Key Facts
- •Dispute over the construction of a JCT Design and Build Contract 2016 between My Contracts Limited (contractor) and 74 Hamilton Terrace Freehold Limited (developer).
- •The dispute centers on Article 12, concerning "Façade Costs" arising from the collapse of a building façade.
- •The developer served a notification of façade costs on July 3, 2023.
- •Article 12, paragraph 6, stipulates that such notification must be received "not later than four months after the date of this Contract" (March 2, 2023).
Legal Principles
Corresponding date rule for calculating time periods in contracts.
Lewison on The Interpretation of Contracts (8th Ed), paragraph 15.10
Contract interpretation – courts interpret, they do not rewrite contracts.
Wood v Capita Insurance [2017] A.C. 1173 at [10] to [14]
Construction of contractual time limits – consideration of whether excluding public holidays or requiring notification on a business day is implied.
Elements (Europe) Limited v FK Building Limited [2023] EWHC 726 (TCC) at [40] to [42]
Outcomes
The court granted the claimant's declaration.
The notification of façade costs was served on July 3, 2023, one day after the four-month deadline calculated using the corresponding date rule. The court rejected the defendant's arguments to extend the deadline to include public holidays or to require notification only on a business day, emphasizing that the court interprets, but does not rewrite contracts. The court noted that a notification received on July 2nd would have been valid.