Adjudication enforcement and the relationship with Part 8 claims


In Hutton Construction Ltd v Wilson Properties (London) Ltd [2017] EWHC 517 (TCC) Coulson J held that the claimant was entitled to summary judgment in order to enforce the decision of an adjudicator. In so concluding, Coulson J affirmed the general rule that the courts will enforce the decision of an adjudicator who has decided the issue that was referred to him and has broadly acted in accordance with the principles of natural justice. This was not a case in which the defendant was entitled to resist enforcement on the basis of its Part 8 claim. The parties had not reached agreement on the conduct of the Part 8 claim and its relationship with the present enforcement proceedings, the defendant was in effect seeking to rerun the entirety of the issues raised in the adjudication (including issues of fact) and it could not be said to be unconscionable for the court to enforce the decision of the adjudicator and leave the defendant to pursue its Part 8 claim separately. Coulson J also added that a defendant who unsuccessfully raises this type of challenge on enforcement proceedings will almost certainly have to pay the claimant’s costs of the entire action on an indemnity basis.