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06 October 2011
Issue: 7484 / Categories: Case law , Law reports , In Court
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Building contract—Adjudication—Jurisdiction

Witney Town Council v Beam Construction (Cheltenham) Ltd [2011] EWHC 2332 (TCC), [2011] All ER (D) 141 (Sep)

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

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NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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