Construction

Construction contracts often require parties to finally resolve disputes through arbitration rather than Court litigation.  One important difference between arbitration and the Courts is that arbitra...

Prior to the Court of Appeal’s decision in Francis v Gross [2024] NZCA 528 on 17 October 2024 (Podular (COA)), there was a period of uncertainty for building contractors as to their status in respec...

In James Hardie New Zealand Ltd v Zurich Australian Insurance Ltd [2024] NZHC 3126, the High Court refused to grant a stay of proceedings under ss 22 and 25 of the Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act 2010 (A...

The Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Cridge v Studorp Ltd [2024] NZCA 483 confirms that a manufacturer of cladding products owes a non-delegable duty of care to building owners (commercial and...

In a 3-2 split decision, the Supreme Court in Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner Ltd v Wellington City Council [2024] NZSC 117 confirmed that contribution claims are not barred by the Building Act 2004...

The UK Supreme Court recently released Abbey Healthcare (Mill Hill) Ltd v Augusta 2008 LLP (formerly Simply Construct (UK) LLP) [2024] UKSC 23 determining that a collateral warranty used in the constr...

The Government has released a draft for the second emissions reduction plan (ERP 2) which is open for consultation until 21 August 2024.  It reflects a significant change in approach to climate chan...

The England and Wales Court of Appeal (EWCA) has held that in certain circumstances, the courts can order parties to engage in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) or stay proceedings to allow the par...

Design errors in a construction project can result in millions of dollars in loss.  Standard form consultancy agreements typically limit the amount that can be recovered for such errors.  The cap on...

In a warning for contractors, a Scottish Court has ruled that a standard form notification clause was a condition precedent to recovering time-related costs (TRCs) (FES Ltd v HFD Construction Group Lt...

Hot on the heels of the review of NZS3910, AS 4000-1997, a key Australian standard form construction contract for more than 27 years, is currently being reviewed.  This form, or variants of it, is so...

Following the departure from the fundamental principle of the Construction Contracts Act 2002 (CCA) “pay now argue later” in South Pacific Industrial Ltd v Demasol Ltd [2021] NZHC 3597, the Court ...

The High Court in Rau Paenga Ltd v CPB Contractors Pty Ltd [2023] NZHC 2947 granted an interim injunction preventing the Contractor from suspending and terminating its contract for the construction of...

The Construction team at Hesketh Henry is the exclusive New Zealand contributor to The Legal 500: Country Comparative Guide for Construction.  Partners Glen Holm-Hansen and Helen Macfarlane along wit...

Standing 40 storeys tall with 406 units, the Gore Street building in downtown Auckland (formerly known as “Harbour Oaks”) is presently the subject of New Zealand’s largest claim for residential ...

According to the UK’s Technology and Construction Court (TCC) (in Henry Construction Projects Ltd v Alu-Fix (UK) Ltd [2023] EWHC 2010) valid payment claims must be paid before the underlying merits ...

A party must meet a high bar before the High Court will modify or reverse a liquidator’s decision, or consent to a party commencing adjudication (or other legal proceedings) against a company in liq...

Building Information Modelling, or “BIM”, is potentially transformational for the New Zealand building and construction sector.  It has been credited with the potential to spark a “step-change�...

Litigation is expensive.  The high cost and inherent uncertainty associated with civil litigation creates a daunting financial barrier for those seeking justice for even meritorious claims. This has ...

The New Zealand construction industry is rapidly changing, projects are becoming more complex and risks are rising.  As a result, stakeholders need to react and adjust to those changes, this can be a...

Arbitration is increasingly viewed as a beneficial alternative to traditional court litigation, but how do you know if your dispute should go to arbitration or to the courts?  Several recent foreign ...

Our Construction Team has been pleased to assist with the preparation of a Retention Money Guidance (Guidance), which has just been published by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MB...

Public consultation on the draft NZS3910 amendments closes on 30 June. Some key changes will impact the industry, and all are encouraged to review the draft terms and provide feedback through this pu...

The New Zealand Construction Industry Council has commissioned a review of NZS 3910:2013 Conditions of contract for building and civil engineering construction (NZS3910), which is being led by Standar...

When the Construction Contracts Act 2002 (CCA) was introduced, email communication was not nearly as prevalent as it is now, generally being the preferred means of communication.

On 4 August 2022 the Commerce Commission (Commission) released its draft report setting out preliminary findings from its market study into the residential building supplies industry.

Nicholls Group Projects Ltd v Plan Design Build Homes Ltd

Henry has received the following recommendations and commentary in the high-profile Asia-Pacific Chambers Legal Directory for 2022

New Zealand’s first emissions reduction plan (ERP) is due to be published in May 2022.

Class actions and litigation funding continue to grow in prominence in New Zealand, despite the lack of a regulatory framework for the same.

