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ARTICLE · 21 MAY 2025

Legal Developments In Construction Law: May 2025

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A contractor obtained an adjudication award against an assignee of its employer, which had gone into administration. But was that assignee the correct respondent in the adjudication...

United KingdomReal Estate and Construction
Richard Craven
Richard Craven
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1. Absence of novation sinks adjudication award against assignee

A contractor obtained an adjudication award against an assignee of its employer, which had gone into administration. But was that assignee the correct respondent in the adjudication? The assignment transferred the benefit of the contract to the assignee but had it also, in some way, transferred the burden so that the assignee was liable?

Ruling that it had not, and that the adjudicator consequently had no jurisdiction, the court provided a clear reminder of the critical difference between assignment and novation. It is trite law, said the court, that only rights and benefits, and not burdens, obligations and liabilities under a contract may be transferred by an assignment. Further, the contractual relationship under the original contract is not affected by the assignment, beyond the transfer of such rights to the assignee. The assignee does not become a party to any contract which contains or

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