Tarin Olsen

Expertise

Tarin has significant experience across the building and construction, mining, engineering, civil works, energy, oil and gas, and development industries.

Tarin has been involved in complex litigation in the Supreme Court of Queensland, as well as the Victorian Court of Appeal. She has also acted for claimants and respondents in all aspects of the various security of payment schemes, including acting in adjudications in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

She is experienced in high value International Chamber of Commerce arbitration proceedings, as well as mediations and arbitrations conducted under the Australian Disputes Centre and Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia guidelines.

Tarin has extensive experience in a wide range of building industry regulatory matters including licensing disputes, non-conforming building products, rectification of defective building work and claims under the statutory insurance scheme. Tarin has acted for the Queensland Building and Construction Commission, building contractors and home-owners in relation to such matters.

Tarin is skilled in drafting and providing advice in relation to a range of contractual documents in the construction industry, including design and construct, and supply contracts in accordance with Australian Standard requirements. She has managed all aspects of contract preparation, including negotiation, drafting and risk analysis, and provided ongoing support and assistance during the course of projects. 

She is regularly utilised to develop strategies for the early management of disputes that arise up and down the contractual chain.

Tarin has undertaken a secondment at Seymour Whyte Group to assist with contract negotiation, contract administration and project start-up in respect of the Pacific Highway Woolgoolga to Ballina (W2B) upgrade project.

Experience

Examples of Tarin’s experience include the following:

• secondment to Seymour Whyte Group to assist with contract negotiation, management and administration, and project start-up in respect of the Pacific Highway Woolgoolga to Ballina (W2B) upgrade project. The W2B upgrade project was delivered by the Pacific Complete consortium (comprised of Roads and Maritime Services (NSW), Laing O’Rourke and Parsons Brinckerhoff) and at the time was Australia’s largest regional infrastructure project. Tarin assisted Seymour Whyte Group in respect of three contracts awarded as part of the W2B upgrade project:
• an early works contract for a 35 km greenfields section
• a $163.3 million Main Civil Works contract comprising bulk earthworks and civil works; and
• a $54.5 million Bridge Structures contract requiring the delivery of 20 bridges. 
• acting for a Dutch dredging contractor in an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration, worth approximately A$50 million. The dispute concerned works on the QCLNG pipeline and consisted of 13 individual claims – each one unique in nature. The dispute addressed matters including marine dredging methods and procedures, tidal patterns, LNG plants, conflicts between QCLNG and APLNG works, loss of profit, the implication of good faith into Australian contracts and repudiation.
• acting for an American engineering, procurement, and construction company in respect of an engineering design dispute on the GLNG pipeline
• acting for foreign owned services company in relation to seven adjudications in respect of works at the Wheatstone LNG plant in Western Australia
• drafting and administering a suite of Australian Standard contracts for a Hong Kong based company undertaking civil and building works in Victoria
• drafting, negotiating and administering a heavily amended AS4000 suite of contracts for an international automation and logistics company, in respect of works carried out in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and New Zealand
• advising, negotiating and drafting contracts for a large domestic civil contractor specializing in major construction and building works, with respect to various residential building developments throughout Queensland, and providing ongoing support regarding contractual interpretation and complianc.
• drafting a suite of AS 4000 series contracts for a manufacturing company undertaking a significant development in Victoria.   The primary contract in the suite was an AS 4902, with approximately 20 related AS4910 and AS4911 contracts being drafted for components of the project
• acting for an international automation and logistics company in a range of disputes arising out of five separate contracts for works at Perth International Airport and Brisbane International Airport, including claims for defective works, delay and breach of contract
• acting for an oil and natural gas company in a proceeding in the County Court of Victoria and an appeal to the Court of Appeal, in relation to the contractual interpretation of a Master Lease Agreement
• acting for a company specializing in anaerobic digestion systems and biogas fuelled power station installations in respect of a contractual dispute regarding energy transformers, power grid integration and engineering services
• acting for a large drilling contractor in Supreme Court of Queensland proceedings in respect of a breach of contract claim
• acting for a claimant in an Australian Disputes Centre mediation regarding defective concrete, breach of contract and negligence in respect of the provision of design and engineering services.