Cases - Surrey Heath Borough Council v Lovell Construction Ltd

Record details

Name

Surrey Heath Borough Council v Lovell Construction Ltd

Date

(1988)

Citation

42 BLR 25

Legislation

• Australian Corporations Act 2001
• Competition and Consumer Act 2010

Keywords

Construction contracts - liquidated damages - damages for delay - measure of loss - damage resulting from fire caused by negligence

Summary

The claimant council engaged the defendant contractor to design and build new offices at Camberley, Surrey, pursuant to a JCT Standard Form of Building Contract (1981 edition), with contractor's design. During the carrying out of the project, an extensive fire occurred following the carrying out of welding operations. The fire was negligently caused, and severely damaged the works, delaying the project by some 18 months. The Court held that whether the failure to meet the contractual completion date was caused by a breach of contract (such as causing a fire) or simply from failing to proceed regularly and diligently with the works, the employer's remedy for any losses caused by the delay would be the same, i.e. the payment of liquidated damages.