Application for early specific disclosure rejected

Balfour Beatty Regional Construction Ltd (formerly Mansell Construction Services Ltd) v Broadway Malyan Ltd [2022] EWHC 2022 (TCC)

In Balfour Beatty Regional Construction Ltd (formerly Mansell Construction Services Ltd) v Broadway Malyan Ltd [2022] EWHC 2022 (TCC), Jefford J held that the claimant was not entitled to early specific disclosure from the defendant. In exercising her discretion not to make the order sought, Jefford J had particular regard to the fact that the claim form had been issued before any steps had been taken to comply with the Pre-Action Protocol for Construction and Engineering Disputes. One of the functions of the latter Protocol is to enable the parties to understand the issues between them before proceedings are commenced and, in that context, it was held that it would rarely make sense for pre-action disclosure to be ordered before the pre-action process had been embarked upon.