Those involved in adjudication and, in particular, adjudication enforcement, will be familiar with the procedure laid out in section 9 of the TCC Guide; a procedure that developed after the Construction Act 1996 came into force in May 1998. Quite how many times this procedure has been used over the last ten years is difficult to estimate, but a significant body of case law has developed as a result. Continue reading
What a perfect defence to a claim: being able to tell the claimant, sorry folks but you’ve got the wrong defendant! We novated the contract, so you need to go after the people that took over from us.
Claims for interest are particularly contentious at present as:
I was recently involved in a case that came before HHJ Seymour QC in the Queen’s Bench division of the High Court. Rather than acting as an adjudicator and having my decision challenged on enforcement, I was acting as a joint expert for the parties. It was unusual to be on the other side of the fence for a change.
The case involved three properties, one claimant, two defendants and a third party (or part 20 defendant in modern parlance). Issues in the case were less than straightforward: Continue reading
The statutory right to suspend performance of all contractual obligations for non-payment was granted to contractors when the Construction Act 1996 was brought into force, more than 10 years ago.
