Musings of a busy mind

Not for the first time this year, I have on my desk a government contract which suggests that, despite their recent assurances to the contrary, the Government has not learned its lesson as a good contracting party. The contract in question contains a completely unrealistic and unjustified transfer of risk; not because it's a good idea, but because they can.

The time is now right, it seems to me, for greater use of the independent neutral - (1) peer reviewing; (2) probity auditing; and (3) disputes boards. Sometimes an independent, experienced voice is required to curb half baked and ill considered tendencies.

Congratulations to Stuart Robertson and the Committee of the NZ branch of the Society of Construction Law on winning the right to host the International SCL Conference in Auckland in 2020.

Register your interest at constructionlaw2020.com

The central problem is one of managing uncertainty, and for most projects the best solution is for clients to engage with contractors to understand and to reduce, as far as possible, those uncertainties. This will not necessarily result in a cheaper price, but it will result in a more certain price and more certain delivery.