BATTERSEA PROJECT PHASE 2 DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD v QFS SCAFFOLDING LTD

[2024] EWHC 591 (TCC), Technology and Construction Court, Mr Alexander Nissen KC, sitting as a Judge of the High Court, 15 March 2024

Adjudication – Final Payment Notice – Whether conclusive – When are adjudication proceedings "concluded"?

QFS Scaffolding Ltd (“QFS”) brought a Part 7 claim seeking an order to enforce the decision of an adjudicator in which the adjudicator ordered Battersea Project Phase 2 Development Co Ltd (“Battersea”) to pay to it the sum of £3,177,462.85 excluding VAT. Battersea for its part brought a Part 8 claim in which it sought declaratory relief that the Final Payment Notice in the contract between the parties was conclusive of the matters set out in clause 1.8.1 of the contract so that it was not liable to pay to QFS the sum which the adjudicator had decided it must pay. The Part 8 claim was heard first because it if failed there was conceded to be no defence to the Part 7 claim.