Construction law
Builder’s GUBU
The court held that the Defendant was not answerable for the cost of demolition and reconstruction because the Plaintiff had not informed it of the need for a continuous pour.
Contract Law (2)
Sam Goldwyn (of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the US film producers) said of oral contracts, that they were not worth the paper they were written on. He was right, because of the lack of certainty they embody. Inevitably the two interlocutors making the “oral contract” will have differing recollections of the terms agreed. Litigation on such a contract is an unpredictable gamble.
Contract Law (1)
Signing a contract for a new roadway (or a new building) is a significant matter. The contract will have to provide for a great number of things, not least the specification for the type or quality of road or building.
Liquidated Damages
The council applied for an injunction to effect entry for the replacement contractor. Mowlem, in resisting the application, claimed that the only loss accruing to the council was a loss of time and that was capable of being remedied under the terms of the contract, which fixed liquidated damages for the delay
The RIAI Contracts
At the time I made no reference to its terms. I do now. It is badly written. It is a challenge, for instance, to find the provision under which the Main Contractor is obliged to make payment to the sub-contractor (Clause 11).
Gormley’s man (woman?)
There, Humpty Dumpty explains himself to Alice:
Walk this way
Certainty is good for business. Ireland has now produced a series of standard contracts for use in public construction and engineering projects.
Public works contracts
SIAC was one of many persons who tendered for the provision of a new sewerage system for the town of Ballinrobe. Its tender, on price, was the lowest. Mayo county Council awarded the contract to the next highest tenderer. In the judgment of the County Council’s engineer, SIAC’s tender would, in due course, be discovered not to be the cheapest.
Buying a House
To hand over the key beforehand is to hand over possession. If a purchaser gets possession before parting with the purchase money there is a great temptation to evade or delay the handing over of the purchase money, at least until it suits the purchaser.
Bid Rigging
It seems my post on bidding for public contrcts in the construction industry missed one element – bid-rigging.