CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT LAW

Construction Contract Law



Construction Contract Law

Introduction

Construction law is an umbrella term that covers all the legal principles relating to the construction of structures on land. It is an extremely broad expression, encompassing the law relating to demolition as well as to building. Construction law is just as relevant to the building of a small house as it is to the construction of a power station or the excavation of a tunnel. The one common feature of the disparate aspects of construction is that the end product ultimately fixed to or becomes part of the land so that the owner of the land is the owner of the structure by operation of law.

Part one:

Herbert is having the bathroom of his house refurbished. He has a contract with Rupert who is doing the work for him. Rupert, when submitting his estimate, provided a list of items each of which was priced: adding up to a total for the work. It was agreed between Herbert and Rupert that interim payments on the basis of this list of items less 10% would be made. Interim payments have been made, but on the basis of prices on Rupert's listless 25%. Rupert's work is perfectly satisfactory, as Herbert agrees. Rupert is strongly contesting whether Herbert has any right to make the 25% (as opposed to 10%) deductions from the amounts in Rupert's list. Rupert asks your advice. He wants to keep within the law, he says. Advise him of his rights; the source and nature of those rights; and how he should proceed. To advice Rupert ill advice he to the laws of construction given illustrated below:

Construction law is multifaceted in terms of the legal principles that are covered with the umbrella term. At different times, it has been described as a 'separate breed of animal'" and a: primordial soup in the "melting pot" of the law, a thick broth consisting of centuries-old legal theories fortified by statutory law and seasoned by contextual legal innovations reflecting the broad factual 'realities' of the modem construction process. Although a significant component of any construction law course is contract law, construction law is much more than this and involves the contextual understanding of a variety of legal principles, including torts, equity and statutory/regulatory laws. For this reason, it is preferable that any student wishing to enroll in a construction law subject should first have successfully completed courses in contract law and torts (Vidogah, 1997, pp.37-44).

Most of the dispute settlement provisions of the model contracts provide a mechanism Referee analyzed. Under this approach, the parties go to arbitration, whether to appeal the Referee decision or to report noncompliance. Thus, arbitration is configured as a second instance in engineering contracts where the parties are obliged to resort to the procedures previously Referee to resolve their disputes (Treacy, 1995, pp.58-63).

Knowledge and understanding

Construction disputes, whatever the country, have similarities. They involve such a large number stakeholders, all essential to complete the draft ...