Case Reports

How should the works be valued?

In A J Lucas Drilling Pty Ltd v McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd [2009] VSCA 310 (18 December 2009), the principal issue confronting the Victorian Court of Appeal was how the works should be valued under a subcontract prior to completion of works without fault by the subcontractor. Held: the trial judge's adoption of the "conventional" valuation methodology (of applying the subcontract lump pro-rata) was not erroneous or precluded by the construction of the relevant subcontract clause dealing with payment due on termination.