Cases - Turner Corporation Ltd (Receiver and Manager Appointed) v Austotel Pty Ltd

Record details

Name

Turner Corporation Ltd (Receiver and Manager Appointed) v Austotel Pty Ltd

Date

(1997)

Citation

13 BCL 378

Keywords

Construction time - extension of time - construction of extension of time clause - whether construction strict

Summary

This case of the Australian courts appears to endorse the movement away from the 'traditional' strict construction of extension of time clauses against an employer in circumstances where a contractor has failed to avail himself of the extension of time mechanism:

'If the Builder, having a right to claim an extension of time fails to do so, it cannot claim that the act of prevention which would have entitled it to an extension of time for Practical Completion resulted in its inability to complete by that time. A party to a contract cannot rely upon preventing the contract of the other party where it failed to exercise a contractual right which would have negated the effect of that preventing conduct.'