Use of experts by arbitrators

Price v Carter [2010] EWHC 1451 (TCC) is of interest at two levels. First, it sets out what is and what is not permissible when an arbitral tribunal appoints its own expert to resolve factual issues. Secondly, it raises once again the old question of exactly when the 28-day period within which an appeal is to be brought against an award (laid down by s70(3) of the Arbitration Act 1996, starts to run when there has been an application to the arbitrators under the slip rule in s57 of the 1996 Act.

Price v Carter: the facts

In November 2007 Mr and Mrs Price employed Mr Carter to demolish and rebuild a property in St Austell, Cornwall. The contract price was £226,000 and the completion date was May 2008. The contract was based on the JCT Minor Works Building Contract 2005 Edition, Revision 1 (2007), and contained the following dispute resolution provisions: