ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some questions that are helpful for the construction professionals of all kinds who frequently need legal advice that is straightforward as well as authoritative and legally rigorous. The leading case on the requirements for practical completion states that practical completion cannot be certified if there are known defects in the works. Therefore, a certificate issued with defective items listed is, on its face, void or, perhaps more accurately, voidable if either party applies to an adjudicator. Alternatively, if the employer is content to wait until after the end of the rectification period, the defects can be added to the schedule of defects and dealt with in the usual way. It has been held that if partial possession is taken of the whole of the works, deemed practical completion of the whole of the works occurs.
