If ever there is value for money it is £160 for this three-volume latest edition of Construction Law by Julian Bailey. If ever there is a valued companion for every construction law practitioner, on the desk, at your fingertips, this fellow Julian Bailey’s textbook is it. He is a solicitor and partner at Jones Day, London, and his bag is construction law on a UK and international scale. Alongside the day job, he is a visiting professor of law at King’s College London, as well as an adjunct professor at Doha University in Qatar.

Notice that this is edition four. His first edition was 13 years ago. I reviewed editions two and three. This latest adds a mere 2,345 new judgments and awards. I find the entire endeavour worth inventing a special award of achievement. It’s not “just” 3,300 pages of construction law; it is 3,300 pages of accurate and reliable guidance and commentary. Ah, but I have a whinge. An unjustified whinge, I admit. I want to have this three-volume encyclopaedia with me when I dash hither and thither. No, no not the weighty three volumes. I want it all online, and with a search engine. Come on, Bingham, you can’t have all that and the 3,300 pages for £160. So I don’t deduct any points from Julian Bailey’s tour de force.

I could go on, but let me take a moment to signpost some other construction law resources. There are some excellent freebies. The Supreme Court makes available video recordings of many hearings at this highest level. It takes you to the actual hearing where counsel has argued the case in front of (usually) five judges.

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