By a written contract dated 3 January 2013 (“Agreement”), Spicers engaged Savoye to design, supply, supervise and commission a new conveyor system at an existing factory in the West Midlands. The conveyors were attached to the ground floor concrete slab by numerous bolts but the other substantial and/or important pieces of equipment were not all mechanically attached to the floor. The installation was completed towards the end of 2013. Disputes arose regarding the quality and performance of the installation and payment to Savoye.

On 30 June 2014, Savoye commenced adjudication proceedings under clause 21.2 of the Agreement which provided that if settlement could not be reached and “if the Agreement is a “construction contract” as defined in [s.104 HGCRA] either party may refer any dispute or difference arising in relation to any matter under the Contract for adjudication”. This meant that if the Agreement was not a “construction contract” then it was subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts under cl 22.1.

Spicers challenged the Adjudicator’s jurisdiction contending that Savoye’s works did not constitute “construction operations” under s.105 of the HGCRA. The Adjudicator gave a non-binding opinion that he had jurisdiction and issued his decision on 11 August 2014 (“Decision”) deciding that Spicers were to pay Savoye approximately £828,000 plus VAT, interest and the adjudicator’s fee.

Spicers failed to pay and Savoye commenced enforcement proceedings on 5 September 2014 together with an application for summary enforcement. The Judge refused Savoye’s application on the basis that there were triable factual issues and an expedited trial took place.

The Judge enforced the Decision, deciding that the conveyor system was sufficiently attached to the floors so as to give rise to a proper conclusion that it was “forming, or to form, part of the land” for the purposes of s.105 of the HGCRA. Therefore, s.105(1) was engaged in that the installation of the conveyor system represented “construction operations”.