The Queen’s Wharf Brisbane building site,as seen from South Bank.Credit:Adam Ferguson
The builder is suing casino giant Star Entertainment and Hong Kong-based partners Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium for more than $400 million as part of ahigh-stakes battle over the responsibility for cost blowouts and delays.
Multiplex claims it has not been adequately compensated for “excusable delay events” – including pandemic restrictions,rain and mould – that have added up to more than 1000 days of lost productivity.
The builder also claims the consortium gave representations in 2019 that “no substantial redesign of the developed areas would be required”,but that this turned out to be false.
The modifications ordered by DBC,ranging from landscaping matters to wholesale structural changes,entitled Multiplex to compensation of more than $30 million,according to the court documents.
Among the directions were additional staircases in the “heart of house” staffing area,gender-neutral toilets,and the division of the level-six ballroom into five sections instead of the original three.
Changes to the level-four retail area affected more than a hectare of floor space,the builder claims.
The consortium also allegedly issued a revised design for the porte cochère vehicle passageway that was based on “out of date drawings … failed to include any allowance for demolition works …[and] included capped consultant costs without any discussion with consultants as to what it would actually cost to develop the design”.