Mansfield Corporation Pty Ltd v Chengcheng (Aust) Enterprise Melbourne Pty Ltd [2018] NSWDC 12

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Mansfield Corporation Pty Ltd v Chengcheng (Aust) Enterprise Melbourne Pty Ltd [2018] NSWDC 12 Hearing dates: 17 October 2017 to 19 October 2017; 13 December 2017 Date of orders: 07 February 2018 Decision date: 07 February 2018 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Dicker SC DCJ Decision: (1) Judgment for the plaintiff. (2) The parties are to bring in agreed short minutes of order within 7 days reflecting these reasons including any claim for interest. (3) The defendant to pay the plaintiff's costs of the proceedings as agreed or assessed. (4) Liberty to apply within 14 days to vary the costs order set out in (3) above. (5) The document marked Exhibit B is rejected and is not part of the evidence admitted in the proceedings. (6) Exhibits to be returned after 28 days. Catchwords: Contract – building and construction - proper construction of contract – general construction principles – variations – whether a contractual amendment caused by conduct of the parties including correspondence - whether clause amounted to a penalty – alleged estoppel – whether representation made – relevance of representation-reliance Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 Cases Cited: ACN 151 368 124 v Pro-pac Packaging (Aust) Pty Ltd [201] NSWSC 913 Andrews v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (2010) 247 CLR 205 Ashton v Pratt [2015] NSWCA 12 Australia Capital Financial Management Pty Ltd v Linfield Developments Pty Ltd [2017] NSWCA 99 Caringbah Investments Pty Ltd v Caringbah Business & Sports Club Ltd (In Liquidation) [2016] NSWCA 165 Cordon Investments Pty Ltd v Lesdor Properties Pty Ltd [2012] NSWCA 184 Crabtree-Vickers Pty Ltd v Australian Direct Mail Advertising and Addressing Co Pty Ltd (1975) 133 CLR 72 Crown Melbourne Ltd v Cosmopolitan Hotel (Vic) Pty Ltd [2016] HCA 26 Electricity Generation Corporation v Woodside Energy Ltd (2014) 251 CLR 640; [2014] HCA 7 Grocon Constructions (Qld) Pty Ltd v Juniper Developer (No 2) Pty Ltd [2015] QSC 102 Grocon Constructions (Qld) Pty Ltd v Juniper Developer (No 2) Pty Ltd [2015] QCA 291 HP Mercantile Pty Ltd v Hartnett [2016] NSWCA 342 Miller Heiman Pty Ltd v Sales Principles Pty Ltd [2017] NSWCA 106 New South Wales Land and Housing Corporation v Diab [2015] NSWCA 133 Paciocco v ANZ Banking Group Ltd [2015] FCAFC 50 PT Thiess Contractors Indonesia v PT Arutmin Indonesia [2015] QSC 123 Ringrow Pty Ltd v BP Australia Pty Ltd (2005) 224 CLR 656 Sidhu v Van Dyke [2014] HCA 19; (2014) 251 CLR 505 Watson v Foxman (1995) 49 NSWLR 315 Wilkie v Gordian Runoff Ltd (2005) 221 CLR 522; [2005] HCA 17 WIN Corporation Pty Ltd v Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCA 297 Zhang v ROC Services (NSW) Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCA 370 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Mansfield Corporation Pty Ltd (Plaintiff) Chengcheng (Aust) Enterprise Melbourne Pty Ltd (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: I Leong (Plaintiff) R C Gration (Defendant)