Thursday, June 5, 2008
Site 3: Deakin University
This image depicts a view into the new atrium space of the extension to Deakin Uni Waterfront Campus. Its creation provides lighting to all adjoining spaces.
Medium Shot depicting the bolted steel connections of the new atrium space
Exterior shot detailing the concrete floor extension
This image depicts the concrete staircase and also displays some services in the piping hanging below the ceiling
Article 7: New Look and new role for old CUB site
New look and new role for old CUB site
Architectural plans for the derelict CUB site (middle bottom) include these from Ashton Raggatt MacDougall (left), NHArchitecture (top) and Denton Corker Marshall (right).
A RADICAL $800 million plan for the derelict Carlton and United Breweries site will give Melbourne's civic centre a fitting counterbalance to the Shrine of Remembrance.
Developer Grocon, which last year bought the 1.6-hectare site from RMIT for $39 million, yesterday unveiled its designs for the Swanston Street site.
Five of Melbourne's most progressive architects have been selected to design a mix of offices, shops and apartments for the site, which has lain dormant since the 1980s. The brewery was demolished in 1989.
The plans released yesterday are only preliminary drawings, but are likely to closely resemble final designs for buildings that will begin rising by late 2008, Grocon chief executive Daniel Grollo said yesterday.
Grocon's previous projects include Crown Casino, the QV Centre and the Rialto.
Among the designs is a plan by leading Melbourne architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall for the site's pivotal building: a 20- storey office tower facing down Swanston Street towards the Shrine of Remembrance in St Kilda Road.
Architect Howard Raggatt said the building would be a new gateway to Melbourne, akin to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The Shrine of Remembrance was a "profoundly symbolic element" of Melbourne's city centre, Mr Raggatt said, and it was crucial a significant building at the other end of the city faced the Shrine.
"The old brewery on the CUB site told a very iconic Aussie story about Melbourne: a brewery at one end of the city, and the Anzac march and the death-and-glory material at the other," he said. "The brewery was a little bit ocker, but maybe there's now an opportunity for something more significant on this site."
Architectural firms Denton Corker Marshall, McBride Charles Ryan, Minifie Nixon and NHArchitecture will also work on the site.
The taller buildings - including Denton Corker Marshall's 50-storey tower - will be built near the city end of the site, with lower structures tapering off towards Melbourne University.
The Royal Australian Institute of Architect's Victorian president Philip Goad welcomed the plans. But he warned that the "wonderful monumental gestures" in the designs could be harmed if market forces pushed the development the wrong way. "We can only hope these great ideas do not fall victim to a speculative property play," he said.
The plans will now go to the Government, with Planning Minister Justin Madden expected to make a judgement by the end of the year.
As one of the most significant projects in development in Victoria at the moment, i thought it was relevant to post the plans for the new CUB development in the city.Article 6: Bluescope Steel Life Cycle Analysis
Posted on the Bluescope steel website at url address
http://www.bluescopesteel.com/go/about-bluescope-steel/student-information/life-cycle-analysisThe Application of Life Cycle Analysis by BlueScope Steel
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is an important tool used by BlueScope Steel to improve both steelmaking processes and products. In broader terms, it assists in reducing the impact of these products and processes on the environment.
1. The Development of a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) Model
Although LCA had its genesis in the 1960s, its application was not widespread until the early 1990s. Since then, much progress has been made in the development of widely accepted methodologies, including a number of international standards (ISO14040 to 14044).
Today, LCA is applied to a wide range of applications. Much of the development and application has been carried out in Europe and North America, but interest in Australia is growing strongly and is supported by governments, industry and consumer groups.
2. What is LCA?
Life Cycle Analysis is an important tool for both analysing processes to find ways to improve them, and assessing materials and products.
LCA consists of two components: inventory analysis and impact analysis.
Inventory analysis involves summarising the material and energy flows for a defined system. The 'system' is the combination of processes and activities that manufacture a product or achieve an outcome. This typically includes all of the processes associated with the mining of resources, supply of energy, manufacture of the product, use of the product and disposal and recycle. The resultant inventory is a list of the resources consumed and the emissions associated with the system.
Impact assessment involves interpreting the significance of the resource consumption and emissions determined in the inventory stage. In life cycle assessment, these are restricted to environmental impacts. This aspect of LCA still requires further development before it is widely-accepted.
There are numerous approaches currently in use, ranging from simplified methods based on a limited number of parameters, to complex systems covering a wide range of parameters that achieve single valued effect scores. (At some point all methodologies require subjective value judgments.)
