Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd (ICI) v Merit Merrell Technology Ltd (MMT) is Fraser J’s latest 89-page opus. It was a liability-only trial covering 16 agreed issues and sub-issues arising out of the parties’ dispute following works at ICI’s new paint processing plant in Ashington, Northumberland. Those issues included the correct contractual specification for the pipework testing, the extent of the alleged defects in the pipework, termination under an NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) and whether ICI or MMT was in repudiatory breach of contract, to name but a few.
It is a dispute that I have looked at previously, in Clarity is key when contract drafting and picking your ANB, when Edward-Stuart J decided the adjudicator was correctly appointed and applied the right adjudication rules, and so he enforced his decision. As there is still a quantum hearing to go, it may not be the last time that I look at it either.
This post focuses on some of the money aspects: ICI’s entitlement to recover over-payments from MMT and whether it could challenge the value of MMT’s works. Continue reading
