A Case Study: Superintendent's Duties, Delay Methodologies, Acceleration and more
SCL Australia Podcast
Based on the V601 v Probuild case decided in the Victorian Supreme Court in December 2021, Ben McLeod presented this talk in Melbourne in February 2023. Ben was part of the team who acted successfully for Probuild in this matter and outlines a range of complex issues, including how Principals and Superintendents should ensure that a contractor’s claims are assessed fairly; the consequences that can flow from the Superintendent's independence having been compromised; and the Court’s approach to ‘constructive acceleration’ claims. Ben McLeod Partner at Piper Alderman,...
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Complexity Theory - How It Can Help Us Think About Risk In Construction
SCL Australia Podcast
Stepping back from a process to see the complex interactions happening between all of the parties can lead to insights that could prevent potentially catastrophic consequences. The failure of a pedestrian bridge at Florida International University led to 6 fatalities. In this talk, Sean explore the failures in the design, peer review and construction phases of the project, and the need for investigations to look into organisational causes of failure as well as the technical causes. Sean Brady, Managing Director, Brady Heywood Pty Ltd https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-brady-11a95427/ If...
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Is NEC4 the Answer to Australia’s Broken Standard form ?
SCL Australia Podcast
Is the Australian industry’s Standard Form broken? If so, why and can it be fixed? The training and learning involved to build confidence in a new industry contract should be considered when making changes. Scott Alden presents his talk “When opportunity knocks: Is NEC4 the Answer to Australia’s Broken Standard form ?” This talk was voted by attendees as one of the Top 3 highlights of our national conference “Getting Risk Right”, held in Hobart, Tasmania in May 2022. Scott Alden, Partner - Construction Team (Sydney), HWL Ebsworth Lawyers HWL Edsworth Lawyers The Australian...
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Collaborative Contracting - where are we now, and why ?
SCL Australia Podcast
The past, present and future of collaborative contracting models. One of the audience-selected highlights of our national conference “Getting Risk Right”, held in Hobart, Tasmania in May 2022. Sean Kelly and Yazmin Judd focus on the results of an anonymous industry survey which was completed by public and private sector employees, lawyers, engineers, consultants, contractors and subcontractors. Sean Kelly, Special Counsel Sean is a commercial lawyer specialising in the construction and infrastructure sectors. He acts for local and international clients regarding claims and dispute...
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The role of the Legal System in Failures - The UK Post Office Scandal (Part 3)
SCL Australia Podcast
An exercise in highly paid lawyers dancing on the head of a pin. We deep dive into the roles the law, the lawyers and the courts played in this scandal. This wasn’t a case of a few bad apples, the whole system was stacked against the Subpostmasters. The system silenced, suppressed and hid information and nothing like justice was achieved. At some point the overriding duty to the court owed by lawyers got lost in a fog of protecting the client at all costs. The barrister acting for the Sub-postmasters, after reading internal Post Office legal advice from 2014, said “In my almost 30 years’...
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Learning from IT Failures: Horizon, Bugs, and Chinooks - The UK Post Office Scandal (Part 2)
SCL Australia Podcast
In the opening I introduced that the Horizon software was the main deliverable of a billion pound PFI project let by the Post Office. The contract was awarded in May 1996 to Fujitsu who won the job because of their winning offer to bear the software development costs in exchange for 8 years guaranteed transaction fee every time a customer of the Department of Social Service used their new swipe card in a Post Office. It doesn’t take long for the deal and the software to go off the rails. How on earth did this come about and why is it such a hard lesson for us to learn that it can be the...
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The Witch Trial of our Times - UK Post Office Scandal (Part 1)
SCL Australia Podcast
The UK Post Office Scandal – Megaprojects, IT Systems and the Law This story is about the most widespread miscarriage of justice in English history. The scale of this story exceeds the witch trials of the 16th and 17th century. This story is relevant to every construction lawyer in Australia because it is a story rooted in how we deliver major projects, how we think about technology and its reliability and how we compromise our fundamental obligation as lawyers to act in the best interests of the law. This story will make you shake your head in disbelief. But as you listen to it, you need to...
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Tackling Human Rights Risks in the Australian Construction Sector. 2022 Conference Keynote by Dr. Natalie Galea
SCL Australia Podcast
Valuable insights into the health and wellbeing of those working in the Australian construction industry and what legal practitioners can do to improve the status quo. Dr. Natalie Galea presents the keynote for our 2022 national conference “ Getting Risk Right”, held in Hobart, Tasmania in May 2022. Fully titled “I would like to see my son more than I see my site manager: tackling human rights risks in the Australian construction sector”. Dr. Galea outlines her industry research project into employment and workplace cultures within the construction industry. Highlighting dramatic...
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FIDIC - Where the bloody hell are you?
SCL Australia Podcast
For those who missed it, this podcast is a recording of our recent webinar featuring Kiri Parr, Tony Barry and Rob Nelson-Williams. In it, they discuss the internationally renowned and widely used FIDIC suite of Contracts and their potential for wider adoption in Australia.
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Has the construction industry finally got a burning platform for change?
SCL Australia Podcast
Jon Davies, CEO of the Australian Constructors Association, discusses the significant challenges facing the construction industry and ACA's plan to help fix them.
info_outlineMelissa Yeo, Director of SCL Australia, interviews Wendy MacLaughlin, Senior Vice President of HKA Global, about her journey to becoming an internationally sought after construction programming expert, her advice for people working in the construction disputes space and the key features of the new SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol.
This podcast is for reference purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. You should always obtain legal advice about your specific circumstances. The views expressed in these podcasts are the speakers' own. They should not be taken as recommendations of the Society of Construction Law Australia.