Energy and carbon dioxide emissions are just two of the many indicators for impact assessment.
3. BlueScope Steel's LCA Model
BlueScope Steel began working on an LCA model in 1993. From the outset, we determined that our approach would be rigorous and stand up to international scrutiny.
Our model is used for both product and process assessment. It examines the material use and emissions in a product, from raw materials through to end of life. It also assesses the impact of products and processes on the environment - from the mining of the coal and ore which goes into the production of iron, through the steelmaking and manufacturing processes, to disposal by processes such as recycling at the end of a product's useful life.
It does this by examining such things as:
- Wastes generated during production;
- Energy consumed during production and the use of the product;
- Fresh water consumption during production; and
- The amount of recycling possible with the product.
4. A Case Study: LCA in the Building Industry
Within the context of the building industry, LCA can be applied to:
- Product assessment
- Eco labelling
- Process improvement
- Eco design
- New technology evaluation
Consider a building as an example. For the energy case, the analysis would consider the energy embodied in the building, and the energy consumed during the life of the building.
The former depends on the materials used and the fabrication methods, while the latter depends on the orientation, window areas, window types and surface treatments, lighting systems, air conditioning systems, level of insulation, and thermal characteristics of walls and roof.
In a typical project home with brick veneer on a concrete slab, steel framing and a steel sheet roof, the energy embodied in the building materials is small (around three per cent) compared with the energy used to operate it over its life.
As most of this energy is consumed in lighting, heating and cooling, the most effective way of decreasing the life cycle requirements of a house is to use building materials and systems that can reduce the energy required to run the house.
To that end, passive solar design principles, together with the use of energy efficient household appliances and lighting, are key factors in reducing energy consumption (and resulting carbon dioxide emissions from the generation of that energy).
In addition to energy, a comprehensive LCA will include a range of other environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste.
A less than comprehensive LCA model can give misleading results. Examples would be where whole-of-life energy usage of a product is not included together with the embodied energy from the components and fabrication; or, alternatively, where only energy usage is incorporated (and other resource utilisation such as water and raw materials is ignored).
For every product analysed, a large number of calculation steps are necessary for a meaningful answer.
5. LCA and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
As a contribution to Australia's Olympic initiative, we undertook to conduct an LCA of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games (including an analysis of Olympic venues) on behalf of the organising body, SOCOG.The comprehensive study looked at the buildings and infrastructure constructed for the Games, their utilisation during the Games itself, transportation, waste management, and carbon credits (the question of how many trees should be planted to offset carbon released during the Games).
For the purposes of the study, the LCA model was adapted for the Olympic Model.
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6. LCA and Cleaner Production
LCA is a powerful tool for achieving cleaner production for both processes and products. It is also a practical tool that can be used in partnerships between manufacturers and product users, ensuring the raw materials used in construction and manufacturing can be used by builders, architects and designers to achieve efficient and sustainable designs.Today, steel products are being designed to be more environmentally sustainable, enabling easier and faster construction, more efficient utilisation, and ease of recycling of components at the end of their product life.
In the future, BlueScope Steel will continue to develop and apply LCA as a tool to support cleaner production, new business, product and technology development, and environmental management.
Article 5: Bluescope On Track for a stronger second half
Bluescope On Track For Stronger Second Half
Herald Sun Business homepage, May 12 2008
Australia's largest steel maker said today the company was on track to deliver net profit for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 of a "similar order of magnitude" to the first half result of $305 million.
"The strong earnings improvement in the second half has been driven by very strong global steel prices," BlueScope managing director and chief executive Paul O'Malley told analysts in a conference call.
BlueScope said the rising price of raw materials such as iron ore and coking coal and tightening supply was underpinning the higher prices for steel products.
"If steel prices hold then we'll have a good start to fiscal year 09," Mr O'Malley added.
The higher steel prices, however, are expected to put BlueScope's operations in Australia under some pressure, with an expected tightening of margins in the coated business, Mr O'Malley said.
Raw materials costs have risen significantly amid supply constraints for coking coal and increasing demand for iron ore.
Nippon Steel Corp, Japan's largest steel maker, agreed to pay BHP Billiton Ltd and Mitsubishi Corp three times more for coking coal this Japanese financial year after heavy rain in Queensland resulted in what one analyst described as a "supply apocalypse".
