The Law of Construction Contracts

Addresses the key issues involved in the law of modern construction contracts. The text uses examples of South African and English contract law to assess how the traditional approach is hindering the satisfactory resolution of disputes in key areas of the construction industry.

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The modern construction industry comprises a complex network of participants - employers, professionals, contractors and subcontractors - all of whom are involved in highly technical processes, often with considerable financial investments at stake. Given this complexity, it is an industry in which disputes are endemic. Yet the law courts continue to apply traditional concepts and principles of the general law of contract to construction disputes, an approach which is increasingly inappropriate and outmoded in this complex modern context. Written for lawyers, students and the construction industry, "The Law of Construction Contracts" addresses the key issues involved. Rob van Deventer uses examples of South African and English contract law to assess how the traditional approach is hindering the satisfactory resolution of disputes in key areas of the construction industry. For each problem area, the author suggests solutions which take more account of industry norms, practices and perspectives for the complex problems which emerge daily in the interaction of law, technology and practice in the construction industry.
He concludes that this traditional approach of the law requires substantial modification in key areas if it is to take adequate account of the true complexities of the modern construction relationship.