2 South West Building & Construction SOUTH WEST


September 2010


BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION


Tavistock Newspapers Ltd, 14 Brook Street, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 0HE. Tel: 01822 613666 Fax: 01822 618222


INSIDE THIS ISSUE


■ Business and finance - Page 4 ■ The Cornwall Home Show - Page 5 ■ Bradfords long service award - Page 7 ■ Working with stone- Page 8 ■ Environment Topics- Page 10 ■ Duchy and Payne Timber - Page 16 ■ Working with wood - Page 18 ■ Abbott Buildings & Landscaping - Page 20 ■ Concrete in construction - Page 28 ■ Federation of Master Builders - Page 30


CAPTION FOR FRONT PAGE PICTURES: News and information from all the businesses on the front cover is featured in this issue of South West Building & Construction magazine.


Quote of the month


‘


A walking Smir noff processing plant - Unattrib uted description of the former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin


STEPHEN HOMER


Adjudicators’ decisions


Stephen Homer, a former chairman of the CIC South West (Devon & Cornwall), highlights a recent ruling.


THE Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998 (the Scheme) requires the adjudicator to deliver his decision ‘as soon as possible after he has reached it’. How soon is ‘as soon as possible’?


In the recent case of Lee v Chartered Properties (Building) Ltd [2010] EWHC 1540 (TCC), this point was considered once more. The employer engaged the contractor company to carry out refurbishment works on the basement and ground floor of a property.


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Main contributor: Andrew Townsend Paul White Communications


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The adjudication clause of the contract provided that if a dispute arose and a party wished to refer it to adjudication, the Scheme would apply. The company carried out the


work and submitted its final account claiming just over £79,000 plus VAT.


The


employer refused to pay on the basis that the final account contained numerous errors and duplicate demands for payment and that it was generally inflated.


An adjudicator was appointed. Under the Scheme, an adjudicator has to reach his decision within 28 days of the referral or within 42 days if the referring party consents. The adjudicator requested


an extension of time which was approved. On a Friday afternoon, the adjudicator sent an email to the parties


confirming that he had reached his decision. However, his final decision, in favour of the contractor, was not issued until the Monday.


The adjudicator’s reason for


this was typing and proof reading. The employer issued proceedings seeking to challenge the validity of the adjudicator’s decision. The employer submitted that the adjudicator’s decision was unenforceable as there were triable issues including that the adjudicator’s decision was not valid as it had not been issued in time.


The court reached the conclusion that the adjudicator’s decision was served out of time. The court held that in the case, a copy of the decision had not been delivered by the adjudicator as soon as possible after he had reached his decision. It followed that the decision was unenforceable. It is not the first time that such a matter has come before the courts.


A period of three to four hours has been held to be a reasonable delay in the delivery of the adjudicator’s decision; however 74 hours is far too long, even when a lengthy decision is delivered. If you need any further information or have


any


questions arising from this article, please contact me on s.homer@ashfords.co.uk.


SOUTH West Building & Construction magazine is now available to read on the worldwide web. The magazine, which is part of Tavistock Newspapers Ltd, can be found on the internet at www.tavistock-today.co.uk. Under menu on the home page, click the Special Publications button. This opens a new page. Then click on the cover of an edition of South West Building & Construction magazineto view that issue in full.


DISCLAIMER: The CIC SW (Devon & Cornwall) will not accept any responsibility for any loss occasional to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material included in this publication.


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