In the High Court decision of Bennett & Ors v Ebert Construction Limited (In Liquidation), the Court was asked to consider the retention provisions of the Construction Contracts Act 2002, and a proposal to distribute 75% of the Retention Fund. Facts. On 31 July 2018 the Applicants were appointed the receivers of the respondent, Ebert [...]
In this month’s article I wish to review the decision above, which concerned an adjudication determination under the Construction Contracts Act 2002. Judicial review is rarely available in the context of Construction Contracts Act 2002 adjudications, because if freely available, it could thwart the fast track payment provisions contained therein. Facts. 7 February 2016 Anderson [...]
In this month’s article to start the new year, I wish to review the very recent decision of Body Corporate 200012 v BP Keene QC & Ors where a body corporate openly used judicial review proceedings to thwart the “pay now and argue later” philosophy of the Act. The background factual matrix to this proceeding [...]
It is now common place for many business relationship communications to be conducted predominately in email form. Construction contracts are no exception. Typically the key device used for the said communications are smart phones which conveniently allow these communications to take place on and off the building site. With the advent of construction industry targeted [...]
In this month’s article I wish to review the June 2017 decision of Lot 8 Investment Limited v RPS Construction Limited. Background The applicant, Lot 8 Investment Limited (Lot 8) applied to the High Court to have RPS Construction Limited (RPS’) statutory demand set aside, which claimed an amount of $54,067.07, in relation to the [...]
In this month’s article I wish to review the May 2017 decision of Floorman Waikato Limited v Jonathan McRae. Background/Dispute Floorman Waikato Limited (F) was engaged by Mr McRae (M) to sand and coat his floors. F said that different options and pricing for flooring were discussed and said that he could not determine which [...]
In this month’s article I wish to take the reader back to the proposed changes to the retentions regime brought about by the amendments to the Construction Contracts Act 2002. I have previously identified these changes in earlier articles in this column, most recently in my July 2016 article entitled “Companies may not survive sudden [...]
In this month’s article I wish to review the recent Court of Appeal decision in CJ Parker Construction Limited (In Liquidation) v WS Ketan & Ors. This proceeding had started in the High Court as a summary judgment application whereby the Appellant had sought to have judgment entered on the basis that the Respondents had [...]
I wish to review the September 2016 decision of Auckland Electrical Solutions Limited v The Warrington Group Limited. This was a claim that started as a summary judgment application in the District Court where summary judgment was declined. It ended up before Justice Downs in the High Court. Factual background. The Appellant (Auckland Electrical) sent [...]
In last month’s article Mike Fox brought to the attention of readers his concerns with the amendments made to the Construction Contracts Act 2002 (CCA), which bring into play a new retentions regime. These amendments come into force from 31 March 2017. I wish to more fully outline the regime to be introduced and comment [...]