Powell]Smith and Furmston's Building Contract Casebook (5^th Ed.)

The interaction between general principles and the provisions of the standard building and construction contracts is a central feature of construction law. The major part of the law is laid down in decided cases and construction ­professionals should be familiar with these cases, but the information is scattered throughout a large number of law reports. The fifth edition of Powell-Smith and Furmston?s Building Contract Casebook is designed to help ­construction professionals become familiar with those key cases.

It brings together a wide range of cases on the main aspects of the law of construction contracts, states the principle established by each case and gives a summary of the facts and the decision. For the majority of cases, verbatim ­extracts from the judgment are included. The casebook presents the leading cases on each topic, together with many lesser-known but important decisions. A number of useful decisions from the Commonwealth are also included. Throughout, the author?s approach is practical rather than academic.

PART I – FORMATION OF THE CONTRACT 1

1 Letters of Intent 3

2 Costs of Tendering 9

3 Tenders and Estimates 14

4 Incorporation of Documents 20

5 Completion of the Contract 43

PART II – PERFORMANCE OF THE CONTRACT 59

6 The Contractor’s Obligations 61

Design 61

Materials and workmanship 74

Progress and completion 92

Indemnities and insurance 95

7 The Employer’s Obligations 133

Possession of site 133

Time and extent of possession 133

Site conditions 137

Co-operation 142

Instructions 151

Payment 154

Lump sum contracts 155

Other contracts 158

Retention 159

Quantum meruit 162

Set-off 165

Miscellaneous 176

Nomination of sub-contractors and specialists 176

Objection to nominees 176

Displacement of implied terms 177

Form of sub-contracts 177

Effect of failure 177

Default in supply of goods 178

8 Ownership and Vesting of Materials 180

Materials and goods 180

Vesting clauses 185

9 Acceptance and Defects 187

10 Approval and Certifi cates 191

General 191

Nature and effect of certifi cates 204

Recovery without certifi cate 226

11 Variations 228

12 Damages for Breach of Construction Contracts 246

13 Prolongation and Disruption Claims 272

14 Liquidated Damages and Extensions of Time 319

Liquidated damages 319

Extensions of time 336

Interpretation of provisions 351

PART III – DISCHARGE OF THE CONTRACT 353

15 Release 355

16 Frustration 358

17 Illegality 365

18 Forfeiture Clauses, Repudiation and Determination 369

19 Limitation 388

The Limitation Act 1980 388

Latent Damage Act 1986 391

PART IV – SUB-CONTRACTS AND SUB-CONTRACTING 399

20 Assignment and Sub-letting 401

21 Domestic Sub-contractors 411

22 Nominated Sub-contractors 414

PART V – BUILDING CONTRACTS AND THE LAW OF TORT 441

23 Building Contracts and the Law of Tort 443

Table of Cases 467

Index 485

About the Author

Michael P. Furmston TD, BCL, MA, LLM, Bencher of Gray’s Inn, is Dean of the School of Law and Professor of Law at Singapore Management University. He is also Emeritus Professor and senior research fellow in the School of Law at Bristol University. An internationally– acknowledged authority on contract and commercial law, he is author of the leading textbook on contract law – Cheshire, Fifoot & Furmston on Contract, and has acted as Editor of the Construction Law Reports since 1985.