Meanwhile, Brazilian giant Vale, the world's largest producer of iron ore, has agreed with steelmakers to a price rise of between 65 per cent and 70 per cent for its ore in 2008.
Rio Tinto Ltd and rival BHP Billiton are yet to settle and are holding out for a freight premium to be factored into the settlement.
BlueScope has settled about 10 per cent of its iron ore supply contracts, with Mr O'Malley expecting "higher prices" to be achieved between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton and Asian steel mills.
"If you take iron ore, coking coal, alloys and scrap it is probably a cost increase of over $1 billion, so that is a big challenge for us as a business to manage," Mr O'Malley said.
BlueScope said the strong Australian dollar continued to be a challenge for the company.
BlueScope shares dropped 16 cents to $10.84 by 1249 AEST.As it has been predicted that steel prices are to increase dramatically, i thought that this article on the financial impact of the industry woull dbe relevant as it will become a significant factor for future architects and construction managers.
Major Assignment Overall design
Upon deciding to base my design on Villa Savoye and use reinforced concrete and steel i individually came up with this concept for the office building and warehouse after a few weeks of sketching away.
Major Assignment Research + Development
Having decided to use a reinforced concrete and steel structure, i reviewed the process of permanant form work in a reinforced concrete slabs and came up with this 3d model to give an idea of how the finished product will look.
Major Assignment: Hero Architect Le Corbusier
I have chosen Le Corbusier as my Hero architect and i will sraw inspiration in particular from his design of Villa Savoye which I have research of here to post.
The building is considered an early and classic exemplar of the "International Style", which hovers above a grass plane on thin concrete pilotti, with strip windows, and a flat roof with a deck area, ramp, and a few contained touches of curvaceous walls.
"Unlike the confined urban locations of most of Le Corbusier's earlier houses, the openness of the Poissy site permitted a freestanding building and the full realization of his five-point program. Essentially the house comprises two contrasting, sharply defined, yet interpenetrating external aspects. The dominant element is the square single-storied box, a pure, sleek, geometric envelope lifted buoyantly above slender pilotis, its taut skin slit for narrow ribbon windows that run unbroken from corner to corner (but not over them, thus preserving the integrity of the sides of the square)."
—Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman. Architecture: from Prehistory to Post-Modernism. p530.
Site 2: TAC Building and Article
This image depicts the the scale of the TAC Building project, which despite its heavy and seemingly inherently industrial structure meets all sustainability standards now in place for Victorian commercial buildings.
This image depicts the roof soffit, we can also observe that piping is fitted. We can also observe that internal structural elements are ready to be added.
Media Release - 29 August 2007
Premier John Brumby said the Victorian Government would continue to encourage growth in regional economies during a site visit to the TAC’s new headquarters in Geelong.
Mr Brumby said significant progress had been made during on the construction of the new office complex.
“The foundations are being laid on this building and, with this, the Brumby Government is cementing its commitment to the Geelong region,” he said.
“This is important not only for the future of the TAC, but also in terms of Geelong’s growth as a vibrant community and a successful regional economy.”
Mr Brumby said the TAC’s relocation would provide ongoing economic benefits to the Geelong region.
“We expect more than 850 new jobs to be generated and a $59 million boost to the local economy every year,” he said.
“Geelong already has a lot to offer industry and TAC’s relocation is yet another boost for the region. As the region continues to grow we will be encouraging large corporations to follow the TAC’s lead.”
Mr Brumby said the new building would adhere to new standards in energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.
“The building will have a 5 star energy rating and will adhere to the latest environmentally sustainable practices,” he said.
“With some 15,000 square metres of office space, car parking, retail and public spaces, it will certainly attract future developments in the Western Wedge area.”
TAC Chairman, Paul Barker, said he was delighted with the progress of the development.
“The construction of this new building is on track and with it we are building on our presence and connection with the Geelong community,” Mr Barker said.
“Last year the TAC opened an information centre, in Yarra Street, and by the end of this year we will have a transitional office operating in Moorabool Street.
“This will facilitate training of new staff, allow some current TAC staff to work from Geelong sooner and help achieve a smooth transition to our new headquarters.”
The TAC is expected to operating out of Geelong by January 2009.(Aside) As the TAC is currently operating out of a transitional office in Geelong the government plans for TAC in Geelong are beginning to take shape.
