ABSTRACT
The courts have dealt with the meaning of the term “completion” within the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) contracts, and it appears defined as that point in time when the “necessary construction work specified in the contract has been performed”. In addition to the issues which revolve around full and final completion, there is the additional issue which arises in situations where the contract provides for staged completion and related payments and, as with final completion, the trier of fact, be that adjudicator, arbitrator or judge, has to make a determination of what was required, per the contract, for that particular portion of the work. The other issue which arises is whether or not the contractor has any duty of due diligence to progress the works in situations where the contract contains a specified completion date.
