what’s news in construction & infrastructure?

Victoria

Water plan may not go far enough
23 October 2008
Victoria’s $4.9 billion water plan may not be enough to secure Melbourne's drinking needs for the long term, with one of the state's top water bureaucrats suggesting more big projects could be needed within a decade. more...

Local council rules increase housing construction costs
18 October 2008
Extra rules imposed by local councils such as those on increased ceiling heights and noise protection can add as much as 14 per cent to home building costs. Government officials say the practice is common, particularly in NSW and Western Australia, but rarely occurs in Victoria, where the council regulations are subject to ministerial approval. more... 

New Beechwood owners complete 25 homes

16 October 2008
The new owners of Beechwood homes have completed almost 10 per cent of the 271 unfinished homes they agreed to complete following the collapse of the home builder. The insurer Vero has advised the NSW government it has issued 314 new insurance certificates and made 60 incentive payments of $15,400 per home to the builder to help restart the construction of houses. more...

Government cancels North Bank development

19 October 2008
The Premier has announced the North Bank development will be cancelled, after submissions following the recent Enquiry by Design (EBD) process showithat 93 per cent of people do not support the proposed North Bank development in its current form. more...

Parched Toowoomba first to draw water from 'exploited' basin

17 October 2008
Toowoomba will become the first large urban centre to draw its town water from the Great Artesian Basin, with more than 400ML/month to be extracted to meet the needs of the drought-ravaged city. A $17 million project is under way to drill bores to meet Toowoomba's requirements as experts warned that water levels in the 1.7 million sqkm basin were falling sharply from overuse. more...

Queensland: the place to do business

14 October 2008
Premier Anna Bligh told the Major Projects Conference that the public and private sectors were continuing to invest in Queensland in record amounts. Projects Queensland, a publication detailing projects worth more than $30 million each, released at the conference, outlines around 600 new, existing and just completed projects with a combined value of more than $250 billion. Mr Lucas said the Coordinator General is currently assessing 37 “significant projects” worth $58 billion and projects worth another $40 billion are being discussed with proponents. more...

Recycled water project complete in South East Queensland

21 October 2008
The completed western corridor recycled water project will start pumping into dams early next year. more...

WEMP criticisms watered down by figures

17 October 2008
Claims the Brisbane City Council has been sitting on its hands over the management of Water Efficiency Management Plans (WEMPS) have been debunked by the Council and Queensland Water Commission figures. BCC Opposition Leader Shayne Sutton attacked Lord Mayor Campbell Newman over QWC findings that she said showed 55 percent of submitted WEMPs had been left unprocessed, making the city southeast Queensland’s worst offender. more...

Call for public comment into the Burdekin, Gulf and Mitchell Water Plans

24 October 2008
The Minister for Natural Resources and Water Craig Wallace has called for public submissions on resource plans for 3 important river systems - the Burdekin, Gulf, and Mitchell river systems. The released Draft Resource Operations Plans (ROPs) for the Burdekin Basin, the Gulf and the Mitchell water planning areas will secure existing water supplies and provide for the regions’ growth by introducing water trading to drive efficiency and innovation in water use. more...

Chalco to consider reef impact of refinery

15 October 2008
A Chinese mining company seeking to develop a bauxite deposit and build an alumina refinery in far north Queensland says it will consider the impact on the Great Barrier Reef in its planning. The Queensland government is currently considering tougher measures to improve water quality on the reef following a damning report focusing on coastal industry run-off. more...

Mt Coot-tha Desalination Plant

21 October 2008
Construction of the desalination plant in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens started in August 2007 and cost $250,000. It is now producing up to 32,000 litres of fresh water a day from an 80metre deep salt water bore beneath Mt Coot-tha’s botanic gardens and tapped for Brisbane City Council’s latest water-saving initiative. more...

New dam planned for Brisbane's west

17 October 2008
A new dam will be built in Brisbane's western suburbs as part of the city's latest tunnel project. It will be located next to the Northern Link development, with water from the dam to be used on the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens. more...

Other

publications/conferences

Infrastructure: what is needed and how do we pay for it?
Author: Keating, Michael
Source: Australian Economic Review; September 2008; Vol. 41 (No. 3): pp231-238
Subjects: Electricity supply; Infrastructure; Investment; Prices and charges; Telecommunications; Urban transport; Water supply; Cost effectiveness analysis

Discussion Paper: Proposed building and construction division of Fair Work Australia
Author: Wilcox, Murray Australia. Dept. of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
Source: [Canberra: Dept. of Employment and Workplace Relations], 2008: pp39
Subjects: Building industry; Fair Work Australia; Trade unions; Australian Building and Construction Commission; Committees and Inquiries more...

Transport problems facing large cities.
Author: Edwards, Tom; Smith, Stewart. New South Wales Parliamentary Library
Source: [Sydney]: NSW Parliamentary Library, 2008: pp35
Subjects: Sydney; Urban transport; Transport policy; London; New York (City); Paris; Tokyo; Case studies; Australia overseas comparisons - Document Type: Library Catalogue Item. more...

Problems and prospects for suburban renewal: an Australian perspective.
Author: Randolph, Bill; Freestone, Robert
Source: Kensington, NSW: City Futures Research Centre, 2008: pp31
Subjects: Suburbs; Urban renewal; Urbanisation; Social conditions; Sydney; Case studies; Town planning; Australia overseas comparisons more...

