Page 1 of 5 Construction Law - EBB 5/ 080 - Coursework Assessment, 2015/16 Due Date: Friday 27 November 2015 Please submit your answers via electronic submission on Moodle in Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF format. Please ensure that the names of each participant and their student number are listed on the document itself. The assignment questions must be worked on in groups and submitted as one piece of work. The intention behind group work is that you learn from each other. Discussion of work allows for a deeper understanding and better memory retention. You should, therefore, decide as a group, what the answers are. In your groups you could decide who you would like to be the person who writes the answers up, you may choose to share this task. Whichever way you do it, the answers themselves should be the consensus of you all and not the work of 1 individual. In other words, you should not decide to tackle 1 question each. In addition, each individual will complete a learning assessment feedback sheet, which will consider their own involvement in the writing or researching of the assessment answers (a learning diary), as well as, their opinion of the participation of each of the group’s other members. 10 marks are available to each student for their learning diary and a further 10 based on the assessment from their colleagues. The assignment This assignment consists of 4 parts; please answer them all as succinctly but comprehensively as possible, with no more than 2,500 words for the whole assignment. NB there is no need for a bibliography. All appropriate references should appear in the text of each answer and should be cases, legislation or clauses from the JCT contract only. If you choose to use direct quotations, you must also explain in your own words in order to benefit from marks. Page 2 of 5 Part 1. Berwick Construction Ltd and Airways Hotels Ltd were negotiating a contract for the refurbishment and extension of a hotel. Negotiations dragged on because the parties could not agree the amount for liquidated damages, the extent of the variations clause and the adjudication procedure. Airways Hotels sent a letter of intent headed “Subject to contract”, instructing Berwick Construction to start work pending agreement of a formal written contract. Negotiations continued, with various correspondence and several meetings, but no final contract was ever agreed. During these negotiations, Berwick carried out the work as requested and Airways Hotel made monthly payments to them. When the work was complete, Airways Hotels claimed that some of the work was defective. Berwick said they were not responsible because no contract existed between the parties. a) Advise Berwick Construction Ltd of their legal position; and b) Would it make a difference if there had been no monthly payments made? 20 marks Part 2. Please explain the legal significance of each of the following cases in relation to tendering: a) Blackpool and Fylde Aero Club ltd v Blackpool Borough Council [1990] 3 All ER 25 6 marks b) Harmon CFEM Facades (UK) Ltd v. The Corporate Officer of the House of Commons (2000) 67 Con LR 1 8 marks c) William Lacey (Hounslow) Ltd v Davis [1957] 2 All ER 712 (6 marks) 6 marks Page 3 of 5 Key information Parts 3 and 4 are to be answered in the context of the JCT Standard Building Contract Conditions with which you have been issued (JCT SBQ 2011). Part 3. During the construction of a prestigious office block in the City, the Contractor misread the architect’s specifications and installed quartz flooring, instead of granite, to the main reception area. The Employer has noticed the error, on a site visit during the construction phase, and has asked for your advice about what remedies it has under the JCT SBQ 2011 contract, regarding this error. 20 marks Part 4. You are Contract Administrator. The Contractor says that since you have granted an Adjustment of the Completion Date of five weeks, he is entitled to five weeks of Direct Loss and/or Expense. Explain whether the Contractor is right? 20 marks Total 80 marks Remaining 20 marks will be allocated in accordance with the learning diary / peer review Page 4 of 5 Group coursework – Learning diary & participation feedback Name & student number Names of other group members What was the hardest or most frustrating aspect about working in a group? What did you like most about working in a group? If you had any particular problems with people in your group or perhaps one member, what were the issues and how did you resolve them? Did any of your opinions differ from the answer(s) that the group decided upon? Do you think that working in a group aided your understanding of some of the topics? Are there any other thoughts or observations that you would like to add about your participation in this group coursework Page 5 of 5 Group coursework – colleague feedback Please grade each of the group members out of 10 for each of the following categories. (10 would be outstanding, 5 would be average, 1 would be very poor) Name and student number of group member Score for: Ease of contact / availability Score for: General participation in the group Score for: Willingness to do work required Score for: Communication / team working skills