ADJUDICATION AND THE MEANING OF ‘DISPUTE’

Edmund Nuttall Ltd v R G Carter Ltd [2002] EWHC 400 (TCC) (Technology and Construction Court, 21 March 2002)

In Edmund Nuttall Ltd v R G Carter Ltd [2002] EWHC 400 (TCC) (Technology and Construction Court, 21 March 2002) Judge Richard Seymour QC underlined the importance of identifying the nature of the dispute between the parties before issuing a notice of adjudication. The introduction of further issues, or a re-formulation of the nature of the dispute, after the notice of adjudication has been given should be avoided wherever possible because an adjudicator who adjudicates on the basis of fresh information submitted after the date on which the notice of adjudication was given may be held to have decided something which was not referred to him with the further consequence that his decision will not be enforced. On the facts of the case Judge Seymour held that the adjudicator’s decision was unenforceable as a result of his reliance upon an expert’s report which was submitted in a referral notice after the date on which the notice of adjudication had been given and which altered the basis of the claim but not the amount claimed.