Baker McKenzie: Model clauses for demolition contracts

Alex Hartmann, a partner with Baker McKenzie, is a construction lawyer who wondered if there could be a legal remedy for the stream of waste from office demolition, or defit, perhaps through some “aspirational enforceable targets”.

Alex Hartmann, Baker McKenzie

Some people see the defit problem as a “low order issue”, Alex says, but he wanted to see if there was a way to stop the constant stream of good quality furniture and fittings ending up in landfill.

An invitation to speak to the Society of Construction Law Australia on the topic and research for his presentation yielded connections with Edge Environment and the Better Buildings Partnership.

In the end he came with up with model clauses for BBP that can be used in demolition contracts to specify minimum levels of waste diversion from sites.

“The clauses have a set of deliverables in terms of showing auditable trails to show what’s happening with waste.”

Next iteration of the clauses might include some financial pain for the contractor from not meeting the targets, he muses.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave