Statutory Right To Adjudicate – Where Does England End?

The statutory right to refer construction disputes to adjudication is contingent upon there being a "construction contract" for "construction operations", as defined in the Construction Act.

One element of these requirements is that the construction operations must be carried out in England, Wales or Scotland.

Last week's judgment from the Technology & Construction Court (TCC) in Van Elle Ltd v Keynvor Morlift Ltd had to grapple with the rather intriguing question of "where England ends". The project related to the replacement of berthing and mooring piles at a pontoon in Fowey Harbour, used by the RNLI to moor its lifeboat.

The defendant argued that since the works were carried out below the River Fowey's low water line, they were not construction operations in England. Their position was that the project therefore fell outside the scope of the Act, so there was no statutory right to adjudicate. They therefore argued that the adjudicator did not have any