Mark Clinton explores the judgment in St Austell Printing Company Ltd v Dawnus Construction Holdings Ltd. Above: Mark Clinton, partner at Thomas Eggar LLP Lawyers seem to have an infinite capacity to argue about words and concepts. We even argue about whether there is a dispute to argue about. Adjudication
Council leaders from the North West are backing the £1 billion campaign for rail improvements throughout North Wales and Cheshire. Manchester City Council leader, Sir Richard Leese and Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson are among the senior figures who have called for the Government to back the Growth Track 360 campaign.
Amazon is set to sign the largest logistics pre-let in Europe for what will be one of the most revolutionary facilities in the sector. The company has secured a deal for 2.2m sq ft at Roxhill and Port of Tilbury’s 70-acre London Distribution Park in Essex. It is expected that
Invisible Connections Ltd has announced that its Norwegian trade partner SB Produksjon AS has formally changed its trading name to Invisible Connections AS. The change will see operations and marketing brought much closer together with the activities already established at the UK home of Invisible Connections. Invisible Connections AS is
The Construction Industry Training Board has chosen 15 projects for its latest £5 million funding scheme, ranging from major contractors to small specialist SMEs. The first tranche of specialist industry partnerships were revealed in April as part of CITB’s change in its approach to skills funding. This included over 22
A school in Essex has been fined after school staff and others were exposed to asbestos during poorly managed and planned maintenance and refurbishment activities. Last week, Chelmsford Crown Court head how managers at The Boswells School in Chelmsford were in the process of converting an old boiler room at
Mark Clinton explores the judgment in St Austell Printing Company Ltd v Dawnus Construction Holdings Ltd. Above: Mark Clinton, partner at Thomas Eggar LLP Lawyers seem to have an infinite capacity to argue about words and concepts. We even argue about whether there is a dispute to argue about. Adjudication was supposed to offer quick, cost-effective dispute resolution, but most always suspected that it would receive the full lawyer treatment. Already, this relatively young process has produced some old chestnuts. Two of them featured in last month’s decision in St Austell Printing Company Ltd v Dawnus Construction Holdings Ltd. St Austell lost an adjudication brought by Dawnus. The adjudicator ordered St Austell to pay almost £418,000. St Austell did not pay. When the matter got to court they argued that the decision was invalid because there was no dispute when the adjudication started and because, if there was a dispute, the whole of that dispute had to be referred to the adjudicator but only part had been referred. At the centre of the case was a substantial interim payment application. St Austell’s contract administrator responded to the application saying that it was being reviewed and that he would endeavour to send his version of the account in a few weeks. He did not send that account. If fact, it seems nothing happened over the next eight months or so until Dawnus started the adjudication. The judge observed that the argument that a dispute had not crystallised before the adjudication started is almost never successful. It was not successful for St Austell either. For a dispute to arise, it is necessary for a claim to be made (here the application) but it is not necessary for it to be rejected. What is needed is for it to emerge that the claim is not admitted. That may arise from a rejection or, by inference from what is said, from prevarication or from a period of silence. What length of silence would suffice will depend on the facts of each case but it may be very short – a matter of days in some cases. In this case, the inference could have been safely drawn long before the adjudication started. One of the curiosities of adjudications under the statutory scheme is that you can only refer one dispute at a time. In this case, Dawnus referred 115 variation items to adjudication. There were other unpaid items in their application but they said they did not contest those for the purposes of the adjudication. St Austell said that if there was a dispute, it was about the whole of the application. What had been referred was a smaller and different dispute they said. The judge decided that this second line of defence was contrary both to previous case law and to common sense. If a party makes a claim which is