Enforcing Adjudicators´ Decisions Against Householders – Update

By Sam Bailey, Associate in the UK Construction & Engineering Group at Pinsent Masons

Judge Toulmin's landmark decision in the case of Picardi v Cuniberti that an adjudicator's decision was unenforceable as the adjudication clause in a standard form contract fell foul of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (the Regulations) was not followed in Lovell Projects Limited v Legg and Carver and Westminster Building Company Limited v Beckingham. However, the Court of Appeal has recently considered this issue again in Bryen & Langley Limited v Boston. The Court of Appeal has found that the key factor is whether it can be said that the contract term in question has been imposed on the consumer or not. In cases where the consumer himself has proffered the standard form contract, he will not subsequently be able to argue the terms in question have been imposed on him and will therefore not be able to rely on the Regulations to argue that an adjudicator's decision against