P.W.D. CONTRACTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1057, 22 August 1930, Page 16

P.W.D. CONTRACTS

UNFAIRNESS ALLEGED DEPUTATION TO MINISTER Press Association WELLINGTON, Today. Complaints of unfairness in the conditions of the contract used in respect to public works were made yesterday to the Government through the Minister of Railways by a deputation from the New Zealand Federated Builders’ and Contractors’ Association. It was pointed, out that the conditions of contract provided that should any schedules of quantities or other information be supplied to the contractors they were only intended for the assistance of the contractor in crecking his own estimate, but that no claim of any kind would be allowed should they be found inaccurate or incomplete. The contractor was required to rectify any mistakes before tendering. It was submitted that these clauses violated the cardinal principles of British justice inasmuch as the contractor was made responsible for the inaccuracies of the Public Works engineers. The Minister said that naturally he could not make a definite statement outside his own department and as the representations concerned other Ministers, indeed, to some extent, the whole Government, it seemed to him they would have to be considered by Cabinet. He would confer with the Minister of Public Works and then Cabinet might consider whether the Government was justified in relaxing the regulations in accordance with the representations. As far as the Railway Department was concerned, they were already considering the conditions of the contract and the requests of the deputation would be taken into consideration. He promised that a reply would be furnished after the matter had been fully considered.