disputed, he is perfectly entitled to decide not to pursue part of it. He might so decide, for example, because he does not think some elements of the claim are suitable for adjudication or because he wishes to drop them altogether. What that party cannot do is, by careful wording of his notice of adjudication, to limit the defences the other party can raise. The other party can raise any defence open to him regardless of what the notice of adjudication may say. In the end, it all worked as it was meant to. St Austell had to pay up. I doubt that will prevent these old chestnuts making further appearances. About the author: Mark Clinton is a partner with Thomas Eggar LLP. This article was published on 5 Feb 2015 (last updated on 6 Feb 2015). Source link
Council leaders from the North West are backing the £1 billion campaign for rail improvements throughout North Wales and Cheshire. Manchester City Council leader, Sir Richard Leese and Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson are among the senior figures who have called for the Government to back the Growth Track 360 campaign. Also behind the campaign are Merseytravel chair Cllr, Liam Robinson and Manchester Science Partnerships chairman, Chris Oglesby. Growth Track 360 is led by political leaders, the public sector and a cross-border alliance of businesses and, if successful, the campaign would provide a welcome boost for Wirral, Cheshire and North Wales economies, as they would be connected to the planned HS2 line and provide better links to Greater Manchester and Liverpool. Over a 20 year period, the £1 billion investment would lead to more than 70,000 jobs being created in the North West region. Leese said that the campaign is crucial as connectivity is imperative to the region’s development and strength. He believes that by improving transport links between Greater Manchester, Cheshire and North Wales will provide a much needed boost to business in the region and support the aspirations of the Northern Powerhouse. Leese added: “Opening up communities, increasing networks, and delivering access to employment opportunities across the regions is key to strengthening our local economies and creating a more effective, connected and ultimately, powerful whole and I am fully behind this much-needed campaign.” The campaign is being driven by the North Wales and Mersey Dee Rail Task Force (NW&MD) and has so far secured the backing of the eight local authorities in the area: the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, the North Wales Business Council, the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, the West Cheshire & North Wales Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Mersey Dee Alliance. The campaign wants the line between North Wales and Crewe to be electrified, which would allow the region to be more easily linked to HS2.
Amazon is set to sign the largest logistics pre-let in Europe for what will be one of the most revolutionary facilities in the sector. The company has secured a deal for 2.2m sq ft at Roxhill and Port of Tilbury’s 70-acre London Distribution Park in Essex. It is expected that this will trigger the biggest industrial investment deal in the UK. The building will be the UK’s first four storey distribution centre and will be funded by the annuity fund of Legal & General, which purchases long-leased property. The fund manager will pay £150 million which reflects a yield of 5.25%, as Amazon signs a 20 year lease at a rental rate of around £3.60 per sq ft. The investment from Legal & General underlines its commitment to logistics in the UK and institutional investor confidence in the latest generation of high-tech assets. Planning permission for the development was granted earlier in the month and work began earlier in the week. The facility will be the UK’s tallest and largest warehouse standing at over 70 ft with four floors, which are just less than 600,000 sq ft each. The first floor will also feature a mezzanine. The UK’s only other multi-storey warehouse is SERGO’s two storey site X2 at Hatton Cross in Heathrow, but unlike this facility, Amazon’s new development will see the ground floor acting as the primary processing area for deliveries, while lorries will not drive up to the upper storage floors. Rather, there will be over 60 loading doors for goods both incoming and outgoing. The scheme will also feature a car park for 1,900 cars and 94 delivery trucks, along with a 100,000 sq ft office block. Amazon’s most cutting edge technology will be housed in the warehouse and will be operated by robotic firm Kiva Robots which Amazon bought for £531 million in 2012.
