Construction law—Adjudication—Jurisdiction

Queen’s Bench Division, Technology and Construction Court,  Akenhead J, 1 September 2009

The Technology and Construction Court has considered authority on jurisdiction and bias in the context of adjudicators under construction contracts.

Martin Bowdery QC (instructed by Mayer Brown International LLP) for the claimant. Stephen Furst QC (instructed by Hawkswell Kilvington) for the defendant.

The defendant was the main contractor on a project at Castle Hill Hospital, Hull. It sub-contracted part of the works to the claimant. Delays occurred and a dispute arose as to whether extensions of time had been due to the claimant. In September 2008, the claimant served a notice of adjudication on the defendant and an adjudicator was appointed (the first adjudicator).

The adjudication notice limited the dispute to the defendant’s right to make deductions and the claimant’s entitlement to an extension of time because of the defendant’s failure to provide the claimant with access to commence the works. The notice specified that,