Project description

Coursework Assignment Guidelines

Students are required to attempt the legal problem question and write a word-processed essay on the essay topic below. The weighting as between the legal problem question and the essay is

60:40.

The following guidelines should be strictly adhered to:

1.    All propositions of law referred to in the legal problem question – see section A of the assignment below – should be supported by an appropriate reference to a case or statute or, in

the case of a reference to a standard form of building contract such as the JCT Standard Building Contract with Quantities 2011, by an appropriate reference to the relevant contract.

2.    The minimum and maximum word limits for each component of the assignment appear at the end of the relevant section of the assignment. These limits should be adhered to, otherwise

the student will be penalised. Each submission should include a word count.

3.    Footnotes/endnotes should be included in the essay. A bibliography should appear at the end of the essay. The bibliography should contain all relevant material consulted by the

student, whether referred to in footnotes or not and material in the bibliography should be arranged under the following headings, where applicable:

Legislation
Case Law
Internet resources
Other resources

Words in footnotes and bibliography should not be included when taking into account the essay word count.

4.    Footnotes/endnotes must be used for referencing and further reading only and should contain as little text as possible.

5.    The completed coursework assignment must be submitted,  prior to the submission deadline (see below), by submission via an electronic drop-box set up on the RGU Moodle online

campus within the Advanced Construction Law module – note that further information on this will be notified to students in advance of the submission date. Note that one submission only is

permitted to avoid multiple submissions (where a later submission by a student is stated or intended to supersede an earlier one). Students must be satisfied that the version of the completed

coursework is the absolutely final version prior to submission. Completed coursework submissions should not under any circumstances be directly emailed to the module coordinator, Mr David

Chrisite. Mr. Christie’s email facility at RGU is not resourced to handle emails with large attachments. Accordingly Mr. Christie will have no alternative but to delete such coursework’s on arrival

without reading them.

6.    The completed coursework assignment must be submitted using the template (a Microsoft Word document) provided on the RGU Moodle online campus within the Advanced

Construction Law module. The template should be completed in full prior to submission. Use of the template is intended to ensure that the coursework submission is contained in a single

document and contains all relevant student details. This will make submission via the electronic drop-box simpler.

7.    The completed coursework assignment must be submitted by the following deadline:

12pm GMT or 1pm (UK Time) on Monday 11 August 2014

Extensions to this deadline may exceptionally be granted. Applications for an extension should be sent, with full reasons, to the module co-ordinator, David Christie at [email protected] and

copied to the postgraduate administrator, Cherie Connon at [email protected].

Any extensions should be applied for as early as possible and will be considered at the sole discretion of the module co-ordinator. Applications close to the deadline should be avoided wherever

possible, and unless made at the earliest opportunity, are likely to be refused. Please note that pressure of work, unless exceptional and verified, will not be accepted as a valid extension

justification.

Failure to submit the completed coursework assignment properly or by the stated submission deadline will result in the student’s scoring zero for the assignment.

8.    Any deviation from the above guidelines will be penalised, either by a zero score or a lower mark.

Coursework Assignment

Section A
Legal Problem

Sir William Ding, has been in the building contracting business for 35 years; first as the founder – and now the chairman –  of Bill Ding (Builders) plc (“BDB”). He has experience across the UK, Europe

and the world. Moreover, he has managed his business with a rod of iron through the recession and it is now emerging as one of the powerhouse companies for UK construction.

Sir William is beginning to plan his retirement but, before he can rest on his laurels, he wants to leave his mark on the UK industry and his home town of Hometon by building a brand new

headquarters for the company.

He is beginning to work out how to go about this and, in terms of designer, he has been very impressed with what he sees of the work of up and coming young Architect, Archie Teck.

In his short career, Archie has been responsible for a number of minor classic ‘iconic buildings’ across the UK from the “Heart” in Hartlepool; the “Sliver” in Liverpool and the “Udder” in Ullapool.

He’s certainly got a reputation for flair and ingenuity.

Sir William approaches Archie about being the Architect/Contract Adminstrator for the new BDB HQ in Hometon and Archie is very excited to get involved. Sir William proposes that Archie is the

lead architect. BDB are currently doing so well that Sir William doesn’t have the capacity within the business to devote the companies’ time to the HQ, so he brings in a boutique contracting

practice (who specialise in office buildings) called Offit Ltd to do the work. Offit started out as fit out contractors but have recently branched out into other areas. Sir William  – through BDB –

will retain overall responsibility as the Employer on the project.

As a small company, Offit tell Sir William that they expect to subcontract to their usual team of subcontractors. Sir William is relaxed about this.

Question A1: Outline and explain the health and safety responsibilities Archie would have (if any) as the lead Architect in a project of considerable size like the BDB HQ.
Would there be any health and safety responsibilities for Sir William/BDB?

Question A2

An un-amended version of the SBCC/JCT Standard Building Contract without Quantities 2011 has been adopted by BDB as its preferred construction contract for the HQ. While his creative output

is of a very high standard, Archie’s self organisation and project management can let him down (he is very charming and can usually talk his way out of trouble). In one of the ongoing

construction works, Archie as Architect/ Contract Administrator fails to issue an Interim Payment certificate to the main Contractor within 5 days of the due date; his reason is because he has

some issues with the valuation by the Quantity Surveyor but has forgotten to sort them out in time.

The Contractor in keeping with the terms of the contract has issued an Interim Payment Notice, which to Archie’s  mind is an overvaluation of epic proportions.  Archie does not want BDB to

make a payment on account of this Interim Payment Notice.

i) Advise Archie on what procedures he should take or he should advise BDB to take in the circumstance.

ii) By the time Archie gets around to telling Sir William about the issue, it was too late for BDB to do anything about it – the final date for payment has passed. Advise Archie on what he can do

now to handle the situation.

(iii) When Sir William hears about this, he blames the issue on the recent change in the payment provisions. The new position is not as good as the one under the 2005 contract. Is he right?

In your answer be careful to appropriately outline all procedures and provide guidance on all possible options – with appropriate authority to back up what you are saying.

Minimum word limit for Section A Legal Problem – 2,000 words
Maximum word limit for Section A Legal Problem – 2,200 words

60 Marks

Section B
Essay Topic

“Insurance is the best way to control a contractor’s liability to third parties in the construction industry”

Critically discuss the above statement by reference to the various ways of ascertaining the extent of, and controlling, liability to third parties, as identified in the module.

Minimum word limit for Section B Essay Topic – 1,500 words
Maximum word limit for Section B Essay Topic – 2,000 words

Total: 40 Marks