Client Alert: Ioannides Demetriou LLC has scored an important victory for its client, the University of Cyprus, in a bitterly contested interim order application by a contractor seeking to restrain the University (as employer in the contract) from deducting liquidated damages for delay under the contract. The contract was the standard Cyprus public sector construction contract.
The Applicant contractor claimed that the contract had become “time at large” due to the fact that the employer had failed to respond to an application for extension of time and had also given instructions for additional works after the contractual date for completion of the works.
The judgment provides both contractors and public sector employers with guidance as to the legal considerations that may influence a Court in relation to issues such as requests for an extension of time, the liquidated damages clause and the role of KEAA in the standardised construction contract for public works. The court adopted a common sense approach and emphasised the need for both contractor and the employer to comply with the terms of the contract in so far as the submission of claims and their evaluation is concerned.
The case was handled by our Senior Associate, Anna P. Christou
