Pay First, Ask Questions Later: Court of Appeal Ruling on “Smash and Grab” Adjudications in S&T (UK) Limited vs. Grove Developments Limited
By Kevin Greene and Saya Lee
In an eagerly awaited judgment, the Court of Appeal upheld the TCC’s judgment in Grove Developments Limited v S&T (UK) Limited, confirming that the employer may adjudicate to establish the “true value of the sum due” in a second adjudication.
Background
In March 2015, Grove Developments Limited (“Grove”) engaged S&T (UK) Limited (“S&T”) to design and build a new hotel at Heathrow Airport under the JCT Design and Build Contract 2011 with amendments, for a contract value of £26.4m. Following a delay of over 5 months, practical completion was achieved in March 2017. The parties subsequently conducted an adjudication to decide if Grove’s pay less notice dated 18 April 2017 was invalid on the basis that it was served late.The adjudicator decided, in S&T’s favour, that the pay less notice was invalid.
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