Cases - Plymouth and South West Co-operative Society v Architecture Structure & Management Ltd

Record details

Name

Plymouth and South West Co-operative Society v Architecture Structure & Management Ltd

Date

[2006]

Citation

EWHC 5 (TCC)

Legislation

Supreme Court Act 1981

Keywords

Tendering and procurement - contract administration

Summary

The court held that the two-stage tendering procedure adopted for the re-development of the Co-op's flagship store in Plymouth was inappropriate for the project. The court noted the content of the NJCC Code of Procedure for Two Stage Selective Tendering (1994 edition) to the effect that

'... the purpose of the two-stage tendering procedure is to accelerate the date when a project can be started on site where a delay in completing the design drawings is envisaged, particularly where a potential contractor can assist in the completion of the design stage and in keeping costs down by advising on ways that the project can be implemented that will save time and money.'

The disadvantage in the context of this project was that most of the decision-making and programming would have to be completed well before the second stage. The court was critical of the fact that 'there was no considered discussion' about the method of procurement, given the client's need for strict budgetary control. The high proportion of provisional sum work in the contract would virtually ensure that the sums payable to the contractor would increase. The defendant architects were held to have been negligent and in breach of their duty to their clients in not discussing alternative strategies, whereby different phasing of the construction could have been coupled with a different procurement method.