The opening paragraph in this construction case ruling requires you to sit up and pay attention. The Court of Appeal judge said: “There was a time, 30 or 40 years ago, when construction litigation was a byword for expense and delay, and where the costs were often out of all proportion to the sums at stake. Subsequently, thanks in part to compulsory construction adjudication, which has reduced the number of construction cases that go through to a final trial, and the careful case management by TTC [Technology and Construction Court] judges of those cases which do, construction litigation has become a much more efficient and cost-effective method of dispute resolution. But occasionally, circumstances conspire to create a construction case with echoes of the bad old days. Unfortunately, this is one such case.”

Read more …