Thomas, H R; Smith, G R and Mellott, R E (1994) Interpretation of construction contracts. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 120(2), pp. 321-336. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Contract interpretation is a common function of contractors, inspectors, designers, and contract administrators. This paper outlines rules of interpretation that can be used by contract administrators to resolve questions about the interpretation of a contract. The rules, arranged in hierarchical order, are based on a review of 100 appellate court decisions. The rules are: (1) The plain-meaning rule; (2) patent ambiguity; (3) practical construction; and (4) interpret the contract as a whole. If there is still more than one logical interpretation, one must resort to the order-of-precedence clause or rule against the drafter. The rules are arranged in an easy-to-use flowchart format. An example of an actual contract dispute is presented to illustrate how to apply the rules. The outcome is compared to the actual court decision.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | contract administrator, meaning, designer, dispute, construction contract |
| Subjects: | practitioner, dispute resolution, profession, contract type, sociology |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Procurement, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here