Major Project Research
PORTAL FRAME BUILDINGS AND SHEDS
1. THE PORTAL FRAME
The portal frames are the main structural elements of the builiding, being so to speak its “skeleton”. They consist of (i) Grade 350 steel I-section columns and rafters, and (ii) the column foundations. The frame joints at B,C and D are shop welded and site bolted, and are designed and fabricated to achieve a rigid structural unit.
The frames are designed for the following loads:-
 Roof loads such as workmen, snow or hail |
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Wind loads
Roof loads can be positive as on AB, or negative (i.e. suction) as on BC, CD and DE.
2. THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPERLY DESIGNED JOINTS
If the joints at B, C and D are not rigid, they will “open up”, and the frame will be unstable when subjected to loads (“pack of cards effect”)
3. THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPER FOUNDATIONS
3.1 Vertical loading on the frame results in A and E tending to be pushed outwards. If the foundation cannot resist this horizontal push, outward movement will occur, and the frame will lose structural strength. (The portal frame is similar to an arch, and movement of the foundations of the frame weakens it, just as an arch is weakened if movements occur.)
3.2 Wind subjects the portal frame to uplift forces (the roof tends to “fly-off) like an aeroplane wing), to overturning forces on the sides and ends of the building, and also to “drag” forces on the roof and sides of the building.
These destabilizing forces are resisted essentially by the weight of the building, and in this regard, the foundations contribute significantly to this weight. Generally speaking it is a fact that portal frame buildings of this kind are light weight structures, and as such they tend to collapse “sideward” and “upwards” rather than downwards”. The effect of wind on a light building cannot be overemphasized. The destabilization it causes is a major design consideration, and in this context, foundations can be regarded as the building’s “anchors”.
4. THE IMPORTANCE OF BRACING
4.1 ROOF BRACING
4.1.1 Buckling of Rafters
The rafter of the portal frame is a slender structural element, and unless it is restrained it will buckle when loaded.
In a braced roof this restraint is provided by the purlins acting together with a braced bay. The purlins provide the restraining force for the rafters, and the braced bay acts as a “buttress” which absorbs these purlin restraining forces.
While this system is effective in restraining the top flange of the rafter I-beam, the bottom flange remains relatively unrestrained, and to achieve the requisite restraint, short lengths of angle iron are connected at intervals between the bottom flange of the I-beam and the purlins as shown. This simple and necessary anti-buckling feature is sometimes neglected in the design of portal frames.
4.2 SIDE BRACING
A building subjected to wind forces along its length will tend to collapse as shown a above, while a building with a braced side bay as shown below will be stable, since the braced bay will function as a “buttres” to resist the wind forces, and transfer them to the foundations.
Some useful information on portal frames for the warehouse assignment
Site Visit 1:Toll warehouse
When I was in Queensland in April I visited the Toll Warehouse, which is one of the new central engineering projects. It represents an excellent example of steel portal frame construction and because of its large span, also represents an appropriate frame for the warehouse in the major assignment.
These images show the skeletal structure of the portal frame incorporating rafters, columns and roof bracing
Article 3: Concrete Solution to Gas problem
Author: Robyn Anns, Monash Magazine, October 2005
Concrete is an essential element of building industries around the globe. Now, a Monash researcher has improved its formula, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and benefiting the environment.
Each year, Australia's building industry uses about two billion tonnes of concrete in everything from suburban dwellings to freeways, bridges, shopping centres and city office blocks.
About 15 per cent of each tonne of concrete is cement. This poses problems for the environment, as one tonne of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere for every tonne of cement produced.
A decade ago, Associate Professor Jay Sanjayan of Monash's Department of Civil Engineering decided to find a concrete formula that did not include cement.
After years of work, he and his research team have developed a new mix that uses a by-product of steel manufacture, called slag, in place of cement.
Dr Sanjayan believes the environmental benefits of using slag concrete are huge.
"It takes one-and-a-half tonnes each of limestone and clay to produce one tonne of cement, and that process creates one tonne of carbon dioxide. That emission goes into the atmosphere and adds to our greenhouse gas problem," he says.
"On the other hand, we only get 0.14 tonnes of carbon dioxide for every tonne of slag produced."
Australia is not a signatory to the international Kyoto agreement to reduce greenhouse gases, but Dr Sanjayan believes if Australia changed its concrete manufacture to his new formula, the nation's greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.
"Australia would meet the Kyoto target that way," he says. "All four million tonnes of slag generated from Australia's steel industry each year could be effectively used in concrete production.
"This would prevent the discharge into the atmosphere of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide each year."
