FPM CONSTRUCTIONS PTY LTD V BLUE MOUNTAINS COUNCIL

摘要

The Council of the City of the Blue Mountains entered into a building contract (AS 4300) with Fyntray Constructions Pty Ltd on 17 October 2001 for the design and construction of the Lower Blue Mountains Aquatic Centre. The contract was later assigned, so that FPM Constructions Pty Ltd (the plaintiff) became the contractor. The contract was a lump sum contract which contained no schedule of rates by reference to which the value or price attributable to particular parts of the work could be ascertained. Clause 42 provides a mechanism for a contractor to deliver to the superintendent a "claim for payments supported by evidence of the amount due to the contractor and on such information as the Superintendent may reasonably require. Claims for payment shall include the value of work carried out by the Contractor in the performance of the Contract to that time, together with all amounts then otherwise due to the Contractor arising out of the Contract." Clause 42.1 provides that "Within 14 days of receipt of a claim for payment, the Superintendent shall assess the claim and shall issue to the Principal and to the Contractor a payment certificate stating the amount of the payment which, in the Superintendent's opinion, is to be made by the Principal to the Contractor or by the Contractor to the Principal. The Superintendent shall set out in the certificate the calculations employed to arrive at the amount, and if the amount is more or less than the amount claimed by the Contractor, the reasons for the difference. The Superintendent shall also set out, as applicable, in any payment certificate issued pursuant to clause 42, the allowances made for (inter alia) the value of work carried out by the Contractor in the performance of the Contract to the date of the claim."