Invisible Connections Ltd has announced that its Norwegian trade partner SB Produksjon AS has formally changed its trading name to Invisible Connections AS. The change will see operations and marketing brought much closer together with the activities already established at the UK home of Invisible Connections. Invisible Connections AS is the main supplier of telescopic connectors for the UK branch of the firm, with their patented solutions becoming more and more sought after in the European construction industry following positive feedback from contractors and architects. Svein Berg, Chief Executive Officer of Invisible Connections AS, said that so far most of its efforts have been primarily concerned with technology innovation and less focussed on sales and proactive marketing. However, this is something that the company is looking to progress and sees the rebrand as a key stage and positive step in the development of its business plan. Berg added: “The name change marks an evolutional shift from a traditional 30-year old mechanical company to a modern, innovative business in the construction industry. “It also increases our reach and introduces the products to a broader audience, as the products have received European Technical Approval.” The rebrand will reflect the marketing and operational initiatives that have been established within the UK branch of Invisible Connections. UK Managing Director, Derek Brown, thinks that there is a great synergy between the aligned UK and Norwegian companies as they both have innovate engineered solutions and their products provide a range of benefits for customers and specifiers. Brown added: “We’re delighted we can now clearly demonstrate our aligned marketing strategy. “Although the history of the telescopic connectors range dates back some three decades, the more recent evolution towards structures combining in-situ as well as precast concrete means that our products are in ever-increasing demand, due to their numerous advantages.”
The Construction Industry Training Board has chosen 15 projects for its latest £5 million funding scheme, ranging from major contractors to small specialist SMEs. The first tranche of specialist industry partnerships were revealed in April as part of CITB’s change in its approach to skills funding. This included over 22 partnerships which totalled £7.6 million. Between now and 2018 there is a total of £60 million available, with about £20 million to be allocated each year. Geeta Nathan, Head of Economic Analysis at CITB said that these high class applicants could change the lives of many individuals and transform the industry, which is why they have been chosen for support by CITB. “It’s inspiring to think of the impact these projects may have not only in the near future but also in years to come.” CITB’s biggest financial contribution of £1.8 million went to the Roofing Industry Alliance which is working to bring together the main stakeholders in the roofing industry, 11 major roofing trade associations and 12 regional training groups to form a skills plan. The group has a total value of £2.6 million. The next biggest contribution from CITB was £1.1 million to the Civil Engineering Contractors Association which has a total value of £1.6 million. The association provides design specialist infrastructure training which creates a structure framework for core infrastructural skills. Mitie Property Services also secured a sizeable contribution from CITB of £482,000 for its bespoke work experience and training programme for workers with autism. The other successful projects were led by: Kier, the Neighbourhood Services Company, Matthews & Leigh Civil Engineering Ltd, Telford Homes, Utilities Contractors Group, Willmott Dixon 4 Life Academy, Dry Lining & Plastering Training Forum and GMG Contractors. The Kier project is run in partnership with ISG, Midas Construction and their supply chains and is supported by Plymouth’s South Devon College.
A school in Essex has been fined after school staff and others were exposed to asbestos during poorly managed and planned maintenance and refurbishment activities. Last week, Chelmsford Crown Court head how managers at The Boswells School in Chelmsford were in the process of converting an old boiler room at the school into a cleaning store. While this work was being carried out, asbestos residue on the room walls was disturbed and caretakers swept the contaminated debris from the floors. The poorly managed work was only exposed after an asbestos survey was carried out in the area. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident and also found materials containing asbestos in other areas. For many years school caretaking staff and contractors disturbed the school buildings’ fabric without knowing about the presence of asbestos, while the school also failed to make sure that the spread of asbestos was reduced or prevented. Anyone who entered the potentially contaminated areas was put at risk of developing serious health problems due to the exposure to airborne respirable asbestos fibres. The Boswells Academy Trust, of Burnham Road, Chelmsford, Essex, pleaded guilty to a breach of Sections 2 (1) and 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, resulting in the trust being fined £26,000 and made to pay £20,000 in costs. Glyn Davies, HSE inspector said that the trust should have identified the type, condition and location of any materials containing asbestos throughout the school to ensure that the potentially lethal risk was controlled. Davies added: “It should then have ensured that such information was shared with anyone liable to disturb this fabric. It may also have arranged for a licensed asbestos contractor to remove any dangerous asbestos safely before commencement of any work.” He also commented that this prosecution should be seen as an example to others about planning work more thoroughly in future.
