Legal Issues in Alfa Ltd's Renovation Project

Overview of the Renovation Project

Alfa Ltd recently invited tenders from four construction companies for the renovation of Alfa’s office. The invitation stated: “Alfa reserves the right to reject all bids including the lowest bid. However, we promise to consider all bids emailed to us before the 10th of December.” Buzz Ltd submitted a bid on the 7th of December. Cone Ltd submitted a bid after the deadline.

Furthermore, Alfa has begun purchasing materials from Delta Ltd. After a short period of negotiations, the following events transpired in November:

-On the 3rd, Delta emailed Alfa stating: “We can offer you the materials for £45,000 on our standard terms of sale.”

-On the 6th, Alfa replied: “We accept your offer. However, please note that we are accepting it on our standard terms of purchase.”

-On the 9th, Delta sent a confirmation email stating that the order had been concluded on Delta’s standard terms. The confirmation also read: “Alfa’s silence is taken as the acceptance of our terms.”

-After no further communication, Alfa took delivery of the materials and signed a delivery note containing Delta’s standard terms on the 11th.  

Explain and advise Alfa on the following points:

1.Considering the nature of an invitation to tender, is Alfa required to accept Buzz’s bid? AND, can Alfa refuse to consider Buzz’s bid altogether?

2.Can Alfa refuse to consider Cone’s submission altogether?

3.With reference to offer and acceptance, is there a contract between Alfa and Delta? If so, was this contract concluded on the standard terms of Alfa or Delta

1. How to Submit?

Written Coursework

You will upload your answer electronically via StudyNet.

The assignment itself must be submitted as a SEPARATE Word Document in Arial font size 11 and in double line spacing. You SHOULD NOT copy-paste the ‘Assignment Questions’ above into your answer document.

Your name must not appear on your assignment. All assessed coursework is blind marked using your student registration number on your ID card.  Your student registration number and module name should appear on every page of your essay and each page should be numbered.  This is best achieved by use of the header and footer tool. You are also required to put your student registration number and module title in the file name of your assignment when submitting on Canvas (e.g. Banking Law 14043489.doc).  

Your assessment has a maximum word limit. Do not exceed the word limit in relation to your answer by more than 10%. Your word count must appear at the end of your work.

Challenges with Tenders and Bids

Word limits will be strictly applied as you are being assessed on your ability to produce an answer within a proscribed format. Do not exceed the word limit in relation to your answer.  Markers will not mark any work that appears beyond the prescribed word count and you will not be given any credit for the additional work.

The word count for coursework will NOT include footnotes or the bibliography. However, footnotes must not be used as a means of circumventing the word count by including material that should be in the body of the answer.

Submission deadlines are not flexible. Students should submit their work well in advance of the deadline (ideally several hours) to be sure of a reliable internet connection and sufficient upload time. Work submitted at any point (including seconds) after the deadline is recorded as a late submission on Canvas and will be capped.

All students must note that failure to submit coursework by the dates and time specified has SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. The penalties for late submission of coursework are as follows:

Unless there are accepted Serious Adverse Circumstances (SAC) or an extension has been given:

1.For each day or part thereof (or for hard copy submission only, working day or part thereof) for up to five days after the published deadline, coursework relating to modules at Level 7 submitted late (including deferred coursework, but with the exception of referred coursework), will have the numeric grade reduced by 10 grade points until or unless the numeric grade reaches or is 50. Where the numeric grade awarded for the assessment is less than 50, no lateness penalty will be applied;

2.Referred coursework submitted after the published deadline will be awarded a grade of zero (0).

Coursework (including deferred coursework) submitted later than five days (five working days in the case of hard copy submission) after the published deadline will be awarded a grade of zero (0).

What Happens When I Submit an Assessment?

All work is blind marked.

All work is marked against grading criteria.

Each element of assessment has a marking scheme attached to it to ensure that teams which have more than one marker are marking against objectively determined principles.

Once marked, a sample of the assignments will be internally moderated by at least one other tutor, who has not normally first-marked the work, to ensure that there is consistency in both the mark and the feedback given by all markers.

The module external examiner will moderate the assessment in advance of the Module Board.

In some cases (such as a dissertation), work is double-blind marked meaning that assignments are marked independently by two markers and a final mark is agreed.

Your marked assignment and mark will be returned within four calendar weeks. If there is a delay to this (for example due to marker illness), you will be notified in advance by the Associate Dean of School (Academic Quality Assurance).

Structure work to review the key issues and/or writers in the areas

Relate this review to the arguments underlying the question

Combine elements in different patterns in a structure which follows development of the argument

Use of legal and academic language to best effect

Present work in an academic format with extensive use of footnotes and well designed formatting

Properly identify all legal or other relevant issues raised by the question

Attach appropriate emphasis to each issue depending upon its significance in the discussion

State the law or other sources accurately and in appropriate detail

Provide a confident evaluation of potentially complex or contradictory issues towards a well reasoned and supported conclusion

Demonstrate an extensive  use of primary sources and secondary sources without over-reliance on secondary texts