News and Articles

Category: 2017

23/11/17 – Unsatisfactory Professional Conduct by Engineers

Prosecutions brought by the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland (‘BPEQ’) provide an interesting insight into the types of conduct which has aggrieved users of engineering services in Queensland. Below is a brief summary of some of the disciplinary proceedings and prosecutions brought by the BPEQ […]

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20/10/17 – Update on Building Products

Since the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June, developments in product compliance have sped up so quickly that it can be hard to keep pace with the latest thinking, and even harder to separate out official guidance from opinion and speculation. At our recent forum in Melbourne, a room full of consultants […]

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10/10/17 – ACCC Commences Federal Court Action to Enforce Unfair Contract Laws

In October 2016, we reported on the imminent commencement of ‘business to business’ unfair contract provisions in the Australian Consumer Law. As we approach the anniversary of the introduction of those laws, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (“the ACCC”) has announced that it has commenced its first enforcement action in relation to an alleged […]

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17/08/17 – Insolvency in the Australian Construction Industry

In June 2017, the Commonwealth Government released its response to the Senate Economic  References Committee Report on Insolvency in the Australian Construction Industry (“the Report”). The Committee made forty-four recommendations in its Report to the Government in December 2015. Those recommendations sought to address the challenges encountered by the construction industry in dealing with the […]

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03/08/17 – Statutory Declarations

However routine it may become, the humble “stat dec” should never be regarded as a mere formality. The Federal Court of Australia has recently found a senior staff member personally liable for loss arising from an inaccurate statutory declaration.

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25/07/17 – Update: Commonwealth Procurement and Recourse for Tenderers

The Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Bill 2017 was introduced into Federal Parliament on 24 May 2017, whereby suppliers (anyone who supplies, or could supply, goods or services) “whose interests are effected”, can complain about breaches of some of the rules within the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (‘Rules’). Tendering, as a concept, is the traditional method of […]

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21/06/2017 – Five Tips for Successful Novation

For better or worse, it seems that novation is here to stay. For consultants who work on commercial projects (especially high-rise development) in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, novation tends to be commonplace, and traditional procurement (where the Principal engages the design team separately from the Contractor) is even becoming the exception. Larger clients in other […]

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