Judge orders architects to pay construction firm £220,000 over Motherwell college ventilation faults


Architecture and engineering firm Building Design Partnership has been ordered by a judge to pay Miller Construction more than £220,000 as previously demanded by an adjudicator who had ruled that the designers were equally to blame for the installation of a faulty ventilation system in a new building at Motherwell College.
 
Miller Construction (UK) Ltd asked the court to enforce an adjudicator's award by granting summary decree ordaining  Building Design Partnership Ltd, to pay them £224,044.96, a 50 per cent shame of the cost to replace the defective ventilation system in a new facility at the college.
 
Miller were appointed as the design and build contractors for a new facility and associated infrastructure at the Motherwell College project, with Building Design lead consultants and architects.
 
The court heard that following completion, complaints were made about stuffy classrooms. It was discovered that the ventilation system did not comply with the contractual requirement and a new system was installed at a cost of £448,089.33, exclusive of VAT.
 
Miller sought to recover this sum from the defenders, who denied liability, and the adjudication ensued. However, the adjudicator ruled that because responsibility for the failure was shared equally between the parties, he awarded the Miller only 50 per cent of the replacement costs.

That decision was resisted on the basis that the adjudicator's reasoning was “inadequate and incoherent”, but Lord Malcolm in the Court of Session said that the adjudicator's reasoning was “clear and coherent”.
 
Miller argued that the failure of the ventilation system was a breach of contract on the part of Building Design.

While there was no finding that Building Design selected the particular type of ventilation unit used in the system, they were involved in a collaborative process concerning the design of a ventilation system, which failed to meet the required standard of performance.

Building Design argued that there had been a breach of natural justice, in that, without notice, the adjudicator determined the dispute on a basis which had not been raised by either party.

But Judge Lord Malcolm ruled that while it had not been proven that Building Design were professionally negligent, they carried "some notion of responsibility regarding the installation of the ventilation system”, which was “a frolic of his own” that made “no sense”.