The recent decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in Valmont Interiors Pty Ltd v Giorgio Armani Australia Pty Ltd (No. 2) [2021] NSWCA 9 is an example of an unclear direction resulting in a principal being unable to rely on a notification time bar in a construction contract.

The United Kingdom Supreme Court in Triple Point Technology Inc v PTT Public Company Ltd [2021] UKSC 29 has clarified the operation of liquidated damages clauses in the event of termination.  The dec...

A critical analysis of the New Zealand and Australian High Courts' approach to quantum meruit claims within the construction industry

The focus on centrality of price in New Zealand procurement (or securing the lowest price) continues to be a key concern for the construction industry. 

The High Court decision in Hellaby Resource Services Ltd v Body Corporate 197281 [2021] NZHC 554 is a rare NZS 3910 decision, with implications for the construction sector. 

Workers in the construction industry are frequently engaged as independent contractors.

The High Court in Development Construction Company Ltd v Mackenzie [2021] NZHC 546 has confirmed  that retention of title (RoT) clauses do not provide contractors with a caveatable interest. This dec...

In Meltzer and Lamacraft v Amstar New Zealand Ltd the High Court highlighted the interplay between insolvency and construction adjudication issues.

In a recent High Court decision,[1] Hanlon Plumbing Limited (Hanlon) successfully obtained an interim injunction on a without notice basis requiring Downey Construction Limited (Downey) to pay retenti...

There are major changes to the Building Act on the horizon that will impact the entire construction sector including manufacturers, builders, building consent authorities, consultants and many others ...

Insolvency events have become common place in the construction industry in recent years. In particular, a focus has been investigating whether directors allowed their insolvent company to engage in re...

Blackpool Borough Council v Volkerfitzpatrick [2020] EWHC 1523 (TCC) In 2009, Blackpool Borough Council (Principal), as principal, contracted with Volkerfitzpatrick Ltd (Contractor), as head contracto...

The Supreme Court’s judgment in 127 Hobson Street Limited & Anor v Honey Bees Preschool Limited & Anor [2020] NZSC 53 confirms the test for determining when a clause in a contract designed t...

Adjudication under the Construction Contracts Act 2002 (CCA) is a commonly used procedure to determine disputes between parties to a construction contract.  The recent decision of the High Court in H...

The recent judgment in Fletcher Construction Company Ltd v Spotless Facility Services (NZ) Ltd [2020] NZHC 780 and 871 demonstrates the Court’s pragmatic approach to injunctive relief against a subc...

Last week, the Court of Appeal issued its decision in Mega Project Holding Ltd v Orewa Developments Ltd [2020] NZCA 111

While New Zealanders play their part in eliminating the spread of COVID-19 by staying at home, the government has released details of its plans for the construction sector in a post COVID-19 New Zeala...

The last working day of 2019 saw another judicial review of an adjudication determination (Yousseff v Maiden [2019] NZHC 3471), this time focused on conflict of interest and apparent bias.  Despite j...

The Payment Claim / Payment Schedule regime in the Construction Contracts Act 2002 (CCA) can be a powerful tool in assisting cashflow in the industry.  Please click here for a practical explanation o...

Following our previous updates (Ebert Construction Receivership – What You Need to Know and Ebert Construction – Receivership and Liquidation), on 12 November 2018 the High Court ordered that the ...

When Actual Delay Losses Exceed Liquidated Damages

Introduction Following our Initial Note, the receivers of Ebert Construction Ltd (Ebert) released their first report on 1 October 2018.  Then, on 3 October 2018, Ebert put itself into liquidation, wi...

Hesketh Henry was pleased to host the New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors on 14 August 2018, where one of our construction partners, Nick Gillies, presented on concurrent delay.  The same pre...

The SA-2009 form of Subcontract Agreement is commonly used in the construction industry. It has undergone a review and a new SA-2017 form has been produced.

We are now on what may be called the “third wave leaky buildings”.

Members of Hesketh Henry's specialist construction team have been busy presenting papers at a number of recent industry conferences on various topics of interest

The retentions regime comes into force on 31 March 2017

How will the changes to the Construction Contracts Act 2002 affect you?

Carter Holt Harvey Ltd v Minister of Education & Ors [2015] NZCA 321 Last year the High Court[1] refused to strike out a negligence claim that a designer, manufacturer and supplier of building m...

Regrettably, building and engineering is prone to disputation.  As New Zealand moves through a period of significant construction activity, the risk of claims is likely to rise.  High demand combi...

Download PDF Helen Macfarlane, together with Christina Bryant, Nick Gillies and Michael O’Brien are the authors of the New Zealand chapter of the 2015 edition of “Getting the Deal Through: Co...

Download full article Johnson v Auckland Council [2013] NZCA 662 Mr and Mrs Johnson purchased a leaky home in a mortgagee sale.  They were aware at the time of purchase that the house might leak.  T...

You are the subcontractor and supplier of tiles to the cladding contractor on a major commercial construction project. Midway through the project, one of your payment claims is not paid. Some weeks la...