THIESS SERVICES PTY LTD v MIRVAC QUEENSLAND PTY LTD

摘要

This was an application by Thiess Services Pty Ltd for a declaration of its obligations under a lump sum contract with Mirvac Queensland Pty Ltd for the remediation of a parcel of land, including the site of a former gas works in Brisbane. In broad terms, Thiess contended that its obligation was to remediate the site to the extend necessary to render it suitable for any land use, only if that could be done economically. Mirvac asserted that Thiess' obligation to remediate all of the land to that standard, with the exception of the site of the remaining gas holder, was absolute. There was a range of relevant contractual provisions. The Technical Specification in cl 1.1 required Thiess to carry out the remediation work. Clause 1.2 referred to a "Third Party Reviewer" determining that the works had been completed to the required standard. Clause 1.3 had two limbs, whereby the first provided that the objective of the contract was safely and efficiently to remediate the site in order to achieve "any land use" and the second provided that the "Intent of the Remediation" was stated in a "Remediation Action Plan".