Northern Ireland Housing Executive v Healthy Buildings (Ireland) Limited
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Deeny J |
| Judgment Date | 2017 |
| Neutral Citation | [2017] NIQB 43 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 27 April 2017 |
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Neutral Citation: [2017] NIQB 43 Ref:
DEE10272
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
27/04/2017
(subject to editorial corrections)*
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
_________
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION (COMMERCIAL)
________
2014 No. 25250
BETWEEN:
NORTHERN IRELAND HOUSING EXECUTIVE
Plaintiff;
-and-
HEALTHY BUILDINGS (IRELAND) LIMITED
Defendant.
________
DEENY J
[1] This judgment is concerned with the proper interpretation of New
Engineering Contract 3 (“NEC3”), Professional Services Contract, in the context of
two such contracts entered into by the parties to this action. They disagree as to the
proper interpretation of the contracts but did agree on two preliminary issues for the
court to adjudicate on in advance of a substantive trial of the action.
[2] Mrs Monye Anyadike-Danes QC appeared with Mr Andrew Singer for the
plaintiff. Mr Michael Humphreys QC appeared with Mr Wayne Aitchison for the
defendant. The court has had the assistance of helpful written and oral arguments
from counsel. These have all been taken into consideration even if not expressly
adverted to in this judgment.
Factual background
[3] The plaintiff is a substantial landlord of publicly owned housing in Northern
Ireland. The defendant provides consultancy services which include the assessment
of the presence of and risks of asbestos in buildings. In accordance with good
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practice and to their credit the parties agreed the facts on which the court was to
determine the two preliminary issues. The facts agreed are as follows.
“1. The plaintiff (‘the employer’) awarded the
defendant (‘the consultant’) two Asbestos Surveying
Services Contracts in December 2012 for its Belfast
and North East areas. The Contracts were in the form
of the NEC3 Professional Services Contract (June
2005) as amended.
2. An instruction changing the scope of the works
was communicated by the employer to the consultant
at a meeting on 10 January 2013. The employer did
not notify this instruction as a compensation event
under the terms of the Contract but ought to have
done so.
3. In accordance with Clause 61.1 of the contract,
the employer ought to have instructed the consultant
to submit a quotation on 10 January 2013 in relation to
the assessment of the effects of that compensation
event on the contracts for Belfast and North East.
4. The consultant notified that instruction as a
compensation event to the employer on 21 May 2013.
5. Quotations were sought by the employer on 19
August 2013 (Belfast) and 22 October 2013 (North
East) and provided by the consultant on 29 August
2013 (Belfast) and 31 October 2013 (North East). In
accordance with Clause 63 those quotations were to
assess the effects of the compensation event in each
contract.
6. Clause 62.3 of the contract entitles the
employer to reject a consultant’s quotations and
Clause 64.1 permits the employer to make its own
assessment.
7. The employer rejected the consultant’s
quotations and assessed the effect of the
compensation event as being zero on 14 November
2013 (Belfast) and 21 November 2013 (North East).
8. The dispute as to the effect of the
compensation event was referred to Adjudication and
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6 firm's commentaries
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Summary of principles from recent NEC cases
...to correct a false assumption obviously being made by the other. Northern Ireland Housing Executive v Healthy Buildings (Ireland) Ltd [2017] NIQB 43 NEC3 Professional Services Contract The assessment of the effect of the compensation event should be calculated by reference to the actual cos......
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"Common Sense Prevails": Northern Ireland Housing Executive v. Healthy Buildings (Ireland) Limited [2017] NIQB 43
...came before the Northern Irish High Court in the case of Northern Ireland Housing Executive v. Healthy Buildings (Ireland) Limited [2017] NIQB 43. This dispute arose from two NEC3 Professional Services Contracts where the consultant’s job was to carry out asbestos surveys on two properties ......
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The Meaning Of 'Mutual Trust And Cooperation' In NEC
...estopped from relying on the arbitration agreement in clause 93. In Northern Ireland Housing Executive v Healthy Buildings (Ireland) Ltd [2017] NIQB 43, Deeny J went further than Coulson J in his interpretation of clause 10.1. This case involved the question of whether, when assessing compe......
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Projects & Construction Law Update - June 2017
...was decided at the end of February, we now have the case of Northern Ireland Housing Executive v Healthy Buildings (Ireland) Limited [2017] NIQB 43. Northern Ireland Housing Executive (the "Employer") engaged Healthy Buildings (the "Consultant") under an NEC3 Professional Services Contract ......
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