fbpx

Dispute With Builder Leads to Costly Outcome for Homeowner

19th March 2020 By

If you are involved in a dispute with your builder, taking sound legal advice is by far the best means of ensuring that matters do not get out of hand. One householder who failed to take that sensible course found himself embroiled in costly legal proceedings and on the receiving end of a substantial bill.

The man engaged a building firm to deal with some persistent leaks in his basement. Rather than entering into a fixed-price contract, he orally agreed to pay the firm a daily rate for its work. After forming the view that the firm was disreputable, he dispensed with its services before the work was complete.

The firm’s bill went unpaid and, after it referred the dispute to an adjudicator, he directed the man to pay the firm £6,456 for its work, together with his £3,726 fee. The man not having paid either of those sums, the firm launched High Court enforcement proceedings against him.

Ruling on the matter, the Court noted that the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 gives parties to a construction contract the right to refer a dispute to adjudication. Excluded from that provision, however, are contracts where the works concerned are to a residential dwelling occupied as a residence by one of the parties. On the face of it, therefore, the adjudicator had no jurisdiction to consider the dispute.

However, it is well established that, even where there is no formal jurisdiction, an adjudicator’s decision will be treated as enforceable where both sides in a dispute have engaged fully in the adjudication process on the merits. The man had done just that and there was no question of him having been put under duress to participate. He had thus waived his right to challenge the adjudicator’s decision on jurisdictional grounds and his ignorance of the law was no defence.

The Court also rejected the man’s plea that the adjudicator had given an appearance of bias. He had been appointed by an independent third party, the President of the Chartered Institute of Building, and was adamant that none of the firm’s personnel were known to him prior to the dispute being referred to him. It was also no part of the Court’s role to second-guess the adjudicator’s conclusions on the merits. The firm was granted summary judgment against the man in the full amount of the adjudicator’s award.

Source: Concious

Latest News

Court Explores Alleged 'Grave Risk' in Child Abduction Case

28th March, 2024 By

Cross-jurisdictional disputes surrounding child custody can be complex but, in cutting through the complexities, the courts will always focus on the welfare of the children involved, as was evidenced in a High Court case centred on a child abduction. A father wrongfully removed his 5-year-old child from Lithuania during an agreed contact session and took him back to the UK. Prior to this abduction, a series of contested proceedings related to the child's custody had already taken place in the Lithuanian courts. The father had applied to have the child returned...

Tenant Succeeds in Reducing Service Charges

26th March, 2024 By

A case recently decided by the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) serves as a reminder to tenants to check the terms of their leases and to monitor the service charges they are asked to pay. The tenant of a ground-floor flat sought a determination of liability to pay service charges under Section 27A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, in respect of the 2017-2022 service charge years. He challenged various charges, on grounds that they was no evidence that they had been incurred or that they had not reasonably been incurred. Although...

Risk Passing on Exchange of Contracts

20th March, 2024 By Arman Khosravi

Risk Passing on Exchange of Contracts   Between Exchange and Completion (where the property is freehold):- It is generally the responsibility of the seller to take care of the property and to keep it insured against damage. The buyer also has a responsibility to insure the property from the exchange of contracts because of “Risk Passing”. There is no obligation on the seller to maintain buildings insurance once exchange has taken place.  It is therefore very important that buildings insurance for the property is in place before you proceed to exchange...

Court of Appeal Overturns Will Dispute Ruling

20th March, 2024 By

Unfortunately, will disputes can sometimes be drawn out long after the passing of the person who bequeathed their assets. This was so in a contentious probate battle which progressed to the Court of Appeal after a High Court judgment was challenged. The crux of the matter was a 2015 will made by a woman prior to her death at the age of 85. In that will, the woman bequeathed her home – her largest asset – to her only daughter. The daughter and the woman's three sons were to share...