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...

Two recent Court of Appeal decisions, SOL Trustees Limited v Giles Civil Limited and Watts v Hughes Construction Limited v Complete Siteworks Company Limited highlight potential pitfalls when respondi...

Introduction The Minister of Education and others, including four school boards of trustees, issued proceedings against Carter Holt alleging its cladding product, called shadowclad and installed in v...

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...