Construct 2009: Assisting professionals adapt to change

One of the largest gatherings of the construction industry’s senior management will be at the Construct 2009 conference to be held in Sydney during February 2009. Over 2 and a half days Construct 2009 will address the key issues relevant to all building and construction professionals and other industry stakeholders. more...

legislation

Walton Construction (Qld) Pty Ltd v Robert Salce [2008] QSC 235

Contracts - building, engineering and related contracts - remuneration - recovery - Validity of a decision of an adjudicator - Claim that the adjudicator lacked jurisdiction. Contracts - building, engineering and related contracts - generally - Whether a “construction contract” was formed in the circumstances -Where there was already a contract for the provision of the same services at the site with another company - whether the “agreement” amounted to a “construction contract” or a guarantee for the obligations of that other company. Statutory interpretation. Legislation cited: Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld), s 3, s 3(2)(a)(iii), s 3(3) - Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW), s 7 (3)(c)(ii) - Judicial Review Act 1991 (Qld), s 18(2) (b) - Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991 (Qld), s 67G - Supreme Court Act 1995 (Qld), s 128 more...

Abigroup Contractors Pty Ltd v Hardesty and Hanover International LLC (No 2) [2008] SASC 272

Contracts - building, engineering and related contracts - performance of work - remedies for breach of contract appeal and new trial - appeal - general principles - right of appeal - when appeal lies from interlocutory decisions. Leave to appeal - Application for permission to appeal to the Full Court, from a refusal of the Court to grant interlocutory relief - whether a point of principle arises - whether the interests of justice favour a grant of permission. Held: permission to appeal not granted - application for permission referred to the Full Court pursuant to Rule 282(2) of the Supreme Court Civil Rules 2006 (SA). Held: Permission to appeal was refused. Legislation cited: Supreme Court Civil Rules 2006 (SA) r 282. more...

Baulderstone Hornibrook Engineering Pty Ltd v Gordian Runoff Ltd & Ors [2008] NSWCA 243

Insurance - professional indemnity insurance - construction of contracts of insurance - whether loss arose out of design fault or construction work - exclusion of liability - Indemnity - whether grant of indemnity an admission of liability - whether payment under co-ordinate policy extinguished rights against underlying insurer - Words & phrases - meaning of “paid” - Practice & procedure - duty of parties to co-operate and be clear as to issues in litigation, especially in the Commercial List.

Broad Construction Services (NSW) Pty Ltd v Vadasz [2008] NSWSC 1057

Building and engineering contracts - Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 - adjudication determination - adjudicator did not consider expert's report - whether denial of procedural fairness - whether report constituted a submission 'duly made' in support of payment schedule. Held: Although the adjudicator said in para 10 that he had not “considered” the Douglas Partners’ report of 24 April 2008, it was not taken to mean that he had not read it. The adjudicator was saying that he was not considering the report for the purpose of determining the claim. With regards to the claim for denial of procedural fairness there was no reviewable error in this case. Legislation cited: Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) more...

Mikel v Dudley & Ors [2008] NSWSC 1090

Administrative law - consumer trader & tenancy tribunal - appeal under s.67 of the Act against a Tribunal decision on a question with respect to a matter of law - relief also claimed under s.65 of the Act on basis of alleged breach of procedural fairness by Tribunal - complaints held to be challenges to findings of fact falling outside the ambit of s.67 of the Act - no breach of procedural fairness in Tribunal refusing to permit cross-examination of a party or in refusing to grant an application to join a third person to the proceedings - no obligation on Tribunal to exercise its power under s. 39 to call witnesses - Commercial Tribunal Act 1984 -Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Act 2001 -Home Building Act 1989

Cook's Construction P/L v Stork Food Systems Aust P/L [2008] QCA 322

Appeal and new trial - appeal - practice and procedure - Queensland - stay of proceedings - general principles as to grant or refusal - where the plaintiff applies for a stay of execution of the judgment below pending the outcome of an appeal to this Court - where the plaintiff also seeks to appeal the decision of the learned primary judge to refuse a stay of execution pending appeal - where the defendant concedes that the substantive appeal is arguable - where the plaintiff claims that if it were required to satisfy the judgment below immediately, it would be forced into liquidation or receivership, rendering any subsequent appeal nugatory - where the plaintiff claims that the stay of execution is necessary to avoid irremediable harm to it pending the outcome of the appeal - whether the learned primary judge erred in refusing to grant the stay - whether in the circumstances the Court should exercise its discretion and order that the execution of the judgment below be stayed pending the outcome of the appeal. more...

Trans Australian Constructions Pty Ltd v Nilsen (SA) Pty Ltd [2008] NTSC 42

Construction contracts - whether the appointed adjudicator made his determination in accordance with the requirements of the adjudication process fixed by the Act - whether adjudicator failed to determine issue raised - whether a valid “payment claim” existed under the contract and within the meaning of the Act to give rise to a “payment dispute” - claims dismissed. Held: In the circumstances there were three valid payment claims before the adjudicator, the essential requirements of the adjudication process were complied with and the determination of the adjudicator is not void. Legislation cited: Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act (NT). more...

Nguyen v Cosmopolitan Homes [2008] NSWCA 246

Evidence - standard of proof - on balance of probabilities - where house and contents damaged by fire - onus on plaintiff to show that fire caused by negligent acts and omissions alleged against defendants - tribunal of fact must feel sense of actual persuasion - circumstantial case - not necessary for proof on balance of probabilities that all possible causes inconsistent with negligence be excluded. Evidence - expert opinion evidence - distinction between inference and speculation - expert evidence as to causation - whether more than conjecture - tribunal of fact not bound to accept opinions of experts contract - breach of contract - need to prove that alleged breach caused loss - tribunal of fact not bound by experts’ opinion as to existence of causal link - negligence - duty of care - need to prove that alleged breach caused loss - tribunal of fact not bound by experts’ opinions as to existence of causal link. Practice - discretion to allow affidavit to be read when maker not available, when required, for cross-examination - no question of principle. Civil Liability Act 2002; Civil Liability Amendment (Personal Responsibility) Act 2002 - Home Building Act 1989.