Stephen is an experienced construction and property/leasing litigation lawyer, and leads Minter Ellison Rudd Watts’ Construction Team.  Stephen also appears in Courts at all levels, including the District and High Courts, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.  He is also very experienced in arbitrations and mediations, as well as adjudications and enforcement of payment claims under the Construction Contracts Act 2002. 

 

Stephen specialises in providing advice in all aspects of commercial and residential construction issues, from procurement, negotiation and administration through to dispute resolution.  This includes:

• Advising on appropriate procurement strategies
• Negotiating and drafting both procurement documents (eg: requests for tenders/proposals) and substantive contractual documents, including in particular documents based on the NZS (3910 and 3915), SCC and FIDIC suites
• Timely and proactive advice throughout the life of project, including in relation to contractual issues as and when that arise (eg: variation and extension of time claims)
• Recovery of payments due under construction contracts and subcontracts, including where appropriate the use of Construction Contracts Act 2002 mechanisms such as payment claims and adjudication, and
• Arbitration proceedings to resolve disputes that arise in respect of construction contracts, including in relation to quality of works, valuation of variations, extensions of time, prolongation and compensation claims arising out of disruption or acts of prevention by the principal, and liquidated and other delay damages.
• Contractual forms (NZS3910, 3915, FIDIC, SCC), and in relation to prolongation and compensation claims arising out of prevention by the principal.

Stephen also has extensive experience and involvement in “leaky building” claims, acting for a variety of parties including not just claimants (both individual owners and bodies corporate), but also respondents such as developers, builders, subcontractors, architects and engineers.  As part of this, he has represented plaintiffs and defendants in mediations, arbitrations, the Weathertight Homes Tribunal, and Courts at a variety of levels (including the Court of Appeal).  He and his team have in place procedures and mechanisms to ensure that such proceedings can be effectively and efficiently pursued or defended (depending upon the client’s involvement), whilst recognising the emotional hardships that affected clients face.

Another of Stephen’s particular strengths is in relation to lease enforcement and landlord/tenant disputes.  As part of this, he has acted on various contentious lease matters, including representing landlords or tenants in numerous rent review arbitrations and expert determinations.  He also frequently acts for landlords enforcing tenant’s breaches of lease (such as non-payment of rent or other amounts due, or failure to comply with lease-end obligations), including Property Law Act enforcement action and lease terminations.  As part of that work, he is frequently appears in Court and arbitrations, including in particular dealing with Court applications by tenants seeking to have their lease reinstated following termination for their breach.

• Acted for New Zealand Refining Company in relation to an expansion of the refinery’s crude distillation unit
• Acted for New Zealand’s largest investor in commercial property in relation to craneage rights and the construction contract for a the redevelopment of a major CBD office building (which was New Zealand’s first refurbished building to receive a 5 star Green Star Rating for both “design” and “built”)
• Acted for the Principal in arbitration proceedings between the Principal and the Project Manager relating to a NZ$60 million brewery facility construction project
• Acted for the land owner in respect of crane encroachment rights during construction of a major Auckland hotel/apartment complex
• Acted for the manager of a New Zealand Stock Exchange listed Unit Trust in respect of complex and lengthy multi-million dollar shareholders dispute proceedings through the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court
• Acted for the land owner in respect of the encroachment of an apartment block onto the owner’s land in Gilmore Terrace, Wellington
• Represented some of the owners in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in the Sunset Terraces litigation.

• Acting in various High Court proceedings relating to the appointments of an administrator in respect of Body Corporates, and challenges to Body Corporate Rules.
• Acting for the receivers in respect of the ongoing construction of the Kawarau Falls Station Development, Queenstown, including in relation to access issues with the owner of the neighbouring land.
• Acted for various landlords in High Court proceedings brought by tenants seeking to have their leases reinstated following termination for tenant breach, including approximately a quarter of all of the High Court proceedings which progressed to full hearing and judgments over the recent few years
• Acted for the landlord (AMP Office Trust) in respect of the following tenancies in the PWC Tower Auckland: PricewaterhouseCoopers (arbitration); Servcorp (determination); and Buddle Findlay (arbitration)
• Acted for the landlord (AMP Office Trust) in respect of the following tenancies in Deloitte House Wellington: OMV Limited (arbitration); Ministry of Health (arbitration)
• Acted for the tenant (Southern Cross) in respect of the ground lease of Dilworth’s land on St Marks Road, Newmarket, Auckland
• Acting for the tenant of significant ground leases in respect of rent reviews against the Auckland City Council

Council Member of the New Zealand Society of Construction Law 

Stephen is a frequent speaker at commercial property and construction conferences, including in particular in relation to the Construction Contracts Act.  He also lectures Construction Law for the Auckland University of Technology’s Masters Degree in Construction Management.