Edinburgh Royal Joint Venture was set up to design and construct a new royal infirmary and medical school. Zenith Contract Interiors Limited was a sub-contractor to the Defenders for plasterboard partitioning. A provisional liquidator was appointed to Zenith and the sub-contract works were novated from Zenith to Deko Scotland Limited. Pursuant to the novation agreement Deko assumed all of the responsibilities and liabilities of Zenith under the sub-contract.

A dispute arose and an Adjudicator issued a decision on 4th September 2002. The adjudication was governed by the ORSA Adjudication Rules 1998 version 1.2, which was subject to a large number of amendments. The only point in issue was the Adjudicator's power to make an award in respect of costs and expenses of the adjudication. One of the amendments introduced new clause 21A which provide that "the Adjudicator may require any Party to pay or make a contribution to, the legal costs of another Party arising in the adjudication …". The Adjudicator ordered the Joint Venture to pay half of Deko's costs including Deko's legal costs. Deko claimed costs in the following categories:

• Claims Consultant;
• Surveyor;
• Solicitors;
• Internal costs

Lord Drummond Young held that the power conferred on the Adjudicator in rule 21A was confined to "legal costs". There were analogous to judicial expenses and were therefore liable to taxation. The same principles as the expenses of litigation (and adjudication) applied and so that part of the Adjudicator's award would not be enforced until costs had been taxed by the Adjudicator of Court or were agreed. The pursuer's claim for the expenses of the adjudication was therefore irrelevant to the present proceedings. At paragraph 12 he stated that the remaining parts of the Adjudicator's decision may be enforced.