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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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