Construction

A judge has rejected a $225,000 personal costs order sought against a Sydney-based law firm by a homeowner in a beef with a builder, over what the homeowner claimed was a “woefully prepared” case in the NSW District Court.

A judge has given a “judicial harrumph” to Sydney developer FKP Commercial Developments and Irish insurer Zurich Insurance in a dispute over coverage for an apartment defects suit, saying it was not for the court to “trawl” through an insurance policy to work out its meaning. 

Irish insurer Zurich Insurance has refused consent for a class action over a defective New Zealand apartment block to proceed in the NSW Supreme Court as it mulls a High Court challenge to the case.

The CFMMEU and two of its officials have been hit with the maximum penalty for allegedly breaching right of entry rules and calling a safety advisor “disgusting homophobic slurs” at a worksite on the $5.4 billion Queensland Cross River Rail project.

Chinese construction and engineering firm BCEG has won a $12 million lawsuit against two former directors of an Australian subsidiary after they allegedly swindled millions from the company to fund their own developments and buy a luxury apartment.

A judge has slashed engineering services firm CIMIC Group’s ten insurance claims in half, finding that the company failed to notify five insurers of a handwritten document dubbed the “Iraq file note” in relation to its claims for coverage of costs arising from allegations it engaged in corrupt practices, including bribing Iraqi officials.

A judge has granted a bid by the operator of Sydney’s billion-dollar Lane Cove tunnel to add a new claim in the five-year-old dispute alleging the concrete lining used in construction was defective.

Irish insurer Zurich Insurance has lost its appeal seeking to shut down a class action filed against it in the NSW Supreme Court over a defective New Zealand apartment block.

Gilbert + Tobin has lured K&L Gates’ global co-head of construction to join its energy and infrastructure practice in Melbourne. 

Although the settlement sum has not been disclosed, court documents in the Opal Tower class action reveal the litigation funder backing the case will seek $13.2 million in commission when the parties appear before the court later this year.