International Construction Law Review
FORTY YEARS ON FROM 1983: A REVIEW OF HOW MUCH HAS CHANGED – EDGAR FAY, “THE RESOLUTION OF CONSTRUCTION DISPUTES IN ENGLAND AND WALES”
BY LORD JUSTICE FRASER
“In England and Wales the parties to a construction dispute who are unable to settle their differences amicably in principle (as in many other countries) have the options of litigation or arbitration. Litigation in such disputes and where the amount claimed is over £5,000 falls within the jurisdiction of the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice. The seat of this court is at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, but the court also sits in the major provincial cities. Cases of £5,000 or less are the province of the county courts; there small construction claims are dealt with in a fashion similar to that described below but with rather less elaboration and with some differences of procedure. Claims for £5,000 or less may be brought in the High Court but there are costs sanctions rendering this an expensive luxury.”1
One need not read much further than the first paragraph of Edgar Fay’s article above to realise that, in the time since it appeared in Volume 1 of The International Construction Law Review, pretty much everything has changed so far as the determination of construction disputes in England and Wales is concerned. This commentary presents some excerpts from Fay’s original article intertwined with notable developments in construction dispute resolution over the years since its publication, bringing the reader up to date and offering a comparative perspective on the change that
has occurred.
First, location. The Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) is a fine building, opened in 1882 by Queen Victoria, having taken such a time to build that the architect, George Edmund Street, died before it was finished. Few modern developers would quibble at the cost, with the site being purchased for £1.4 million and the construction cost amounting to about £1 million. However, its suitability for trying construction disputes was recognised shortly after the article, and Official Referees’ Business moved from the Official Referee’s corridor to St Dunstan’s House on Fetter Lane, as did the Commercial Court.
Then again, in 2011, both these specialist lists moved together with the Chancery Division to the splendid Rolls Building, designed by Woods Bagot
Pt 4] Forty Years on From 1983
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