Effect of enforcement of adjudication

The adjudication scheme under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 provides for the making of a provisional adjudication award, which ceases to be binding if it is overturned by a subsequent arbitration. In Michael John Construction Ltd v St Peter’s Rugby Football Club [2007] EWHC 1857 (TCC) the Court awarded summary enforcement of an adjudication award, and arbitration proceedings were then commenced in a manner which was contrary to the rulings in the enforcement proceedings. The question, which His Honour Judge David Wilcox QC answered in the negative, was whether the court’s own ruling was itself` provisional and subject to modification by any subsequent arbitration.

St Peter’s RFC: the facts

The club, which was unincorporated and acted through trustees, occupied a clubhouse and sports field in Cardiff. On 12 August 2002 the management committee decided that it would sell the existing clubhouse to a housing association, and this decision was ratified by an Extraordinary General Meeting held in January 2003. On 15 October 2003 the claimant contractor, MJC entered into an agreement with the club for the construction of new premises. The agreement was signed on behalf of the club by Mr Matthews, who was not a trustee of the club but rather was its Director of Development. The contract contained a tiered dispute resolution clause culminating, if necessary, with a reference to arbitration.