meaning of the Act and therefore no immediate payment obligation. As such a TVA may well
not, on the facts, be found to be premature and reliance upon it might well be permitted.
In dismissing the summary judgment application the learned Judge concluded thus:
“Overall, in my view, the outcome in this case, whilst not closing the door on commencing a
TVA prior to the outcome of an SGA and later relying upon the outcome, ought to discourage
such a course in areas of spurious SGA dispute, but not deter those who have a sufficient level
of confidence that any dispute raised should result in a finding of no immediate payment obligation having b een established.”
Comment
As before (see Paice), the door is not completely closed on commencing a TVA whilst a SGA
is anticipated or in progress and before making payment. The question of jurisdiction in the
TVA may yet turn upon the outcome of the SGA. If it is later established that the payment
application in question is invalid, or an effective payment or pay less notice has been given,
there will have been no notified sum due and payable under s111 of the Act and therefore
nothing to prevent the TVA from having been properly commenced and continued. The
circumstances in which such a course proves worthwhile, may be limited. If the SGA decides
no notified sum, there will be no payment obligation and no need for a TVA. On the other hand,
if those questions arise and can be dealt with on enforcement (under part 7 or part 8), then the
TVA may well have utility.
Natural Justice – Amount of material and lack of time
Home Group Limited v MPS Housing Limited [2023] EWHC 1946 (TCC) Mr Justice
Constable judgment 25 July 2023
Home Group applied to enforce the decision of Mr Derek Pye awarding them some £6.5m in
what was the second of two adjudications between the parties. In the first adjudication it was
held that MPS had wrongfully determined a contract under which they had engaged Home
Group to perform property maintenance and repair work. The second adjudication concerned
assessment of the termination losses. MPS opposed enforcement on the grounds of breach of
the rules of natural justice, submitting that:
(i)
the sheer volume of material comprising the referral, coupled with
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