Summary In MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd v Rock Advertising Ltd [2016] EWCA Civ 553 and Globe Motors Inc v. TRW Lucas Varity Electric Steering Ltd. [2016] EWCA CIV 396, the English Court of Appeal has recently held that a contractual provision stating that the contract may only be amended by a written document signed […]

In Ledcor Construction Ltd. v. Northbridge Indemnity Insurance Co., 2016 SCC 37, the Supreme Court of Canada has issued a definitive decision about the scope of the “faulty workmanship” exclusion in Builders’ Risk insurance policies. The Supreme Court has held that the clause only excludes coverage for the cost of re-doing the faulty work, and […]

Summary In its recent decision in Monk v. Farmers’ Mutual Insurance Company (Lindsay), the Ontario Court of Appeal has held that the exclusion for faulty materials or workmanship in an owner’s property insurance contract does not exclude the insured’s right to recover the resulting damage that the faulty materials or workmanship has caused. This is […]

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently considered the scope of the right of set-off under the trust fund sections of the Ontario Construction Lien Act (the Act) and under equitable set-off under a contract claim. In Architectural Millwork & Door Installations Inc. v. Provincial Store Fixtures Ltd., the Court of Appeal held that the owner […]

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has recently released an interesting decision dealing with arbitration and court proceedings arising from a construction contract. In Saskatchewan Power Corp. v. Alberici Western Constructors, Ltd., 2016 CarswellSask 186, 2016, the court held that the arbitration clause of the main contract between the owner and the contractor should be enforced […]

In Ross-Clair v. Canada (Attorney General), the Ontario Court of Appeal has recently held that a contractor’s claim for extras and changed circumstances was ineffective because it contained inadequate particulars of the claim. The Extras/Changed Circumstances clause The changed circumstances clause in the construction contract stated in part as follows: 35.4 A written claim referred […]

In its decision in Sattva Capital Corp. v. Creston Moly Corp., 2014 SCC 53, [2014] 2 S.C.R. 633, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the interpretation of a contract should have regard to the facts surrounding the making of the contract. For this reason, the review by a court of an arbitrator‘s decision interpreting […]

In Urbacon Architecture inc. c. Urbacon Buildings Group Corp., the Quebec Court of Appeal has recently held that an architectural firm that was unlicensed in the Province of Quebec is not entitled to file a legal hypothec, the Quebec law equivalent of a construction or builders lien. The court so found notwithstanding the cross-Canada reciprocal […]

A construction and builders lien claimant may, in some circumstances, file a general lien. The general lien allows the claimant to claim a lien over a number of properties to which it has supplied services or materials. Section 20(2) of the Ontario Construction Lien Act (the Act), unlike the lien statutes in other provinces, enables […]