Slag is created when iron ore is heated to a molten state. Impurities are skimmed off the top, and when this slurry is cooled quickly by water quenching, it forms an off-white, sand-like material called granulated blast furnace slag.
"Cement binds the other ingredients of concrete -- sand, stone and water -- but slag works equally well," Dr Sanjayan says. "Some people in the building industry believe you cannot replace cement at all, others believe you can replace up to 60 per cent. We believe it is possible to replace 100 per cent of the cement in the mix. In fact, we have produced concrete without any cement, and it stands up well to tests and is cheaper to produce and better for the environment."
In 1999, Monash's Department of Civil Engineering received an Award of Excellence from the Concrete Institute of Australia for its research contribution to the development of slag-based concrete.
I thought considering designing environmentally sustainable buildings is so important today, this article would provoke some thoughtArticle 2: Buried Galvanised Steel
This article comes from the industrial galvanizers specifiers manual
It is particularly relevant to the reinforced concrete structure used in my major assignment
INTRODUCTION
The use of steel underground is not new. There are many applications where steel is used in the ground, from simple applications like sign posts and fence posts, to engineered applications like piling and foundations. Over the past five years, new applications have been developed for steel foundation products. These products offer significant performance and cost advantages over traditional masonry and timber alternatives.
Alternative methods of installing steel utility poles for lighting and power distribution have been developed using direct embedded poles to reduce the installation costs and environmental impact of installation.
It is not practical to install expensive corrosion management technologies on many of these embedded steel products, as is the case for more critical infrastructure such as pipelines and tunnels. An understanding of the mechanism of corrosion will allow a predictable life to be designed into utility steel products that are to be used in-ground for new piers, piling and pole applications. This article has consolidated information from a number of authoritative sources to assist in evaluating the life of steel in-ground products.
STEEL CORROSION IN-GROUND
In the atmosphere, most materials have predictable modes of corrosion that are largely dependent on pollution levels, temperature and relative humidity. Once the important parameters are identified, the mechanism of metallic corrosion will then be common to all the products that are within that climatic zone.
In-ground situations are vastly different because of the wide local variations in soil chemistry, moisture content and conductivity that will affect the way coated or uncoated steel will perform in the ground.
Research into steel corrosion in soil started in the early years of this century, when Melvin Romanoff began a study for the National Bureau of Standards that continued for over 40 years. Many other corrosion-in- soil research projects were undertaken concurrently or subsequently.
Much of this activity has taken place in Australia sponsored by various road authorities and private enterprise companies such as BlueScope Steel and Ingal Civil Products, in evaluating in-ground corrosion performance on a range of products from culverts to piling.
Corrosion of metals in soil is extremely variable and while the soil environment is a complex one, it is possible to draw some conclusions about soil types and corrosion.
Any given soil will appear as a very heterogeneous electrolyte which consists of three phases:
- The solid phase made up of the soil particles which will vary in size and will vary in
chemical composition and level of entrained organic matter. - The aqueous phase which is the soil moisture - the vehicle which will allow corrosion to take place.
- The gaseous phase which consists of air contained in the soil’s pores. Some of this air may dissolve in the aqueous phase.
THE SOLID PHASE
Soils are commonly classified according to the general size range of their particulate component. Sandy, silty and clay soils are thus identified from the predominant size range of their inorganic particles. Convention classifies particles over 0.07mm to around 2mm as sands, particles from 0.005mm to 0.07mm as silts and 0.005mm smaller as clays. Soils rarely exist with only one of these components present.
The various groups of sand, silt and clay make up the soil classifications on the basis of their particle size.
Clay soils are characterised by their ability to absorb water readily, the level of which is determined by the nature of the clay. For this reason, clay soils present a significantly higher corrosion risk than sandy soils. For this reason also, the nature of the soil on the surface may not reflect its nature below the ground.
THE AQUEOUS PHASE
Corrosion will only occur in the presence of moisture that contains ions that will transmit the electric current maintaining corrosion activity. There are several types of soil moisture. These are:
- free ground water
- gravitational water
- capillary water.
The free ground water is determined by the water table, which may range from near ground level to many metres below the surface. This is the least important factor in determining corrosion of buried steel as most installations are above normal water tables. Where high water tables bring ground water in contact with embedded steel, corrosion will progress as if the steel were in an immersed environment.
