As we approach the final months of 2021, the world continues to face the challenge of, and challenges created by, Covid-19. The construction industry has, like many other industries, inevitably been impacted by the pandemic. However, in most countries infrastructure projects have continued, albeit often with periods of interruption or standstill, and disputes arising out of such projects, not only in connection with the virus, have also continued to arise. Consistent with this, we continue to include assessments on the ramifications of the pandemic, but also cover many other interesting topics, reflecting the wide range of issues thrown up by construction disputes.

Part 4 of 2021 kicks off with a stimulating analysis of the obligation of good faith and a recent French Court of Cassation decision finding that good faith cannot exclude the application of a liquidated damages clause, even when the employer is responsible for the delay. In “Recent French Construction Law Lessons – Good Faith and Implied Acceptance” Pierre Harb, James Pickavance and Ryan Frye review the significance of good faith and implied acceptance in France, before moving on to addressing recent French cases. The impact of réception tacite, or implied acceptance, is explored by the authors, in particular, by reference to four recent Court of Cassation decisions which provide guidance to the industry as to when implied acceptance will be found and how parties can protect against such a finding. An interesting comparison is drawn by considering the contrasting French approach with the position under English law.

High rise apartment building failures, particularly involving flammable cladding fires, have, tragically, occurred in a number of jurisdictions in recent years. While the focus of the next article is on developments in New South Wales, Australia, the issues raised by the authors will be of wider interest to practitioners, as the questions discussed are currently being debated across jurisdictions. In our second contribution, “Regulatory Reforms for Residential Apartment Buildings Down Under – Getting it Right from Start to Finish”, Andrew Chew and Blake Osmond review a suite of new legislation in New South Wales which has been introduced with the aim of addressing some of the significant challenges arising in the delivery of residential apartment buildings. Chew and Osmond address the focus of the legislative package, namely, to give the regulator better oversight and enhanced powers, to impose harsher sanctions on corporations and personal liability for senior management, and to encourage financial institutions to implement more prudent risk governance measures. The article considers the environment in New South Wales within which defective projects arose (and which on one analysis allowed them to occur), and the findings and recommendations of the various inquiries and parliamentary commissions into those projects, before considering the new legislative