Thiess Contractors (NZ) Ltd v Howtrac Rentals Pty Ltd

[2002] VSCA 195

Victorian Court of Appeal

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Contract
2. › Construction
3. › Commercial contracts
4. › Hire agreements
5. › Separate hire rates for working hours and standby hours
6. › Guaranteed minimum working hours
7. › Whether standby hours gave rise to independent entitlement to payment or functioned solely as monthly cashflow mechanism
8. › Construction of special conditions and payment table
1. Contract
2. › Formation
3. › Negotiations
4. › Whether parties reached finality in arranging all terms
5. › Letter of intent pending formal documentation
6. › Masters v Cameron categories
7. › Whether agreement of first kind reached
1. Contract
2. › Construction
3. › Admissibility of extrinsic evidence
4. › Prior negotiations
5. › Subsequent conduct
6. › Whether ambiguity resolvable by reference to previous negotiations

Quick Take

In a contract with separate hire rates for working hours and standby hours, where a table in the special conditions illustrates the treatment of standby hours as a cashflow mechanism with a credit system, the standby rate does not give rise to an independent entitlement to payment but functions solely as part of the monthly payment mechanism. The credit mechanism in such a table is a key indicator that standby payments are temporary and not independently recoverable.