Gennaro Maurizio Picardi (t/a Picardi Architects) v Paolo Cuniberti & Aud Cuniberti
Case reference:
[2002] EWHC 2923 (TCC)
Thursday, 19 December 2002
Key terms: Architect fees - private dwelling house - RIBA Conditions - CIC adjudication Rules - section 106 - Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 - regulation 5
Picardi, a firm of architects made a successful claim for fees in an adjudication following the refurbishment of a private dwelling house in London. However Cuniberti, a lay client refused to pay.
Picardi claimed that the contract between the parties incorporated the RIBA Conditions and the CIC model adjudication procedure. HHJ Toulmin QC found that no such agreement was made. Therefore, the Adjudication was invalid.
The case becomes particularly interesting because the Judge also considered whether Picardi should have drawn the Cunibertis' attention to specific clauses of the RIBA conditions as required under the RIBA Notes of Guidance. He commented that, (particularly because Parliament, by virtue of Section 106 of the HGCRA had specifically excluded private dwelling houses from the adjudication legislation) a provision including adjudication as part of a contract, was an unusual provision which therefore ought, in accordance with regulation 5 of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999, to be brought to the specific attention of a lay party if it is later to be validly invoked. In reaching this conclusion, the Judge had especial regard to adjudication being a compulsory procedure under which costs (which might well be irrecoverable) would be incurred which was such as to cause a potential imbalance in the rights of the parties.
Picardi claimed that the contract between the parties incorporated the RIBA Conditions and the CIC model adjudication procedure. HHJ Toulmin QC found that no such agreement was made. Therefore, the Adjudication was invalid.
The case becomes particularly interesting because the Judge also considered whether Picardi should have drawn the Cunibertis' attention to specific clauses of the RIBA conditions as required under the RIBA Notes of Guidance. He commented that, (particularly because Parliament, by virtue of Section 106 of the HGCRA had specifically excluded private dwelling houses from the adjudication legislation) a provision including adjudication as part of a contract, was an unusual provision which therefore ought, in accordance with regulation 5 of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999, to be brought to the specific attention of a lay party if it is later to be validly invoked. In reaching this conclusion, the Judge had especial regard to adjudication being a compulsory procedure under which costs (which might well be irrecoverable) would be incurred which was such as to cause a potential imbalance in the rights of the parties.