Coventry & Warwickshire Development Partnership LLP v Avison Young (UK) Ltd

Avison resisted an application for summary enforcement of an adjudicator’s decision which awarded just under £9 million. Amongst the arguments put forward by Avison were that the adjudicator had failed to give adequate reasons for the decision and that, in a material breach of natural justice, the adjudicator had taken account of documents produced by Gardiner & Theobald (the “G&T Assessment”) without giving the parties an opportunity to address them.

Eyre J noted that a failure by an adjudicator to give adequate reasons for his or her decision can indicate that the adjudicator failed to decide the dispute which had been referred to them (and so had made a decision outside the adjudicator’s jurisdiction). It can also be an indication that the adjudicator failed to comply with the rules of natural justice.