Edinburgh sheriff court’s recent decision in Pentland Investments Ltd vs Aitken Turnbull Architects Ltd  confirmed that paragraph 8(2) of the Scheme for Construction Contracts bars adjudicators from simultaneously adjudicating on disputes relating to the same project but under different contracts, without the consent of all parties involved. Part of the court’s reasoning for the prohibition was to ensure each adjudication is done “properly”. 

Not only do the JCT and SBCC suites of contracts utilise the adjudication procedure in the scheme, but the scheme also steps into a construction contract to the extent that it does not adequately provide for adjudication. This decision is therefore anticipated to have wide-reaching effects. 

What happened? 

Pentland, the owner of Edinburgh boutique hotel the Raeburn, employed a professional team for renovation works at the hotel; this included Aitken as architect. After completion of the works, Pentland discovered defects. It was unable to resolve matters so raised adjudication proceedings against Aitken and, separately, the consultant engineer. 

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