D MCLAUGHLIN & SONS LTD v EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL

[2021] CSOH 122, Outer House, Court of Session, Lord Clark, 7 December 2021

Effect of final certificate – Whether conclusive – Validity of interim payment notice – Repayment of interest

The pursuer was employed by the defender to construct an extension to a school. The pursuer claimed it was entitled to be paid a sum in excess of that which had been certified in the Final Certificate. The dispute between the parties was referred to adjudication in which the adjudicator decided that the pursuer was entitled to be paid the sum which it claimed. The defender then sought to resist enforcement of the decision of the adjudicator but that attempt was rejected by Lord Clark in earlier proceedings between the parties. The present litigation concerned the defender’s counterclaim which had not been decided by Lord Clark in the earlier proceedings between the parties. There were three issues in dispute between the parties.