About HQ Law

Construction law expertise built on engineering experience.

HQ Law is led by Chris Hough, a solicitor, Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and . His career spans engineering, construction law, arbitration and adjudication.

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Chris Hough

MSc, CEng, FICE, Solicitor

Chris graduated in Civil & Structural Engineering in 1980, became a Chartered Engineer in 1984 and was admitted as a solicitor in 1990. Since qualification as a solicitor he has specialised in construction law, advising on contentious and non-contentious matters in the UK and internationally.

His engineering and legal career has taken him to the UK, South Africa, Qatar, Dubai, Malaysia, Sudan and Argentina. His legal work has covered major construction and engineering disputes involving hotels, offices, hospitals, residential projects, oil platforms, motorways, tunnels, ports, dry docks and transport infrastructure.

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View selected construction and dispute experience

Career

Engineering first, then specialist construction law.

1980–1986

Engineering

Balfour Beatty Construction, LTA in South Africa, Wallace Evans & Partners and QGPC in Qatar. Roles included road and bridge construction, structural design and client-side development work.

1988–1995

Masons & Allen & Overy

Qualified at Masons as a construction disputes solicitor. At Allen & Overy in Dubai, Chris supervised four arbitrations valued at £120 million concerning defects in dry docks and port facilities.

1995–2004

Senior construction law roles

Senior Solicitor at Speechly Bircham, Partner at Ralph Hume Garry and Partner at Fenwick Elliott, specialising in contentious and non-contentious construction law.

2004–present

Own practice · HQ Law Limited

Founded his own specialist construction-law practice in 2004. The practice has operated as HQ Law Limited, an SRA-authorised recognised body, since 2016, advising contractors, subcontractors, developers and other clients on construction, engineering, commercial and insolvency matters.

Adjudication & arbitration

Experience as decision-maker as well as solicitor.

Chris has given adjudicator decisions in disputes valued at more than £10 million. His adjudication panel memberships are ICE, RICS, RIBA, TeCSA and UK Adjudicators. He also founded adjudication.co.uk.

His professional service has included the ICE Law & Contract Management Committee. He lectures on construction law and adjudication. He has also been registered as an arbitrator with ICE and completed and passed the FIDIC assessment course for membership of the President’s DAB panel.

Independent adjudicator appointments

International experience

Chris’s experience includes matters involving ports and dry docks in the Middle East, transportation infrastructure in Malaysia, and oil transportation and loading facilities in Sudan, and work in Argentina, in addition to extensive UK construction work.

Engineering experience behind the legal advice

Chris worked on projects before he advised on disputes about them.

His engineering and legal career has involved roads and bridges, reinforced concrete and steel structures, onshore facilities, hotels, offices, hospitals, residential buildings, oil platforms, motorways, heavy lifting platforms, tunnels, ports, dry docks and transport infrastructure.

Roads & bridgesStructuresOil & gas facilitiesBuildingsTunnelsPorts & dry docksTransport infrastructure

Next step

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.

Start an enquiry Call 07843 580 112