Section 39B of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 extends the completion date for construction work provided by the construction contract by 122 days from and including the completion date. “completion date” in Section 39B is defined as the “date by which the construction works must be certified in accordance with the construction contract as completed, failing which liquidated damages become payable by the party failing to so complete the construction works”.
There are no provisions on how the extension of time provided under Section 39B is to be applied to contracts with phased completion dates. The definition of “completion date” indicates that the certification provisions as well as the liability for liquidated damages under the contract are key to ascertaining the relevant “completion date” for the application of this universal 122 days of EOT. Thus, where the contract provides for completion to be certified in phases and for liquidated damages to apply in relation to each individual phase, there is nothing in the Act that precludes the grant of 122 days of EOT to apply to each of the relevant phased completion dates under the contract.