Since early 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic has sent shockwaves around the world, leading to governments implementing international boarder closures, social distancing measures and self-isolation directions in an attempt to “Stop the Spread”. However, these measures have causing large scale disruptions to society and business. Although restrictions are beginning to ease in Australia, the impacts of COVID-19 are continuing to be …

Welcome to the January edition of Projects & Construction Monthly. This edition addresses: The growth of LPC Lawyers; The Christmas and New Year shutdown period ending; Recent major projects; and LPC Lawyers’ current ‘Bridging the Gap’ LPC Lawyers’ Expansion into 2022 Lamont Project and Construction Lawyers’ team of highly experienced industry professionals has grown as we head into 2022 with …

Long ago, but not long forgotten, Australia experienced its worst industrial accident – the 1970 collapse of the West Gate Bridge. Two years into the construction of Australia’s second largest bridge (at the time), a 2,000-tonne section of the steel box girder structure fell to the ground and into the water below, killing thirty-five construction workers and engineers. An 80-day …

Due to the complex nature of bridge projects, meticulous planning and investigation is often required to ensure the components both above, and below, the ground meet the relevant standards, to ensure the final product is functional, durable, and safe. This article explores the geotechnical and design standards essential to ensure newly built and renewed bridges are fit for purpose in …

The latest forecasts for public sector investment in infrastructure suggest that the current infrastructure construction boom will continue over the next few years. With at least $180 billion worth of projects currently underway, investment is likely to balloon to over $250 billion in 2022 and beyond. A key investment for infrastructure is bridges, both new builds and pre-existing bridge renewals. …

Construction projects have a substantially high rate of business failure, bankruptcy, delays, losses and budget overruns. Not only this, but construction projects are also highly influenced by external factors such as economic, environmental and political issues. It is therefore more important than ever to control the controllable, in particular – contract administration.   The contract administration process is inevitably complex, …

Welcome to the December edition of Projects & Construction Monthly. This edition addresses: the Christmas and New Year shutdown period; the next stage of project trust accounts; recent major projects; LPC Lawyers’ current ‘The Administrator’ Christmas Checklist: Check Your Contracts! The Christmas and New Year shutdown period is fast approaching and for those in the building and construction industry, contractual …

A contract administrator needs to be able to recognise parts of contracts can cause incredible harm to a project and to the parties working together on a project. Some elements of every contract deserve particular attention.   How to spot these ‘killer clauses’ and what to do about them during the construction process is vital to keeping the project team …

A contract administrators’ role encompasses many tasks – managing, communicating, negotiating and executing the whole contract process. A contract administrator will make decisions, ensure the flow of information between the parties and will determine how the project is progressing. Proper construction contract administration ensures compliance (i.e. procurement dates, supervisors, payment assessments, claim submissions, variations, EOTs, etc.) and manages risk (i.e. …

The major project and construction industry is booming. The Australian Government announced that 15 infrastructure projects worth AUD$72 billion have been fast-tracked as a part of the 2021 infrastructure led economic revival plan. The success of these major projects often lie in how their contracts are administered. Major project contracts can be complex, voluminous and heavily bespoke. For the purposes …