Construction disputes are won on the record. Programmes, variations, instructions, site minutes, valuations and the correspondence that sits behind them decide who is right, and they usually decide it long before anyone reaches a courtroom.
When a project goes wrong, most people do not want a fight. They want the works finished, the money resolved and the position understood. What they need from a lawyer is method, not noise.
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Where These Disputes Come From
Construction disputes rarely have a single cause. By the time anyone takes advice, the position is usually a combination of several of the following.
- Delay. The programme has slipped and the parties disagree about who caused it and what it is worth.
- Variations and instructions. Work was carried out on the strength of something said on site, and the paperwork does not reflect it.
- Defects. Something has failed, and the argument is whether it was design, workmanship, materials or maintenance.
- Payment and valuation. Applications, certificates and retention have drifted apart from what was actually done.
- Insolvency in the chain. A contractor or sub-contractor has failed, leaving the works incomplete and the security arrangements untested.
Each of these turns on documents that already exist. The work is establishing what those documents actually show before positions harden.
Our Approach
Establish the Record First
We start with the contract and the project file. That means the executed agreement and its amendments, the programme and any revisions to it, instructions and variation orders, site minutes and day sheets, applications and certificates, and the correspondence around each disputed event.
This is unglamorous work and it is where these cases are won. A party that can demonstrate what happened, in sequence, with the documents to support it, is in a far better position than one arguing from recollection. It is also the fastest route to an honest view of your own weaknesses, which matters just as much.
Get an Independent Technical View Early
Construction disputes are decided on technical questions. Whether a delay was on the critical path, whether a design was buildable, whether a failure was workmanship or specification, and what it will cost to put right.
We involve the right expert early rather than late. An expert brought in at the outset can shape what evidence is preserved and tell you candidly whether your case stands up. An expert brought in shortly before trial can only comment on what remains.
Use Interim Relief Where It Is Genuinely Needed
Where there is a real risk that assets, plant or materials will disappear, or that records will not survive, the Royal Court of Jersey can grant interim relief. This includes freezing relief and, in the customary law form, an arrêt entre mains served on a party holding assets. Injunctive relief can also be sought in relation to a site, plant and materials.
These are serious applications with serious obligations attached, including a duty of full and frank disclosure. We use them where they are needed and advise against them where they are not.
Resolve It, and Be Ready if It Does Not Resolve
Most construction disputes settle. They settle on better terms when the record has been assembled, the technical position is understood and the other side can see that the case would be run properly if it had to be.
Jersey has no statutory adjudication scheme, so the routes available are those the contract provides, whether arbitration or expert determination, mediation, or proceedings in the Royal Court. Mediation works well in construction disputes precisely because the issues are technical and quantifiable. We would rather resolve a matter at mediation with the evidence assembled than run it to trial to prove a point.
Why Clients Instruct Sinels
We are a litigation practice. Construction and engineering disputes sit alongside the commercial, property and insolvency work we have done in Jersey for over thirty years, and they draw on the same disciplines: reconstructing a documentary record, working with technical experts, and taking a matter to the Royal Court when it needs to go there.
We operate completely free of institutional conflicts of interest. We hold no standing retainers with the contractors, insurers, funders or public bodies who most often sit on the other side of these disputes, which means we are free to act against them.
We will also tell you at the outset if we think a claim does not work, or if the cost of proving it exceeds what it is worth. That is a more useful answer than an optimistic one.
Speak to Our Construction Disputes Team
Or Call Us: +44 (0)1534 620500
Frequently Asked Questions About Construction & Infrastructure Disputes
How are JCT or FIDIC contract disputes handled under Jersey law?
Standard international forms such as JCT and FIDIC are commonly used on Jersey developments, but they are interpreted under Jersey contract law rather than English law. Jersey applies the principle la convention fait la loi des parties, meaning the agreement made between the parties governs the position.
Disputes are litigated in the Samedi Division of the Royal Court, where English authority is persuasive but not binding. The practical consequence is that the drafting of the contract, and what the parties actually did under it, carry considerable weight.
Does Jersey have statutory adjudication like the UK?
No. Jersey has no equivalent to the UK’s Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, so there is no automatic right to refer a construction dispute to adjudication.
The routes available are those set out in the contract itself, typically arbitration or expert determination, together with mediation and proceedings in the Royal Court. This makes the dispute resolution provisions in the contract considerably more important in Jersey than they are elsewhere, and worth reading carefully before a dispute arises.
What can be done immediately if a contractor or partner defaults?
The first step is preserving the position. That means securing the project records, documenting the state of the works, and establishing what security exists in the form of parent company guarantees, performance bonds or retention.
Where there is a genuine risk of dissipation, the Royal Court can grant interim relief, including freezing orders and injunctions relating to the site, plant and materials. Whether such an application is appropriate depends entirely on the evidence available at the time.
How long do I have to bring a construction claim in Jersey?
Jersey’s ordinary prescription period is three years, which is shorter than the position in England and Wales. When time starts to run can itself be a contested question, particularly with latent defects that only become apparent years after completion.
If you think you may have a claim, establish where you stand on prescription before doing anything else.
