Karl Construction (Scotland) Ltd v Sweeney Civil Engineering (Scotland) Ltd

Case reference: 
[2000] ScotCS 330
Thursday, 21 December 2000

Key terms: 
Jurisdiction – Ultra vires

As part of her decision, the Adjudicator held the contractual provisions for payment were not adequate and the Scheme applied. Sweeney resisted enforcement on the basis that the Adjudicator did not have jurisdiction to reach this conclusion. The Judge considered what dispute had been referred to adjudication. It was a dispute as to the time for payment in respect of the outstanding works as set out in Sweeney’s application. It was difficult to say whether the question of whether the Scheme applied did not become part of the referred dispute. As the Adjudicator was entitled to conclude that the payment provisions in the subcontract had been inadequate, it was open to her to fall back on the Scheme to make a finding that Sweeney was entitled to the money.

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