law Limited Solicitors is a specialist construction and commercial practice led by Chris Hough MSc, CEng, FICE. Chris qualified as a solicitor in 1990 after working as a Chartered Civil and Structural Engineer, giving clients legal advice grounded in how projects are designed, built, valued and disputed.
Free 15-minute initial call. Tell us the parties and the deadline; we run a conflict check first, then talk through the options.
Start with the commercial problem.
Construction disputes are usually about cash flow, valuation, delay, defects, scope or a rapidly approaching procedural deadline. Our advice is organised around those commercial triggers so that clients can move quickly from the problem to the relevant options.
Payment has not arrived
Unpaid applications, invoices, retention and payment disputes.
Payment disputes 02The final account is stuck
Valuation, variations, contra charges and unresolved final accounts.
Final accounts 03An adjudication has started
Fast, focused support from Notice of Adjudication through decision and enforcement.
Adjudication 04A notice is disputed
Payment notices, pay less notices, valuation and withholding issues.
Notice disputes 05Delay or defects are escalating
Extension of time, liquidated damages, defects and remedial work disputes.
Delay & defects 06A commercial relationship has broken down
Contract and business disputes requiring a clear litigation or settlement strategy.
Commercial disputes 07Money is owed and the debtor won't pay
Letters before action, statutory demands, winding-up petitions and County Court claims.
Debt recovery & insolvencyConstruction contracts need drafting or review
Drafting, amendments and risk review for construction and engineering contracts before problems become disputes.
Contract drafting & reviewA negotiated solution may be better
Mediation and other ADR can resolve the commercial problem without losing sight of legal leverage, cost and project relationships.
Mediation & ADRProtecting the business behind the project
Optional introductions to PIB Employee Benefits for specialist business-protection advice, separate from HQ Law's legal services.
Business protectionWinning the point is not enough if the economics do not work.
HQ Law actively controls scope, evidence and legal spend against the value at stake. At each stage we ask what outcome is commercially useful, what it is likely to cost to get there, what can realistically be recovered, and whether negotiation, adjudication, mediation or litigation is proportionate.
The aim is commercial success rather than a pyrrhic victory: a technically successful result should not be outweighed by avoidable cost, delay or enforcement risk.
Cost is part of the strategy
- Define the issue before building the evidence.
- Use fixed or staged fees where the work can be scoped.
- Reassess proportionality when the opponent's position changes.
- Keep settlement and ADR options live where they improve the net outcome.
Advice shaped around the party’s commercial position.
The same contractual event can look very different upstream and downstream. HQ Law has dedicated routes for the people most often managing construction disputes.
Subcontractors
Payment, retention, final accounts and adjudication.
For subcontractorsMain contractors
Upstream/downstream claims, delay, defects and payment.
For main contractorsDevelopers & employers
Delay, defects, valuation, termination and project outcomes.
For developersConsultants & engineers
Technical, design, scope and professional contract disputes.
For consultantsLegal analysis grounded in how projects are designed and built.
Chris’s experience spans roads and bridges, structures, onshore facilities, buildings, tunnels, ports, dry docks and transport infrastructure. That background can be valuable when legal questions depend on programme, causation, scope, design or technical evidence.
Engineer. Solicitor. Adjudicator.
Chris combines practical engineering experience with more than three decades in construction law. Before founding his own specialist practice, his legal career included Masons, Allen & Overy in Dubai, Speechly Bircham, Ralph Hume Garry and Fenwick Elliott.
Party representation and independent appointments are kept distinct.
HQ Law acts in construction disputes and adjudications. Chris Hough also accepts independent adjudicator appointments. The independent role is presented separately so appointment enquiries, conflicts and party representation are not confused.
Chris has given adjudicator decisions in disputes valued at more than £10 million.
Answers to the questions that arise when a dispute goes live.
HQ Law publishes focused guidance on adjudication, payment notices, final accounts, evidence and enforcement.
New cladding-remediation Bill: what construction businesses should watch
A Bill introduced on 14 October proposes new remediation duties, a medium-rise building register and changes to construction-product liability. None of these proposals is yet law.
Read the articlePayment / insolvencyConstruction payment claims and winding-up petitions: lessons from Amber v Ilyrian
A new High Court judgment explains why a defective payment application, limitation and a serious cross-claim can prevent a winding-up petition—even where another debt is due.
Read the articleAdjudication / enforcementAdjudication enforcement: when financial risk will not justify a stay
A new TCC decision explains why concerns about a developer SPV or a contractor’s ability to pay need proper evidence before an adjudication judgment can be stayed.
Read the articleBuilding safety / disputesHistoric building defects: when an earlier time-barred claim does not prevent further proceedings
What Taylor Wimpey v Taylor Woodrow means for historic DPA claims, earlier proceedings and independent statutory rights.
Read the articleBuilding safetyGateway 2 approval times: what the latest BSR figures mean for construction projects
Current approval times, application volumes and the contractual consequences of regulatory delay.
Read the articleLitigationThe TCC has moved into the Business and Property Division
What changed on 1 October 2026 for TCC headings, CE-File, court forms and enforcement procedure.
Read the articleDownloadable checklists for live construction disputes.
Two concise HQ Law guides designed for commercial teams dealing with an adjudication deadline or a construction payment dispute. Download them as PDFs and keep them with the project file.
Received a Notice of Adjudication? The First 24 Hours
An immediate-response guide covering timetable control, jurisdiction, contract documents, evidence preservation and the first decisions a responding party should make.
Download the guideFree PDF checklistConstruction Payment Dispute Checklist
A practical workbook for reconstructing the payment cycle, checking notices, identifying the notified sum and organising the evidence before deciding what to do next.
Download the checklistThese guides provide general information only and are not legal advice on a particular contract or dispute.
Practical updates without the noise.
Occasional notes on adjudication, payment, final accounts, delay, defects and enforcement.
Discuss the dispute with HQ Law
Tell us who the parties are, what has happened and any immediate deadline. We can then carry out an initial conflict check and consider the next step.