Sarah is a Partner in our Litigation and Dispute Management group, experienced in advising developers and construction professionals on both transactional and contentious construction and engineering-related matters.
Sarah advises developers and contractors on procurement strategies and the drafting and negotiation of construction documentation on infrastructure and commercial projects in UK.
Sarah also has extensive experience in all forms of dispute resolution, including adjudication, litigation, arbitration (domestic and international), DABs, as well as more informal ADR routes, including mediation, negotiation & expert determination.
Her recent experience includes a broad mix of work and she has particular expertise in relation to payment disputes in adjudication and providing strategic dispute avoidance and dispute resolution advice to major infrastructure providers and developers. Sarah lectures regularly on the risks associated with all major standard forms of contract, as well as the changing field of design liability and adjudication.
Sarah's recent experience includes:
Contentious work highlights
- Advising a owner operator on various disputes arising out of a NEC contract to design and construction a new food waste anaerobic digestion facility with TPH. Adjudication concerned deduction of performance liquidated damages following failed acceptance tests, process engineering defects and compensation events.
- Advising a major gas supplier on strategy and dispute management in relation to various disputes arising out of a large framework agreement and project call of contracts for pipeline construction works and gas main and service pipe refurbishment works. Disputes regarding effects of Covid pandemic, allocations of disallowed costs, contract interpretation issues in relation to force majeure and changes in law.
- Acting for a major supplier of clean and waste water treatment to provide strategic advice in relation to claims arising out of 50 contracts following the conclusion of a major infrastructure framework. Review and advice on merits of compensation events, instruction of technical experts, and advice regarding dispute avoidance, negotiation and strategic settlement.
- Acting for the owner and operator of a convent and care home in the south of England in relation to disputes arising out of defective works to the renovation of the listed building convent and design and construction of a new care home. TCC litigation against the contractor and the project manager.
- Acting for a major gas supplier in relation to the insolvency of a framework contractor. Providing advice in relation to termination, retention of title, project bank accounts and step in under warranties.
- Acting for the owner of two LNG bunkering and supply vessels being built in China on claims relating to Covid, delays due to fire and disputes regarding substantial defects. Advice given regarding termination, underpayment, potential arbitration and settlement.
- Acting for a rail network infrastructure provider to deliver strategic advice on settlement of final accounts and various disputes under an alliancing agreement to design and switch and crossing track works.
- Acting for a US technology company in relation to extension of time claims and additional costs arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic, and other issues regarding the design and construction of a data centre in the Netherlands.
- Advising a food manufacturer on a final account dispute concerning major upgrade works to one of its production facilities.
- Acting for a development company in relation to claims for dangerous cladding on 3 high rise properties. Claims coordinated with tenants again the contractor to undertake remedial works involving third party agreements with rail networks and over sail agreements with neighboring properties.
- Representing an Austrian contractor with extension of time claim & variation claims arising from the rehabilitation of a rail network in Romania. Dispute Adjudication Board proceedings followed by ICC Arbitration with a combined claim and counterclaim value of circa €140 million.
- Acting on behalf a contractor in relation to a £20m dispute concerning decommissioning and demolition works including the removal of low level waste on a British nuclear power plant.
- Acting for a toll manufacturer of floor resin products in an LCIA Arbitration claim for defective goods.
- Acting for a geotechnical specialist sub-contractor involving a claim for the failure of ground improvement vibro works;
Non-contentious work highlights
- Representing a University in a sale, re-development and partial re-gift scheme to obtain a turnkey, cost neutral, state-of-the-art multipurpose building on campus in London.
- Acting for a major supermarket chain on the development and installation of retail pods in its store car parks across the UK
- Acting for the joint venture responsible for the redevelopment of Airport City Manchester, a £1bn development consisting of 5 million sq ft of offices hotels, advanced manufacturing, logistics facilities, hybrid and ancillary retail space. On-going advice on the construction documentation for various developments.
- Acting for the largest listed commercial real estate company in Germany on a complex and constricted development in Canary Wharf – drafting and negotiation of all construction documentation adopting a construction management procurement route.
- Advising an airline service provider based in Hong Kong in relation to procurement and negotiation of construction documents for the development of a new facility in the Philippines.
- Advising UK national rail company on construction documentation requirements for various property holdings – to include reporting on and negotiating amendment and novation of consultant’s appointments, building contracts and all security documentation.
- Advising an international investor and its legal team in relation to the construction elements of a purchase of 19 hotels in the UK with a purchase price in excess of £500m.
- Advising a large UK funder in relation to the construction documentation to be used in its secured lending for a number of hotel developments during the construction phase including negotiation and drafting of sub-contracts and collateral warranties
Sarah is ranked in Chambers and Partners as a recognised practitioner for construction work and the Legal 500 has described Sarah as a ‘go-to practitioner’ who is ‘extremely impressive’ and is ‘unflappable, calm and sensible when things get tough’. The most recent rankings say “Sarah Maylor stands out as a pragmatic problem solver”.
She is a member of the Society of Construction Law, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and TeCSA.