Citation: [2020] EWHC 2308 (TCC)
James Frampton acted for DR Jones Yeovil Limited, a contractor, which succeeded on its claims for unpaid retention under two contracts for the construction of 11 assisted living units and defeated the counterclaim for over £240,000 for alleged defects raised by the defendant employer in full. The 7-day trial in the Bristol TCC was one of the first TCC trials to be heard remotely and was conducted entirely by Zoom (with one of the defendant’s witnesses who telephoned another witness during a break in his evidence while still audible on Zoom providing a cautionary tale for parties and their representatives getting used to remote trials).
The judgment includes a detailed discussion and analysis of interesting points of law in respect of claims for retention under a JCT contract where a Certificate of Making Good has not been issued and the application (or not as the Judge found) of the principle of transferred loss, or the Albazero exception, where despite the employer not owning the development the contracts excluded the application of the Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 and did not adopt the collateral warranties / purchaser and tenant rights available in the JCT standard form.
