You have been commissioned to provide legal advice to Happy Hovels Student Accommodation Ltd for a new project. The advice you give needs to be based on the JCT SBC 2016 and supported by correctly referenced clauses and relevant case law.
For the following scenarios you are required to investigate and assess whether the actions of each of the parties is correct and explain what actions should have been taken and propose a solution to the issue(s).
Pre-Commencement
Following execution of the Contract but prior to the Date of Possession, the Client has sent the Contractor the following email:
“There has been a delay in the purchase of the land and we are unable to hand over the site to the yourselves. We do wish to continue with the project and therefore ask that you stand down all men until further notice”.
The Contractor has replied saying that he is happy to do so, but he will need an extension of time for the period of “stand down” plus an additional £15,000 per week for his inconvenience.
Payment
The construction works under the above contract have commenced. It is now the 4 March 2018 and the Contract Administrator (‘CA’) has requested the Quantity Surveyor (QS) undertake an interim valuation prior to issuing Interim Certificate No. 3.
A meeting takes place between the QS and the Contractor on site. At the meeting, the Contractor presents a number of invoices in relation to materials held on and off the site.
The QS agrees they had seen the roofing tiles referred to in the invoices however, when they had seen them they had been piled up under a leaking cover at the back of the site.
In any event, the QS is concerned about payment for these materials as the brickwork for the superstructure had not been completed.
In addition to the roofing tiles, the Contractor also advised the QS there were several items on the invoices which were being held by their manufacturers until required for installation in the project. In particular the air conditioning units, valued at £50,000. The QS responded by stating they would look carefully at the invoices and whether they would value them in their interim valuation.
The QS’ valuation is received and the CA then issues Interim Certificate No. 3 on 17 March 2018. The Employer makes payment of Interim Certificate No. 3 on 1 April 2018 but deducts £15,800 from the payment and states that there are defects in the brickwork.
The Contractor is furious, as there is no payment for either the roof tiles or the air conditioning units within the Certificate. He also claims there are issues with the timescales for the issue and payment of the Certificate. Finally the Contractor does not accept there are any defects in the brickwork as alleged by the Employer, and states that any defects should have been discussed with him before monies were deducted.
After a series of negotiations to try and resolve this issue an agreement cannot be reach.
The Contractor states they will immediately terminate the contract, unless all outstanding amounts are received by 12 April 2018. The CA has responded by stating that if the Contractor does terminate the contract, they will issue proceedings against them to recover any losses caused by their action.
Termination
During June 2018 there is a strike by the Contractors employees on site and progress overall is very slow. Meanwhile, the Contractor has relocated all their management and operatives to another site in another location because it requires a quick completion.
The Employer has written to the Contractor expressing concern about the slow progress, but hasn’t received any assurances regarding the Contractors intention to return. The Employer begins termination proceedings and issues a default notice on 1 July 2018.
After 6 days the Contractor sends a number of operatives back to the site, however after several further days this number begins to dwindle again.
The Employer terminates the contract on Wednesday 20 July 2018. The Contractor is furious about the termination of their contract and complains they are owed payment on the outstanding loss and expense claim for the glass atrium Variation and demand payment in full immediately.
| 1. | Analyse and effectively interpret and apply contractual clauses in standard form contracts. |
| 2. | Compare, evaluate and identify key similarities and differences in the approach of standard form contracts. |
| 3. | Resolve contractual scenario problems under standard form contracts.. |
| 4. | Demonstrate a knowledge of the common law and statutory principles underlying standard form construction contracts. |
In particular, on completion of the assignment you will be able to:
- Investigate, explain and justify the action to be taken in respect of suspected defects
- Evaluate issues concerning proposed changes to the date for possession and completion date of a contract and the associated issues of time, delays, disruption, extensions of time and recovery of loss and expense.
Marking Scheme
This assignment is 50% of the module and should be 2,000 words.
Marks for the assignment will be allocated as follows:
| Criteria | Mark (%) |
| Detailed consideration of any consequential actions of the advice given | 30 |
| Appropriateness of advice given. | 50 |
| Accuracy of the contract clause and case laws referencing | 10 |
| Submission style – layout, structure, clarity | 10 |
Assignment Brief
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE School of Engineering
APPENDIX TO ASSIGNMENT BRIEF
Submission instructions - This assignment is to be submitted by not later than the date and time specified in the assignment brief. Submission of your work is via Turnitin. You must not, under any circumstances, hand it directly to your tutor or another member of staff.
Feedback - The module tutor/assessor will normally provide you with generic feedback on any formative or summative aspects of the assessment within 15 working days of the date of submission. This may be either posted on a website, or sent to you electronically, or provided in a class-based session.
Individual written feedback - will be provided on Turnitin which will address the extent to which you have met the learning outcomes of the assignment and indicate the mark or grade attained in accordance with the original marking criteria shown on the assignment brief. It will also provide you with an indication of areas for improvement.
Deadlines - It is essential that you assist your tutor by complying with submission deadlines so that you can benefit from the generic feedback process. Note that work offered for submission within 10 working days after the date/time specified without an authorised extension will obtain a maximum mark of 40% for that element of assessment. Work submitted after 5 working days of the date/time specified will be awarded grade 0. The Head of Department or nominee is authorised to give permission for one extension period of between 1 and 5 working days.
Extenuating circumstances - If you are prevented from submitting work for reasons which could not be disclosed prior to the required submission date/time eg. illness or accident you must use the ‘Extenuating Circumstances’ procedure so that your claim may be dealt with prior to the end of year Assessment Board. Details of the procedure can be found in your Student Handbook and the Students Guide to the Regulations.
Plagiarism - Plagiarism is regarded by the University as a very serious offence. Please ensure that you read the relevant academic regulations concerning what constitutes plagiarism and ensure that what you submit as an individual or as a group is clearly all your own work and that the source of any information or material is fully identified and properly acknowledged/referenced.
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