Bloor Construction (UK) Limited v Bowmer & Kirkland (London) Limited

Case reference: 
[2000] EWHC 183 (TCC)
Wednesday, 5 April 2000

Key terms: 
Slip Rule – Amendment to decision - Mistake

The Adjudicator sent out his decision by fax at 3.32pm on the date for his decision. Bowmer pointed out to the Adjudicator that he had failed to take into account payments on account made by Bowmer. The Adjudicator agreed that an error had been made and issued a corrected decision at 5.53pm on the same day.

Bloor argued that once the Adjudicator has communicated his decision to the parties, his duty was at an end and he had no power to correct any errors, except perhaps clerical errors.

The Judge held that, in the absence of a specific agreement by the parties to the contrary, a term is to be implied into the construction contract for the Adjudicator to have power to correct an error arising from an accidental slip, or omission or to clarify or remove any ambiguity in the decision which he has reached, provided this is done within a reasonable time and without prejudicing the other party. Furthermore, the Adjudicator must give the parties a reasonable opportunity to make any representations. As such, the corrected decision was a valid statement of the position as between the parties.

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Tel: +44 (0)20 7421 1986