Practitioners drafting or advising on standard form construction contracts must ensure critical provisions (such as Date for Completion and liquidated damages triggers) are expressly completed in the schedule, as courts will treat unfilled blanks as a deliberate choice not to activate those provisions and will not stretch language elsewhere in the contract to fill the gap. When running delay or breach claims, practitioners should avoid relying on 'shifting onus' arguments at the conclusion of a hearing — the party bearing the legal burden must affirmatively discharge it, and the risk of non-persuasion remains with them throughout.
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