Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Adjudication rights in unincorporated JVs: TCC refuses enforcement; single JV member not a ‘Party’ under NEC sub-contract—Darchem Engineering v Bouygues (England and Wales)

Published on: 11 February 2026

Published by a LexisNexis Construction expert

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Article summary

Darchem Engineering Limited v Bouygues Travaux Publics and another [2026] EWHC 220 (TCC) What was the background?

Darchem Engineering Limited (Darchem) sought summary judgment to give effect to an adjudicator’s determination, under which it had been granted payment of £23,944,012. The contract in question was a sub-contract for substantial works at Hinkley Point C, entered into between two unincorporated joint ventures (JVs). Those JVs were BYLOR (Bouygues Travaux Publics and Laing O’Rourke Delivery Limited) as the contractor, and EDEL (Darchem and Efinor Limited, later Framatome Limited) as the sub-contractor. The sub-contract appeared to follow an NEC form, with the dispute resolution provisions set out in Option W. Clause 2.2 within Option W stated that 'any Party' may, at any time, refer a dispute to adjudication. The adjudicator’s decision stemmed from one of three adjudications that Darchem had commenced in its own name. On each occasion, Darchem maintained that it was 'acting jointly and severally as the Subcontractor'. In every proceeding, BYLOR disputed the adjudicator’s jurisdiction, contending that Darchem, being only one constituent member of the sub-contractor JV, was not itself a 'Party' to the sub-contract, and therefore had no entitlement to adjudicate...

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