Gravitational water arises from rainfall or man-made irrigation and will soak into the soil at a rate determined by its permeability. This will increase the period of wetness of the steel’s surface and this in turn will impact on the soil’s corrosive effects, depending on the conductivity of the gravitational water. Where regular rainfall occurs, most soluble salts may be leached from the soil over time, which will reduce the corrosive effects of gravitational water. Gravitational water will ultimately end up in the water table.
Capillary water is water that is entrained in the pores and on the surfaces of the soil particles. The ability of soil to retain moisture is obviously important to plant growth. It is the capillary water that is the prime source of moisture in determining corrosion rates of steel in soil.
The fluctuations in water content in soil due to precipitation and evaporation cause a variation in oxygen content, as drier soils allow more oxygen access and oxygen concentration cell formation may be enhanced.
SOIL CHEMISTRY
Acid or alkaline conditions develop in the soils depending in their parent rock and the geological or man-made activity that may impact on them over time. Most soils are in the pH range of pH 5.0 to pH 8.0. Highly acidic soils are relatively rare, and generally occur in swamp soils or areas subjected to high accumulations of acidic plant material such as pine needles.
Soluble salts are essential to plant growth and are a major factor in corrosion. These salts may include salts of potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium. Salts such as calcium and magnesium, while initially promoting corrosion, frequently act beneficially as their insoluble oxides and carbonates become corrosion inhibitors over time.
Bacteria in soil is another factor that is important in corrosion activity. Sulfates can promote rapid bacteriological corrosion of steel because of sulphate reducing bacteria. Hydrocarbon-using bacteria can accelerate failure of organic coatings used underground also.
Soil has to be able to conduct electricity to participate in the corrosion of buried steel. The resistivity of the soil is used as an important measure of soil corrosivity. The higher the resistivity, the more the resistance to current flow moving between anodic and cathodic regions of the steel.
Regions of moderate or high rainfall will commonly have low levels of soluble salts in the soil, while desert soils may have very high salt levels. Some of the most aggressive soils in Australia are located in desert areas like the Simpson Desert clay pans have higher corrosion rates for galvanized coatings than many surf-side environments.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Article 1: Is there a requirement of good faith in construction contracts?
By Adam Wallwork of Mallesons Stephen Jaques Commerical law firm, August 2004
Posted on their website at url http://www.mallesons.com/publications/Construction_update/7613706W.htmAn implied requirement of good faith?
Professors Carter and Stewart in their Journal of Contract Law article "Interpretation, Good Faith and the "True Meaning" of Contracts - The Royal Botanic Decision",1 contend that recognition of an implied requirement of good faith in the performance and enforcement of contracts is perhaps the most important unresolved issue in Australian contract law. In that article, the authors were particularly critical of the New South Wales Court of Appeal's decisions equating a requirement of good faith with an implied term of reasonableness. They argued forcefully that the imposition of an overriding objective standard of reasonableness into contracts risked altering bargains and potentially subsumed a number of other established legal principles.
Carlin in his article "The Rise (and Fall?) of Implied Duties of Good Faith in Contractual Performance in Australia"2 is highly critical of the process of judicial development of the doctrine of good faith in contractual performance in Australia, contending that the doctrine is based on unstable foundations.
Peden in her book Good Faith in the Performance of Contracts3 also faults the approach of the New South Wales Court of Appeal particularly because of its failure to distinguish between good faith and objective reasonableness and its finding that a requirement of good faith is a term implied by law into contracts generally. This second aspect marks a departure from the previous approach to implication of terms by law into particular classes of contract based on necessity or common understanding in particular relationships.
Recent decisions suggest that this criticism is having an impact. This article will examine the status, content and extent of an implied term of good faith. Then it will consider possible approaches of the High Court to this issue. In conclusion, it will examine the implications for parties negotiating and drafting construction contracts.
The implied requirement of co-operation
In an area of law containing a number of uncertainties it is reassuring that there are some established principles. One of these is the existence of an implied requirement to co-operate. As Lord Blackburn stated in Mackay v Dick (1881) 6 App Cas 251:
[As] a general rule ... where in a written contract it appears that both parties have agreed that something shall be done, which cannot effectually be done unless both concur in doing it, the construction of the contract is that each agrees to do all that is necessary to be done on his part of the carrying out of that thing, though there may be no express words to that effect.4
This principle has been endorsed in recent High Court decisions including Peters (WA) Ltd v Petersville Ltd (2001) 205 CLR 126. One example where this requirement would apply would be where a contractor cannot proceed to obtain an approval for a project as it is contractually obliged to do without the signature of the principal on the application.......
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