Aldwych Legal acted for James Carter Construction Limited, the main contractor on a commercial development in Manchester, in an arbitration arising from significant programme overruns caused by several subcontractors. The dispute concerned construction contract liability, delay and defect remediation under English construction law and contractual arbitration provisions.
What Happened
The project, procured under a JCT-style main contract, ran materially behind schedule. Subcontractors including Thames Mechanical Ltd and Northside Roofing Services failed to meet critical milestones, and other trades delivered work that required re‑works.
Delays triggered liquidated damages and threatened the contractor’s commitments to funders and tenants in Leeds and Bristol. Responsibility for delay and the correct sequencing of remedial works was disputed, producing concurrent claims across multiple subcontract packages.
Legal Issues
- Whether individual subcontractors breached express obligations under their subcontracts and the main contract (including time, quality and sequencing obligations).
- Apportionment of responsibility for delay and disruption, causation of loss and any contributory failures by the contractor.
- Recovery of delay damages (including liquidated damages), defect rectification costs and associated professional fees.
- Procedural question of arbitration as the agreed dispute resolution mechanism under the subcontract terms and interaction with pre‑action correspondence under the Civil Procedure Rules.
- Applicability of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 principles to payment and adjudication steps where relevant.
Our Approach
We instructed delay analysts and technical experts to prepare a forensic programme analysis, mapping each subcontractor’s entitlements and contributions to the overall delay. Expert reports set out critical path effects and remedial scope.
Our team prepared focused arbitration pleadings, witness statements and a schedule of losses. We conducted robust pre‑action correspondence in line with CPR principles where appropriate and pursued parallel settlement talks to narrow issues and control costs.
Outcome
The arbitral tribunal found multiple subcontractors liable for breaches causing delay and for defective workmanship. The tribunal awarded damages for delay, rectification costs and professional fees, and allocated responsibility across the implicated packages.
Several subcontractors negotiated revised performance programmes and settlement terms to avoid further enforcement, preserving the contractor’s commercial relationships and significantly reducing prospective exposure to main‑contract penalties.
Result / Why It Matters
This matter demonstrates Aldwych Legal’s practical experience in construction arbitration and multi‑party disputes, securing enforceable awards and pragmatic settlements that protect contractors’ commercial positions across complex supply chains.
