Emmolina May

Fuel prices have once again moved to the centre of public discussion in New Zealand. Over the past few weeks, government officials have warned that the country could be facing a prolonged disruption to global fuel supply as tensions in the Middle East continue to affect international energy markets. The Prime Minister has cautioned that the situation “could get worse before it gets better,” and ministers are already considering contingency planning for a potential fuel shortage scenario. For...

There is a small paragraph in construction law that quietly decides many payment disputes. Most people never read it. Many templates accidentally delete it. And when it is missing, an entire claim can collapse. I am talking about the prescribed form  under the Construction Contracts Act 2002 (CCA). It is not a complicated legal doctrine. It is simply a mandatory notice that must accompany certain documents , most commonly payment claims . But despite its simplicity, it carries enormous legal...

The construction industry has entered the year with a familiar but uncomfortable pattern: more and more contractors, big or small, has gone under faster than ever. Over the past year, insolvencies across the New Zealand construction sector have continued to make headlines. Smaller subcontractors have been under pressure for some time, but more recently we have also seen larger, well-established companies struggle to survive. These are businesses with experienced teams, established...