I was recently at an adjudication related function and got chatting to an earnest aspiring adjudicator.  My newfound friend, let’s call him Andrew to protect the innocent, is working his way through the RICS Adjudication Diploma - a worthy and well-structured course that I also undertook some years...

The scope of construction adjudication is something I have a tendency to blog about every 4 years: for example back in 2016 in my blog “Akenhead J is back and has widened the scope of construction adjudication”, and then again in 2020 in my blog “Broad meaning given to “dispute arising under...

Happy New Year everyone. It’s hard to believe two years have passed since I wrote my last wish list. For the benefit of our new readers, my first blog of the year typically looks at the things I’d like to see happen in the world of...

“On the twelfth day of Christmas, my adjudicator gave to me …. their top 12 tips on how parties can help them during an adjudication”. Now, admittedly, it’s not as catchy as the original, but it’s a subject very close to my heart, as well as a topic that...

As we hurtle towards the end of another calendar year, the trend towards alternative dispute resolution methods continues to gain popularity, reinforcing the collective demand for resolving disputes expeditiously and cost-effectively, preserving relationships and alleviating the burden on the court system. Indeed, the senior judiciary and government have, for some...

I was lucky enough to travel to Hong Kong last week and speak at this year’s Society of Construction Law Hong Kong International Conference. Hong Kong is making great progress with its Security of Payment legislation, and I was asked to speak on various aspects of it, including some...

Last week’s judgment of HHJ Stephen Davies in Workman Properties Limited v ADI Building and Refurbishment Limited [2024] EWHC 2627 (TCC) was timely for a number of reasons, not least because I was planning to share my thoughts on the increased use of Part 8 claims in order to “trump” an...

There are a number of theories about the inspiration behind the lyrics to Thin Lizzy’s 1976 hit, "The Boys Are Back in Town". One theory alleges that it’s about a group of Manchester criminals collectively known as the Quality Street Gang.  Although the theories haven’t been...

All good things come to an end, and sadly this will be our last blog for Practical Law Construction. However, fear not as we will continue to write some articles for them in the future, and we hope to relaunch the blog on a separate platform later this year…

Last year I wrote about the judgment in Nicholas James Care Homes Ltd v Liberty Homes (Kent) Ltd, where O’Farrell J continued an interim freezing injunction that had been granted a month or so earlier…

In the early ’80’s, Soft Cell sang Say hello, wave goodbye. It probably isn’t as well known as the dance floor-filler that is Tainted love, but it is a song that came to mind when I read the Court of Appeal’s…

I can’t say that I recall Dyson LJ’s judgment in Connex South Eastern Ltd v MJ Building Services Group being handed down back in 2005 but I do know it is the case that told us that the phrase “at any time”…

Some years ago I wrote a number of blogs about the long-running legal battle between Gary Paice and Kim Springall (property developers) and MJ Harding (the building contractor). That really was the case that kept on giving...

Happy new year everyone.Once again I am reflecting on what I’d like to see and, looking at my 2022 list, I think I could probably include all of them again apart from three…

Earlier this year I acted as adjudicator in four related adjudications that ran simultaneously, and I thought it would be worthwhile sharing my experience as I think there are some interesting points for parties and their representatives who might be considering using adjudication for multiparty disputes.Before any...

Back in July, I wrote about the judgment in Metropolitan Borough Council of Sefton v Allenbuild Ltd, where HHJ Hodge QC in the TCC in Manchester enforced an adjudicator’s decision and, in so doing, rejected an application…

Last week I had the pleasure of travelling to one of my favourite cities, Edinburgh, to help launch the report, 2022 Construction Adjudication in the United Kingdom: Tracing trends and guiding reform at the Adjudication Society’s annual conference.The report has been published by King’s College London ...

At the end of last year, Jonathan discussed the Court of Session’s judgment in D McLaughlin & Sons Ltd v East Ayrshire Council, where Lord Clark looked at the conclusiveness of a final certificate under a Scottish Standard Building Contract with...

I’ve been looking at the Law Commission’s consultation on proposed changes to the Arbitration Act 1996 (AA 1996). The AA 1996 has been around some 25 years, which is about the same length of time that I’ve been resolving disputes. In fact, the very first case...

This week I’m looking at a case from the Chancery Division of all places, Instrument Product Development Ltd v WD Engineering Solutions Ltd. Why, I hear you ask?  Well, it caught my eye because the judgment starts by talking about a noted 1981 study, Role of...

Have you had chance to read RIBA’s Construction Contracts and Law Report 2022, which was published at the end of July? If not, I’d recommend taking a peek. It contains some interesting stuff, a snapshot of the state of our industry as we emerged from a post-Brexit,...

I appreciate that some of you might be reading this blog on your summer holidays, so you may well have far better things to be doing with your time (ordering another piña colada perhaps?). I will therefore keep the blog short – what might be termed a “blogette”.As one...

When I was looking at the list of TCC cases to find something to write about this week, my first thought was Adrian Williamson QC’s judgment in FTH Ltd v Varis Developments Ltd, where he refused to grant summary judgment to enforce an adjudicator’s decision ...

I was lucky enough to be asked to give a recent case law update lecture for the Adjudication Society. At the end one of the delegates asked a very sensible question, namely to what extent do matters decided by an adjudicator concerning an interim valuation bind later valuations. It’s...

Sometimes it feels that, as an adjudicator, you are damned if you do and are also damned if you don’t. In this case – Liverpool CC v Vital Infrastructure Asset Management (Viam) Ltd (In Administration) – it was both what the adjudicator did do and what he didn’t...