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An obituary for Roger Knowles from Paul Jensen, Ian Strathdee & Suzanne Miller.
As most adjudicators will know, the road to getting your first appointment can be long and winding. I have had a keen interest in the adjudication process since the implementation of the statutory regime in 1998, and as a recently qualified Chartered Quantity Surveyor it was then that my ambition to become an adjudicator began.
A pair of recent decisions in the High Court this year have again turned on the question of whether only one dispute was referred to adjudication. Once again, Akenhead J’s decision in Witney Town Council v Beam Construction (Cheltenham) Limited [2011] EWHC 2332 (TCC); 139 ConLR 1 (‘Witney Town’) has been re-visited. In both decisions, the question of whether there was a single dispute referred, or more than one dispute, was answered broadly. In many ways, this is to be welcomed: as confirmed by Coulson J (as he then was) in Deluxe Art & Theme Limited v Beck Interiors Limited [2016] EWHC 238 (TCC); 164 ConLR 218, it is normally only possible to refer a single dispute to adjudication: if the adjudicator deals with more than one dispute, it will not be enforced unless it can be saved by way of severance. Prater Ltd v John Sisk & Son (Holdings) Ltd [2021] EWHC 1113 (TCC) and Quandro Services Ltd v Creagh Concrete Products Ltd [2021] EWHC 2637 (TCC) are classic examples of the approach that, if there is a dispute as to how much money is owed from one party to the other, the court will be slow to allow technical arguments to prevent a successful enforcement. The question is raised, however, as to when the Court of Appeal will impose limits on this expansive interpretation.
I was very recently part of a panel discussing the topic of 'Controlling Costs By Capping Fees of Tribunal Members' at the UK Adjudicators Annual London Conference 2021. I thought I would write and share a very brief article on some of the points I raised during my presentation.
Some but not all adjudicators, party representatives and parties may be involved in adjudications both in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Those who primarily do U.K work of this type may find it helpful to note that the assigned adjudication judge in Dublin, Mr. Justice Garrett Simons, has recently cautioned that case law from England and Wales can be of assistance when interpreting the Irish legislation (2013 Construction Contracts Act which commenced as of July 25, 2016) but cannot be ‘read across.’ This approach no doubt recognises that whilst there are some broad general similarities in the UK and Irish legislation it does differ in a number of significant respects.
"Soon you will walk across
this field. I will educate you
to step here and step there,
to avoid the hidden dangers
beneath the grassy slopes
and native flowers."
Walking Through Minefields (William A Poppen January 2013)
Maybe an unfortunate analogy, the minefields in this poem versus the minefields that us construction folk face with the broken payment legislation that we need to negotiate with every day of the week. The latest trap is ‘genuine’.
Rather than presenting a kaleidoscope of case law, this article will critically examine the three cases that the Supreme Court gave permission to appeal to that have shaped the adjudication landscape in the last few years.
Adjudication in Ireland celebrates 5 years this month (July) and after a slow start, is now well and truly part of the construction industry dispute resolution landscape.
Adjudication is a splendid method for resolving construction disputes.
it would not do much violence to the 1996 Act for the Court to reach a finding that section 111 of the Act applied to any claims for sums accrued due while the contract was on foot, regardless of whether the contract was repudiated and brought to an end before those sums were formally applied for.
With the various lists getting there in this song there is telepathy but no mention of email. But that was 30 years ago and as far as I can remember the email was not that popular then.
Cases where those involved in disputes are found to have acted despite a conflict of interest are, fortunately, rare. When they do occur, they tend to be widely reported.
More than you think. This article will consider green dispute resolution procedures, and how we can use them in adjudication.
Whether an adjudicator correctly identifies an issue as something which he or she has jurisdiction to decide is potentially determinative of whether the decision is enforceable.
The last 6 months have certainly been the busiest period I have ever personally encountered in terms of adjudication proceedings. The references to adjudication have been coming to me thick and fast since March, both as advocate and adjudicator, with little time to come up for air.
The last 6 months have certainly been the busiest period I have ever personally encountered in terms of adjudication proceedings. The references to adjudication have been coming to me thick and fast since March, both as advocate and adjudicator, with little time to come up for air.