Construction

HWL Ebsworth has successfully defended a negligence lawsuit over the $25.5 million sale of Crown-owned Sydney land to property developer PPK Group, with a court finding that the developer was actually "better off" because of the transaction.

The ACCC has taken legal action against the CFMEU and national builder J Hutchinson for allegedly boycotting an independent subcontractor at a construction site in Brisbane.

The states of Victoria and Queensland have joined two class actions over allegedly combustible cladding as group members, with the claims in the proceedings now exceeding $500 million.

The prefab concrete specialist behind Sydney's Opal Tower has lost a courtroom bid to have its insurer pay costs in advance incurred in defending cross-claims in two lawsuits over the ill-fated tower.

Property developer Grocon has "reluctantly" put its construction business into administration, blaming the NSW government's handling of the Central Barangaroo development project which has sparked a $270 million lawsuit in the NSW Supreme Court.

An appeals court has shot down oil and gas giant Santos' bid for expanded discovery against engineering company Fluor, finding that the application was "akin to a fishing expedition" that was based on "a shaky assumption" by lawyers from Corrs Chambers Westgarth.

Mining services company Thiess has lost its challenge to a class action ruling which found the company had underpaid workers for time spent on the bus travelling home from a Pilbara-based liquefied natural gas processing plant owned by Woodside Energy.

In an important ruling that confines the scope of "industrial activity" under the Fair Work Act, the Full Federal Court has overturned a $50,000 fine against the CFMEU and two officials for organising a work stoppage at a Brighton construction site that the union said needed a female toilet.

The Federal Court has approved what is thought to be only the second ever audio-visual opt out notice in a class action, a move that will make it easier for group members to find out about class actions they may be eligible for.

Construction information service provider BCI Media Group has won its bid for preliminary discovery against property data analytics firm CoreLogic Australia, which is suspected of breaching copyright by gaining unauthorised access to BCI's subscription platforms and data scraping for leads.