The April 2020 edition of Outlook: a roundup of news and views from the 39 Essex Commercial and Construction Group.

Welcome to the April 2020 edition of Outlook, a roundup of news and views from the 39 Essex Commercial and Construction Group.

The current COVID-19 pandemic presents a range of social, health and economic challenges worldwide and these challenges are impacting our clients both on a personal level and commercially. The C&C Group, in common with Chambers as a whole, is producing COVID-19 specific content to keep our clients informed in this fast changing and uncertain market and this newsletter brings you a selection of these articles.

John Denis-Smith considers the effect of coronavirus on the contract terms applicable to the JCT form of contract. In the remaining articles in the series (available on our website), John has also considered the position under the NEC contract and common law considerations.

Marion Smith QC, Rose Grogan and Philippe Kuhn provide a useful summary of the effect of the Government's vital guidance to local authorities on how to comply with procurement rules during the COVID-19 crisis. The authors have also commented on further guidance promulgated since Procurement Policy Notes 01/20 and 02/20 in two articles which are available on our website, here and here.

Almost all commercial leases will be affected by the current coronavirus emergency. As commercial tenants find their businesses struggling, cash flow will become a real problem: rent may not be paid; premises will shut; and landlords will struggle in turn. Damian Falkowski, David Sawtell and Gethin Thomas's article considers some of the issues that will be front and centre of both tenants' and landlords' minds.

And Kelly Stricklin-Coutinho analyses the European Commission's Temporary Framework for dealing with the COVID-19 situation. The Framework sets out a number of measures which, on notification, can be used to provide aid in the current challenging circumstances.

You can read the full newsletter here.