PCH trial needing sharper details

John Holland and the state government have both had partial successes ahead of a trial in October 2022 over a $180 million Perth Children’s Hospital contract dispute.

The construction company built the $1.2 billion hospital but the project battled through substantial delays before opening in 2018.

Among the challenges were lead contamination issues in water and asbestos in roof panels.

But there were also changes to scope and design of the project which John Holland claimed were not covered in its contract.

In 2019, John Holland said offers by the state government to settle were manifestly inadequate as it launched court action.

A spokesperson said at the time that the construction process had been troubled by extensive and late state design and construction changes that resulted in the government’s budget blowing out.

There are more than 2,000 pages of claim and counterclaim documents.

In a Supreme Court decision today, Justice Jenni Hill had to run the rule over the party's pleadings documents ahead of the trial.

Both parties had argued the other’s pleadings had been insufficient. 

John Holland was concerned it would not be aware of the state’s full case until expert evidence is filed in February next year.

That would be insufficient to properly prepare for the trial, the company said.

Some of the company’s requests were allowed by Justice Hill in the Supreme Court today.

Those included details around a scope of work change in 2016, and claims about the construction of a cryogenic store and an integrated extra low voltage system at the hospital.

But further details on some of the company's requests would need to be established at trial.

The state government was seeking $17 million for liquidated damages and payment for alleged defects.

It also had a win today, with Justice Hill finding a plan by John Holland to submit data to the state would be insufficient.

John Holland would need to be clear how it calculated rates and costs for construction, Justice Hill said.