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Rachel Murray-Smith

Rachel Murray-Smith

Partner

020 7405 4600

Contact by email

Rachel specialises in projects and procurement matters, with a particular focus on construction.

Sectors Rachel specialises in include construction and procurement. Rachel has built up extensive non-contentious construction experience and works across a range of construction contracts. She advises clients regularly on the use of JCT, NEC3 and NEC4, and alliancing standard form contracts together with preparing all ancillary documentation. She provides end-to-end support commencing at the procurement strategy phase all the way through to project completion. Rachel has advised extensively on the Building Safety Act since its implementation in 2022, assisting her clients to navigate the various requirements introduced.

Rachel’s role:

Rachel plays an active role in the firm’s dedicated adjudication unit, SP Adjudication, and has advised in relation to issues such as interim application disputes, final payment disputes, defects liability and overpayment claims. Rachel is also a member of the mediation team in the firm’s standalone mediation unit, SP Mediation.

Skills and strengths:

Rachel provides solutions-focused legal advice, with an emphasis on proactive engagement with her clients and management of legal and commercial risks. The projects that Rachel advises on invariably involve multiple stakeholders, numerous commercial risks and considerations, and tight deadlines.

Rachel Murray-Smith is an outstanding lawyer, is very personable and provides advice which whilst always legally correct, is also commercially based.

Legal 500 2023

I came in for the training on Friday and thought it was one of the best third-party training sessions I have attended. The speakers were really good, especially Rachel who clearly knows this area so well.

West Sussex County Council.

Rachel is knowledgeable, enthusiastic and always willing to help. She’s been a real asset to our project and we value both her advice and her approach.

Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames.

  • Central Government
  • Corporate Clients
  • Education Providers
  • Health
  • Housing Sector
  • Leisure
  • Local Government
  • Transport Sector
  • Waste Sector
  • Adjudication
  • Commercial
  • Commercial Contracts
  • Construction
  • Construction contracts
  • Construction disputes resolution, including adjudication
  • Infrastructure
  • Mediation
  • Outsourcing and Shared Services
  • Procurement
  • Public Law
  • Central Government Department: Advising on the considerations relating to and implications of the Building Safety Act 2022 on a major health infrastructure project.
  • Regional Authority: Providing end-to-end procurement and construction support for a flag-ship winter gardens heritage project. The project has required navigating complex sequencing issues, use of specialist trades, and inclusion of innovative sustainability proposals.
  • New Homes – acting for various London Boroughs in relation to their provision of new social housing/housing. A number of the schemes/programmes include a high density of Higher-Risk Buildings, requiring detailed and specific consideration and advice in relation to Building Safety Act 2022 compliance.
  • Highways – Advising on multiple Highways Services & Street Lighting procurements, supporting in relation to both the procurement processes (each involving different lotting and commercial strategies) and the contractual structures and documentation.

On 26 February 2025, the Government published its Construction Products Reform Green Paper, alongside its formal response to the Grenfell Tower public inquiry’s final report. The Green Paper contains proposals for reforming the construction products regime and addresses key recommendations from the Inquiry’s Phase 2 Report[1]. It also responds to two independent reviews commissioned by…

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The Government has announced its response to the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report. The Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report made 58 recommendations, of which 37 were directed at the Government and 21 were directed at other bodies and institutions. As part of its response the Government has confirmed that all of the recommendations are being... Read more

The Technology and Construction Court (TCC) has handed down a significant decision in 381 Southwark Park Road RTM Co Ltd & Ors v Click St Andrews Ltd [2024] EWHC 3179 relating to Building Liability Orders (BLO) and claims under s.2A of the Defective Premises Act 1972. Building Liability Order Construction projects can involve complex corporate…

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Following the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s final report in September 2024, the Prime Minister pledged to fast-track the remediation of unsafe buildings, signalling a strengthened focus on building safety. The Remediation Acceleration Plan (RAP) was consequently launched in December 2024 with an aim that by 2029: “all 18m+ (high-rise) buildings with unsafe cladding in a Government…

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