GOLDSWORTHY & OTHERS (TRADING AS GOLDSWORTHY BUILDERS) v HARRISON & ANOTHER

[2016] EWHC 1589 (TCC), Technology and Construction Court, Mr Andrew Bartlett QC sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, 1 July 2016

Formation of contract - Whether contract entered into by parties contained an adjudication clause

The claimant builders sought summary judgment in order to enforce the decision of an adjudicator in which the adjudicator ordered the defendant houseowners to pay to the claimant £72,400.25. The claimants' case was based on the parties having entered into a contract on the JCT Minor Works terms (MW 2011) which contained an adjudication clause. The defendants resisted the application on the ground that the parties had entered into an informal agreement which did not contain an adjudication clause. The defendants accepted that there had at one point been an intention to enter into a contract on the terms of the JCT Minor Works terms but their contention was that the parties had never actually concluded a contract on these terms.