ABSTRACT
Chapter 17 looks in some detail at the judgment in a dispute over a design and construct contract for construction of a road in Tasmania. The case did not involve any new or unusual issues of law, and did not involve any dispute over the quality of the final product. It is, however, of interest as a detailed discussion of how many detailed and voluminous documents constituting the contract interacted and created particular challenges for the Contractor. The extensive environmental documents incorporated in the contract, and the obligations they imposed on the Contractor were not atypical for modern design and construct contracts. The discussion of the case highlights the issues involved in design and construct contractors determining the real contractual obligations from a complex set of contractual documents in the limited time available for preparation of a tender. The hearing time, 80 days in the Supreme Court, is a salutary reminder of the costs involved in formal dispute resolution.
