Our Construction & Engineering Group helps a broad array of clients manage the risks associated with construction projects.
The construction industry is inherently risky. But the risks can be managed. On a successful project, risks are allocated efficiently, and challenges are managed effectively.
Sound legal advice plays an essential role in anticipating, allocating and managing risks. Our Construction & Engineering Group applies our experience with a wide range of construction projects across all sectors of the economy to help clients allocate and manage risks that are specific to their projects.
Our group provides advice at all stages of a project, but at the group’s core is a team of lawyers who thrive on the resolution of disputes. This team draws on the experience and expertise of other groups in our firm, who provide advice in health law, administrative and regulatory law, commercial litigation, and real estate, to name a few. The result is a team that is experienced in more than just construction law, and one that understands your business and all the issues at play in the dispute.
We advise large public and private institutions, municipalities, developers, contractors and consultants involved in the full range of disputes relating to construction and engineering. With that said, we have developed expertise working with three core client groups:
- Parties involved in high stakes litigation arising from complex multi-party disputes.
Multi-party litigation where the stakes are high (whether financial, reputational, or both) presents a unique set of challenges. Our team understands these challenges, having acted as counsel in some of Canada’s most significant litigation, including the Mount Polley Mine disaster and a number of multi-billion dollar product liability claims.
- Design professionals involved in disputes relating to the provision of their professional services.
Design professionals must manage a wide range of risks. They are not always paid, either in full or on time. Copyright issues arise. They can run into difficulty with their regulatory body. They are dragged into construction defect and delay claims. Our team has decades of experience assisting design professionals in resolving the full range of disputes in which they can become involved.
- Institutions whose projects have not unfolded as anticipated and who are seeking advice with respect to their remedies.
Institutions are often responsible for large public infrastructure projects. Building a hospital, a school, a research facility, or a district energy system is a complex undertaking. When the risks involved with one of these projects materialize, our team provides strategic advice to ensure the project is completed in a timely manner and any losses are recovered.
Services
- Owner/contractor disputes regarding fee disputes, construction defects and delays
- Defending architects, engineers and construction professionals accused of professional negligence.
- Injunctions to stop specific activities on construction projects.
- Insurance claims relating to property and equipment damage.
- Builders' liens.
- Negotiating with municipalities and provincial governments in disputes involving regulations.
- Representing owners and contractors when environmental and pollution issues arise during construction and engineering projects.
- Product liability issues.
- Contract drafting & review
- Risk management & loss prevention
Typical Situations
- An engineering firm is accused of negligence in a bridge building project. Construction is delayed while the problem is fixed, adding enormous cost to the project.
- A construction company receives shoddy lumber supplies and is unable to use them. Because of the delay, they lose a lucrative contract.
- An architect is asked to appear before an administrative tribunal after numerous clients complain to a regulatory body about his business practices.
Notable Cases
Architecture
- Represented architects in the first leaky condominium case to proceed to a full trial, and successfully negotiated a discontinuance of the claims against an architect prior to the trial.
- Represented a professional architect in an appeal hearing against the Architectural Institute of Ontario and successfully overturned disciplinary findings.
- Represented a local architectural firm at the Supreme Court of Ontario, and successfully protected it from being included in a case involving construction deficiencies in a large condo development.
- Represented an architectural firm in a case involving a dispute regarding its plans
Engineering
- Successfully defended a local structural engineering firm in a case involving design and construction deficiencies within a school.
- Represented a professional engineer in an appeal hearing against the Association of Professional Engineers of the Yukon and successfully overturned disciplinary findings.
Construction and Sub-Trades
- Represented the City of Toronto in a highly publicized injunction proceeding that arose from the installation of the curtain wall glass in one of Toronto’s tallest buildings.
- Provided guidance to our clients in negotiations of a Public Private Partnership project contract for the construction of a major highway.
