Articles

In July of 2016, the Ontario Court of Appeal, in Southwestern Sales Corp. v. Spurr Bros. Ltd., 2016 ONCA 590, delivered judgment in a case of dismissal of six construction lien actions and one trust action for delay.

In most cases where a lawyer is negligent, the plaintiff has the choice to bring a claim against the lawyer in tort, for professional negligence, or in contract, for breach of the retainer agreement.

As Toronto Lifemagazine does a feature article on how Toronto’s new Super Jail is “the Billion Dollar Hellhole”, I cannot help but reflect on what an incredible value the Construction and Infrastructure’s annual year-end tours are.

Priority disputes can get messy, especially where there are more than one borrower and mortgagee involved; over a dozen lien claimants asserting their priorities; and multiple advances to different parties in different amounts made at different times under different mortgages and credit facilities.

In instances where a party hires a contractor to conduct work on multiple, unrelated projects, the contractor may be owed an undisputed amount on one project, yet the payer may wish to retain this undisputed amount until such time as disputed amounts on a second, unrelated project are addressed.

In Trenchline Construction Inc. v. Unimac-United Management Corp., 2016 ONSC 6136, Master Wiebe provided a clarification of the substantive requirements for a written notice of lien under section 24 of the Construction Lien Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30.

In Proxema Ltd. the defendant, York Medical Group moved simultaneously for leave under section 67(2) of the Construction Lien Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30 to bring an interlocutory step and security for costs against the plaintiff, Proxema Ltd. (“Proxema”) under Rule 56.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O.1990 Reg. 194.

Dean’s Standard Inc. painfully illustrates why construction contractors must proceed with caution when entering into agreements to supply labour or materials at the behest of a potential purchaser of a property where the actual owners of the property are not present throughout the contractual discussions.

On June 9, 2016, members of the Construction & Infrastructure Law Section assembled at the Albany Club of Toronto to celebrate the beginning of summer, get an up-close look at the E&Y Tower construction project at 100 Adelaide Street West, and toast the accomplishments of Geza R. Banfai as he was awarded this year’s OBA Award of Excellence in Construction & Infrastructure Law.

In November of 2015, the Honourable J. Douglas Cunningham was appointed by the Ontario Minister of Government and Consumer Services as a special advisor to conduct an independent review of the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act and the Tarion Warranty Corporation, with a general focus on reviewing the existing protections for owners of new homes and experiences to date and identifying opportunities to improve consumer protection.