Third party not entitled to commence adjudication proceedings

In Hurley Palmer Flatt Ltd v Barclays Bank plc [2014] EWHC 3042 (TCC) Ramsey J held that the terms of a construction contract did not give to a third party the right to have liability under the contract determined by adjudication. The third party was described as an ‘affiliate’ in the contract and was given the express right to enforce certain terms of the contract. As a matter of construction it was held that the terms which the affiliate was entitled to enforce were the substantive terms which imposed liability upon the consulting engineer and not procedural rights, such as the right to refer a dispute to adjudication. The attempt by the third party to invoke the assistance of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 was rejected. Accordingly, the third party was held not to be entitled to commence adjudication proceedings against the claimant, the notice of adjudication and the referral notice were both ineffective and the adjudicator did not have jurisdiction to determine these claims.