Blackwall Tunnel refurb row adjourned until April

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A £20 million legal wrangle over the disastrous refurbishment of part of the Blackwall Tunnel in east London has been pushed back until the end of next April to give the two contractors involved more time to prepare their cases.

The hearing between civil engineering firm Fitzpatrick and its M&E subcontractor Tyco Fire & Integrated Solutions was due to begin in the High Court early next month.

But following an application by Fitzpatrick – which is suing Tyco over allegations of delay and defective work – judge Mr Justice Coulson has adjourned it until 21 April, next year.

He delivered his ruling with caution, however, stating the application for adjournment had been "hotly contested" by Tyco, which has submitted a counterclaim for £6 million.

Mr Justice Coulson said an adjournment should only be used as "an order of last resort". He added: "This is a complex case which will involve a large amount of consideration of the detail.

"Fitzpatrick is not ready for a trial and Tyco is not ready, in my judgment, for the sort of detailed trial that would have to take place."

In handing down his ruling, Mr Justice Coulson laid a greater share of the blame for delays in the trial on Fitzpatrick.

He noted that Tyco had introduced new allegations late in the process which would "require extensive further work on the part of Fitzpatrick".

But, he added: "That does not exonerate Fitzpatrick from the position it is in, namely that it needs an adjournment of its own claim because of delays in the preparation of certain key parts of its evidence."

He ordered the contractor to pay 60 per cent of Tyco's costs relating to the adjournment after representatives for the Cambridge-based subcontractor requested the trial still go ahead this year.

Fitzpatrick, which is owned by Dutch contractor Volker-Wessels, initially filed the writ against Tyco in July 2007 to recover losses after the tunnel revamp ran more than three years behind schedule.

The contract began in March 2002 as a two-year job for Transport for London to revamp the southbound section of the tunnel. The deal was worth £15.4 million.

In its writ to the Technology and Construction Court, Fitzpatrick said: "Tyco fell into significant delay virtually from the outset of the subcontract works."

Its claims included £7.7 million for delay losses and £9 million for incomplete and defective work.

JUDGE WARNS ABOUT 'HUNDREDS OF BUNDLES'

High Court judge Mr Justice Coulson has warned Fitzpatrick and Tyco not go overboard on the paperwork in their dispute.

He told the parties: "I know that this is going to be a complex trial. Mr Livesey QC [for Fitzpatrick] threatened that there would be 'literally hundreds of bundles', but I sincerely hope that that is not the case because, even in a claim worth £20 million, a trial involving hundreds of bundles is unlikely to be justified."

The multi-million-pound, four-year legal battle between Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge over the troubled Wembley Stadium involved some 550 ring files, which added up to a £1 million photocopying bill.