218.204 CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AND LEGAL PRINCIPLES - Semester 2, 2024

Assessment 2 – Legal principles of construction contracts

Total maximum marks for assessment: 100 marks. Assessment weighting to the whole course: 40%

1 Background

1.1       Construction projects commonly use published standard forms of construction contracts.

1.2       Standards New Zealand contracts are commonly used in New Zealand – particularly for non-residential projects. The latest edition is NZS 3910:2023: New Zealand Standard Conditions of Contract for Building and Civil Engineering Construction.

1.3       Among other published standard forms of contracts include those published by the New Zealand Institute of Architects and Registered Master Builders and internationally: FIDIC 2017, AS4000, and STCC-RSP 2015.

1.4       All these contracts have some common provisions, although details differ.

2 The brief

2.1       The following are provisions commonly found in published standard forms of construction contracts.

(i)      The roles of the persons administering the contract

(ii)    Extension of time

(iii)     Payment

(iv)   Variation

(v)    Defects liability

(vi)   Subcontracting

(vii)   Termination

(viii)   Dispute resolution

2.2       Explain the basic principles of the provisions above. Use relevant contract clauses from NZS3910:2023 and any one other contract of your choice to help explain the basic principles.

2.3       Present your findings in the form. of a report.

2.4       For some basic guidance on reports generally see: https://owll.massey.ac.nz/assignment-types/report.php Specifically for business reports see: https://owll.massey.ac.nz/assignment-types/business-report.php You will also see a sample of a structure of a business report here: https://owll.massey.ac.nz/assignment-types/business-report-structure.php

2.5       Indicative total word count guide: about 2,000 - 4,000 words. These are only indicative and not mandatory word count limits.

3 Working in pairs

3.1       Do this assessment in groups of two. If for any reason, you insist on working alone, you must be prepared to spend twice as long as the time commitment of working in pairs. If you choose to work alone, you must still complete the  whole assessment in its entirety.

3.2       State both students’ names on the cover sheet.

3.3       Include a note to confirm or otherwise that both students distributed the workload fairly equally.

4          Assessment format and submission

4.1 Cover page

Your assessment must have the following information on a cover page:

4.2 Formatting

You must submit your assessment in a format that complies with the following:

File format:                      MSWord or PDF

Font type and size:               Arial, 11 point (you can use different fonts sizes for the title, headings, and sub-headings).

Spacing:                          1.5

Justification:                     Block-justified (justified left and right) or only left-justified

Page number:                   Insert page numbering in the report using the format page 1 of x where x is the total number of pages

4.3 File name

The assessment must be submitted on the Stream portal as a single document with the file name: 218.204-A2-2024-[students names 1 and 2]. Submit only one assessment per group of 2 on Stream. There is no need to submit any hard copy. Save the trees and the environment!

4.4 Deadline

Submit by 11.59 pm, Monday 16 Sept 2024

5 Plagiarism and cheating

You know the rules. Don’t plagiarise and don’t copy or cheat. They are very serious offences. Read the plagiarism rules here:

https://owll.massey.ac.nz/referencing/plagiarism.php Having said that, as you may be quoting standard clauses from contracts, don’t be overly concerned if your plagiarism score is high because of similarity on contract clauses.

6 Breakdown of marks

6.1            Executive summary, introduction, conclusion                                                         10 marks

6.2           Explanation of the 8 basic principles supported with clauses from 2 contracts:             80 marks (10 marks each)

(i)      The roles of the persons administering the contract

(ii)    Extension of time

(iii)     Payment

(iv)   Variation

(v)    Defects liability

(vi)   Subcontracting

(vii)   Termination

(viii)   Dispute resolution

6.3            Report presentation and formatting                                                                     10 marks

Total 100 marks