Hurley Palmer Flatt Ltd v Barclays Bank plc

Adjudication – Jurisdiction. By a deed of appointment, the claimant company agreed to provide mechanical and electrical engineering design services for the design and construction of a new data centre for Barclays plc. A dispute arose. The defendant, an affiliate of Barclays plc, as a third party, referred to adjudication a dispute regarding defects in the chilled water system. The claimant sought declarations that the defendant was not entitled to commence adjudication proceedings and that the adjudicator lacked jurisdiction. The Technology and Construction Court held that the defendant third party had not been given a right to enforce the terms of the deed of appointment by adjudication. Accordingly, it was not entitled to commence adjudication proceedings against the claimant and that the adjudicator did not have jurisdiction to determine the claim.