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Prompt payment reforms: Spring update 2019

  • June 17, 2019
  • Andrew J. O’Brien and Ted Betts

Since our original article on prompt payment reforms across Canada was published in May 2018, there have been several developments across the country with prompt payment and construction lien act reform.

Construction and Infrastructure Law

Alberta Court of Appeal clarifies test for summary judgment

  • May 02, 2019
  • Courtney Kachur and Josh Fraese

On Feb. 6, 2019, the Alberta Court of Appeal released its decision in Weir-Jones Technical Services Incorporated v Purolator Canada Ltd., 2019 ABCA 49, wherein a panel of five justices clarified the test for summary judgment1 in that province.

Construction and Infrastructure Law

Are smart contracts the next big thing in construction?

  • April 25, 2019
  • Smart Contracts and other new technologies bring the promise of smart construction. The construction industry, like many other industries, can benefit from the use of smart contracts which can bring about the automation of performance, enhanced accuracy, efficiencies in streamlining processes and cost-savings. This article outlines what smart contracts look like today, how they work, why they may be beneficial, and how they may be used in the construction industry.

Maria Le Hunte

Construction and Infrastructure Law

Trusts and bankruptcy: Finally, some certainty in the Construction Act

  • February 04, 2019
  • Andrea Lee and Markus Rotterdam

In January 2019, when the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in The Guarantee Company of Canada v Royal Bank of Canada, 2019 ONCA 9, a collective sigh of relief went up from parties seeking to enforce Construction Act trust rights in the face of an insolvency.

Construction and Infrastructure Law

Construction legislation reform in Canada: Prompt payment

  • April 23, 2018
  • Andrew J. O’Brien and Ted Betts

In the last few years the momentum for change has grabbed hold of the construction industry in Canada, and pulled tight on the reins. Several provinces, as well as the federal government, have been grappling with the issue of prompt payment on construction projects, and trying to determine how best to incorporate the rights and concerns of the most vulnerable parties: the construction trades, who are lower down the ladder.

Construction and Infrastructure Law

AIA owner-contractor documents are worth a look

  • April 23, 2018
  • Andrew J. Heal

The American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law held a conference in Boston in October 2017 where leading ABA lawyers gave presentations over the course of two days, reviewing and commenting on the new American Institute of Architects’ 2017 A Series Owner- Contractor documents. What follows are some brief high level comments on these new AIA forms from a Canadian perspective.

Construction and Infrastructure Law

Canada makes facilitation payments illegal

  • January 26, 2018
  • David Debenham

The “facilitation payments” exception to Canada’s Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act was repealed by Bill S 14: An Act to amend the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, effective on Oct. 31, 2017.

Construction and Infrastructure Law