Civil practice and procedure—Service—Meaning of “delivered personally”

Queen’s Bench Division, Technology and Construction Court, Coulson J, 16 Jun 2009

The Technology and Construction Court has held that the use of the expression “delivered personally” in a contract rather than the well-known concept of “personal service” means actual delivery by an appropriate individual within one company to an appropriate individual within the other, the method of delivery not mattering.

Lynne McCafferty (instructed by Fenwick Elliott) for the claimant. Gideon Scott Holland (instructed by Sellar Property Group) for the defendant.

The parties entered into a contract in October 2007 for the claimant to provide construction management services to the defendant in relation to the construction of a hotel and office building. The dispute resolution clause provided that in the first instance disputes were to be referred to the senior representatives or members of the board of directors of the parties. If the dispute was not resolved it would be referred to adjudication.