Housebuilder Berkeley Homes and Irish contractor John Sisk & Son are potentially heading for a multi-million-pound High Court dispute following a preliminary ruling earlier this month.
According to the ruling, handed down by High Court judge Neil Moody KC on 24 August, the dispute relates to Berkeley’s planned TwelveTrees Park development near West Ham station, E16.
The dispute is unusual because, even though there has already been a preliminary ruling, neither side has issued a formal claim.
According to the ruling, Berkeley plans to build three bridges over the Jubilee Line and Docklands Light Railway as part of the development. It also intends to build a new station entrance.
Berkeley and Sisk have been working on the design since 2018, although the extent of Sisk’s involvement is contested. According to the ruling, Sisk and Berkeley had signed contracts with engineers and architects for the project but they have since fallen into dispute over the plans.
“It appears there are errors and omissions in the tender design,” the judge said in his ruling.
“I was told that Sisk seeks extensions of time and additional costs on the footing that Berkeley is liable for those errors under the contract. Berkeley denies liability and argues that Sisk is liable because it assumed responsibility for the tender design.
“It appears that Sisk’s claims have not yet been formally articulated or quantified. I was told that the likely value of the dispute is a ‘high seven-figure sum’”.
Berkeley asked the judge to rule that he didn’t need a full hearing because liability was clearly set out in the contracts. However, the judge refused and said both parties should now consider how they planned to proceed.
Berkeley Homes (South East London) Ltd and another v John Sisk and Son Ltd
TCC (Neil Moody KC) 24 August 2023
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