Andrew Parker

Partner, Construction

Andrew is a Partner in our Construction team and heads up both our Cladding team and our Hotels team.

Andrew has over 17 years’ experience of contentious and non-contentious construction matters. His practice is predominantly focussed on contentious work, acting for developers, building owners, purchasers and tenants, but he also acts for consultants and has experience of acting for main contractors and sub-contractors.

He is a leading expert in cladding advice and has become a regular source of insight for broadsheet journalists and major broadcasters. Most recently, Andrew has featured on BBC Newsnight and the BBC website to discuss the proposed Building Safety Bill.

He has experience of all types of construction dispute, from detailed final account and complex delay claims through to defects caused by poor workmanship and/or negligent design. In particular, Andrew has developed specialist expertise in cladding related claims (following the Grenfell Tower tragedy) and claims involving defective M&E systems (for example, heating/ cooling, air conditioning, ventilation, water and drainage). He has acted for clients in the Technology and Construction Court, in arbitration and in adjudication.

Andrew’s experience of non-contentious construction matters includes drafting and advising on amendments to all standard forms of building contract (particularly JCT), professional team appointments, collateral warranties, third party rights notices, guarantees, performance bonds and escrow agreements.

He is also Head of the Hotels Group at Forsters and has acted on many high-profile hotel developments, including the Café Royal and the Four Seasons Hotel at Ten Trinity Square.

Andrew is a member of the Law Society, the Society of Construction Law and the Leisure Property Forum. He is a Ranked Lawyer in the Chambers UK 2022 Guide for his contentious construction work. Additionally, he is noted in the current edition of The Legal 500 as Key Lawyer.

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Cladding: Your position and how to future-proof

Construction Partner, Andrew Parker, and Property Litigation Senior Associate, Sarah Heatley, along with Robert Bowker (Tanfield Chambers) and Andrew Webster (formerly of Cumming Group), sat down to discuss key elements of the (then) proposed legislation and the potential impact for the construction and property industries, as well as the wider public.

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Andrew Parker Discusses Announcements from the Government Regarding Cladding Costs

Forsters' Head of Cladding, Andrew Parker, appeared on BBC Newsnight discussing what the Housing Minister Michael Gove meant when he stated earlier this week, on 10 January 2022, that he will be “absolutely willing to use legal rules” to make builders pay for the removal of unsafe cladding from buildings between 11-18 metres.

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Weathering the storm: The future for hotels

The Covid-19 pandemic created a perfect storm for the hotels sector and, despite ever improving signs of recovery, the resulting devastation will take time and innovation to repair. Unprecedented economic life-support provided by the UK government over the last two years has kept the gathering clouds at bay, but there could well be casualties in 2022 and beyond. This was the conclusion of a roundtable discussion hosted by Forsters on 10 November 2021.