Cases - Nottingham Community Housing Association Ltd v Powerminster Ltd

Record details

Name
Nottingham Community Housing Association Ltd v Powerminster Ltd
Date
[2000]
Citation
AII ER (D) 1045
Legislation
Keywords
Construction contracts - adjudication - construction operations - whether a contract for the service and maintenance of gas appliances was a construction operation - whether the claimant was entitled to a declaration that the contract was not a contract for construction operations - Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, section 105(1)
Summary

The parties contracted for Powerminster to service and maintain the gas appliances in Nottingham's properties. Disputes arose as to payment, which Powerminster sought to refer to adjudication under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. Nottingham argued that the contract was not a contract for construction operations and sought a declaration to this effect. The principal argument related to the interpretation of section 105(1)(a) and (c) of the Act, which provides:

'105. - (1) In this Part "construction operations" means, subject as follows, operations of any of the following descriptions-

(a) construction, alteration, repair, maintenance, extension, demolition or dismantling of buildings, or structures forming, or to form, part of the land (whether permanent or not); ...

(c) installation in any building or structure of fittings forming part of the land, including (without prejudice to the foregoing) systems of heating, lighting, air-conditioning, ventilation, power supply, drainage, sanitation, water supply or fire protection, or security or communications systems ...'

Nottingham sought to draw a distinction between paragraphs (a) and (c), arguing that the limitation in paragraph (c) to installation displayed an intention on the part of the drafters to exclude repair and maintenance of the listed systems from the terms of paragraph (a).

The court disagreed with Nottingham, finding that the repair and maintenance of gas appliances was clearly within the scope of paragraph (a) and declined to depart from what it considered to be a clear and true meaning because of the presence of paragraph (c).