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Clause 16
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Question 1

The contractor has achieved practical completion and has been issued the works completion list which requires a section of special flooring adjacent to an assembly line that has to be relayed (as required by the lessee) but the employer will not allow the n/s subcontractor to do so before the line is closed for maintenance in 16 weeks time. The contractor and n/s subcontractor believe that they have a claim for loss and expense due to the lack of access and that final completion is likely to be delayed which will then delay their final payments. Is this correct? If so how should this be handled?

Ref: N16.001

Answer

In terms of 16.3 the employer must allow the contractor and n/s subcontractors reasonable access subsequent to practical completion to fulfill their obligations. Further the n/s subcontractor is not obliged to do “additional work” [24.6] after the achievement of practical completion. The employer has little option but to negotiate with the n/s subcontractor on the basis of a “petty contract” outside of the current agreement or to appoint “others” to undertake the work