Just How Detailed Do Pre Action Protocol Letters Need To Be?

As you will almost certainly know, a revised Pre Action Protocol for Engineering and Construction Disputes ("the Protocol") came into effect on 6 April 2007.¹ Already this year, there has been one case, Charles Church Developments Ltd v Stent Foundations Ltd & Peter Dann Ltd, [2007] EWHC 855 (TCC), before the courts, where Mr Justice Ramsey, who has recently taken over as the head judge at the Technology & Construction Court had to consider the consequences of failing to comply with the Protocol.²

A similar question recently came before Mr Justice Jackson in the case of Cundall Johnson and Partners LLP v Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust [2007] EWHC 2178 (TCC).

In 2000, Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust ("the Trust") set out to redevelop Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone. Cundall Johnston and Partners LLP ("CJP") provided engineering services to the Trust in respect of two of the preliminary projects. The first project was for enabling works and the second