HOCHTIEF SOLUTIONS AG AND OTHERS v MASPERO ELEVATORI SPA

[2020] ScotCS CSOH 102, Outer House of the Court of Session, Lord Clark, 17 December 2020

Adjudication – Whether or not effective reservation to jurisdiction of adjudicator had been entered

The pursuers sought to enforce the decision of an adjudicator. The defender sought to resist enforcement on two grounds. First, it submitted that the adjudicator had exceeded his jurisdiction in making an award under the subcontract between the parties when the dispute actually arose under a new and distinct agreement which had been concluded between the parties at a meeting on 24 July 2018 (and was outwith the adjudication clause in the subcontract). Second, it submitted that the adjudicator had failed to exhaust his jurisdiction by failing to address substantive lines of defence relied upon by the defender.