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Legal & Business

ECA’s Legal & Business team provide support and trusted intuitive advice relating to all aspects of a contractor’s business model. The team specialise in construction and engineering for both commercial and consumer clients operating in the design, supply, manufacture, install and maintenance sectors. From pre-qualification, tendering, contract appraisals to disputes and insolvencies, this ECA flagship award winning team demonstrates huge membership value by providing guidance for Members with templates, guides, a dedicated helpline, third party alliances and training. Information on ECA’s Value Promise - assurance schemes - can also be found here.

Review, advise and negotiate
Claim/disputes during the contract
Compliance
Alliance referrals, extended services & products
Guides & Templates
Hot Topics: Payment | Inflation | Tax
ECA Value Promise – Assurance Schemes
Cyber Security

Key Topics

Review, advise and negotiate

The M&E sector is heavily regulated which makes trading with the public or private sectors of the economy, in a Business2Business or Business2Consumer context unique. Those aspects of trading that generally only affect Construction companies are dealt with here and details issues that affect a business from its earliest inception, through to succession planning and beyond. This support includes expertise on; PQQ and tendering issues, letters of intent, pre-construction agreements, main contracts, sub-contract, sub-sub-contracts, design/consultancy agreements, off-site/vesting certificates, materials agreements, loan labour etc..

Claim/disputes during the contract

As the regulated M&E sector is a unique trading environment. We have also developed guidance on various aspect of managing contracts, as well as claims and disputes arising under them. These include; design liability, variations, payment, completion, termination, BIM, as well as dispute resolution systems like court, adjudication and insolvency.

Compliance

We have developed guidance to help Member businesses navigate the landscape of regulatory requirements which arise in the M&E sector This includes; insurance, tax, criminal record checks, GDPR, modern slavery.

Alliance referrals, extended services & products

We have a spectrum of allies who may be able to help Members when we reach the limits of ECA’s service. These include: tax support, R&D tax support, training in contractual and legal matters, debt recovery beyond our advice, business disposal/acquisition and insurance matters.

Guides & Templates

We continually update our bank of advice based on the nature and of frequency of your enquiries. We have therefore developed a number of FREE forms, templates, documents and guidance to help you protect your business.

Hot Topics: Payment | Inflation | Tax

Payment

Getting paid is always difficult and stressful. Contact us in the first instance and as your trusted intuitive business adviser we will give you an independent, neutral and objective assessment of your position and a strategy for moving forward. We may not give you the advice you want to hear, but we will give you the advice you need. 

 

Inflation

We have been issuing advice on the latest economic analysis in UK economic performance and how that might impact our sector. Twinned with this analysis we continue to influence governments approached to the risk and advise Members on how they might contractually mitigate the risks to their projects and businesses.

 

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Tax – CIS, VAT Reverse Charge etc..

With an increasing digitisation of UK tax we have alliances and information to help guide you through some of the more technical industry specific aspects of tax – if we can’t help, we will try and help you find the answer.

ECA Value Promise – Assurance Schemes

ECA is almost unique as a trade association in that it offers Member’s clients FREE value promise. Whether the ECA Guarantee of Works or ECA Bond will be most appropriate will depend on the project and client requirements and the terms of the product. No other trade body offers this range of support and quality assurance for the technical excellence of its Members.

Cyber Security

One of the growing threats in the current trading environment is cyber security and the resilience of your digital infrastructure and information systems - ECA is here to support Members.

I have for the first time since joining ECA used your free legal advice and can say what an outstanding response. It’s made my membership fees well worth it.
Paul Judge, Electracom Installations

ECA Assurance Schemes

(Guarantee of Works, Bond & MCS Warranty)


As part of your ECA membership you can access ECA's FREE assurance schemes: the ECA Guarantee of Works, ECA Bond, for an additional cost the ECA MCS Warranty.  These schemes have now been refreshed and enhanced to provide you and your clients with an improved offering. They represent ECA's promise of Member excellence.
 

Latest News Roundup

Payment

Cashflow, payment and  retentions are the constant plague on Member’s business models. We are; at the hart of industry leadership groups, advisers to Cabinet Office and designers of new way to improve the ways, means and speed of payment.

Mental Health Support

If you're struggling with business, payment and cash-flow issues, please don't hesitate to reach out to the Electrical Industries Charity (EIC). 

As an industry Charity, their services are available to anyone that works or has worked in the Energy and Electrical industries. They provide a wide variety of key services with focused support to meet every individual’s needs, such as:

  • Mental health support
  • Bereavement counselling
  • Legal advice
  • Advocacy
  • CV Support following redundancy and job loss
  • Psychiatric assessments
  • Will support
  • Emergency financial assistance 

To apply for any EIC services please call on 0800 652 1618 or email with a brief description of your needs: support@electricalcharity.org 


ECA also has a dedicated Mental Health webpage which includes signposts to further support.

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