ADJUDICATOR’S DECISION: STAY OF EXECUTION GRANTED IN CASE OF INSOLVENCY

Bouygues (UK) Ltd v Dahl-Jensen (UK) Ltd ([2000] BLR 522)

The Court of Appeal in Bouygues (UK) Ltd v Dahl-Jensen (UK) Ltd [2000] BLR 522 was given its first opportunity to consider the approach which should be adopted towards the interpretation of Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (hereafter ‘the 1996 Act’).The Court of Appeal cited with approval the judgment of Mr Justice Dyson in Macob Civil Engineering Ltd v Morrison Construction Ltd [1999] BLR 93 (see our October 1999 issue, pp1-5) and, in so doing, gave its blessing to the essentially non-interventionist stance which has been adopted towards the decisions of adjudicators by the Technology and Construction Court. Having said that, the Court of Appeal did impose a stay of execution on the ground that the contractor to whom the adjudicator had ordered payment to be made was, at the date of the application for summary judgment, in insolvent liquidation. Rule 4.90 of the Insolvency Rules 1986 was therefore applicable so that the proper approach was to resolve all claims and cross-claims in the liquidation and not to resolve one claim in isolation from the rest.