LANCASHIRE SCHOOLS SPC PHASE 2 LTD (FORMERLY CATALYST EDUCATION (LANCASHIRE) PHASE 2 LTD) v (1) LENDLEASE CONSTRUCTION (EUROPE) LTD (FORMERLY BOVIS LEND LEASE LTD), (2) LENDLEASE CONSTRUCTION HOLDINGS (EUROPE) LTD (FORMERLY BOVIS LEND LEASE HOLDINGS LTD), (3) EQUANS BUILDINGS LTD (FORMERLY VITA LEND LEASE LTD) AND (4) LANCASHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

[2024] EWHC 37 (TCC), Technology and Construction Court, Mr Alexander Nissen KC sitting as a Judge of the High Court, 12 January 2024

Contractual requirement that all disputes must first be determined by adjudication – Whether to grant a stay when litigation commenced without first referring matter to adjudication

The fourth defendant submitted that the court should exercise its discretion by declining jurisdiction to entertain the claim brought by the claimant on the ground that the claim had been brought in breach of a contractual requirement that all disputes must first be determined by adjudication. The case arose out of a PFI project in respect of which there were claims of substantial defects in the works carried out. The claimant was the project company set up for the PFI project, the second defendant was the building contractor, the third defendant was the building contractor’s parent company and the fourth defendant was a children’s services authority with duties and powers to provide primary and secondary education.