Building contract—Adjudication—Jurisdiction

Queen’s Bench Division, Technology and Construction Court, Akenhead J, 12 Sep 2011

The Technology and Construction Court has reviewed the authorities relating to determining whether an adjudicator has been asked to determine more than one dispute.

Mark Raeside QC and Omar Eljadi (instructed by Dutton Gregory LLP) for the claimant. Ian Wright (instructed by Harrison Clark LLP) for the defendant.

By a building contract made in early 2010 (the contract), the claimant employed the defendant to design and construct a new community hall. The contract was in the JCT Design and Build form 2005, Revision 2, 2009, and contained an adjudication clause. Disputes arose concerning, among other things, the date that practical completion of the works occurred, various outstanding items of work, the extent to which the defendant was entitled to an extension of time and the amount of money due to the defendant from the claimant. In March 2011, the claimant purported to terminate