Why this fire safety ruling matters for insolvent contractors
Iain Hoey
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Fire safety orders granted in Portsmouth case
The High Court has granted two Building Liability Orders in proceedings linked to fire safety defects at the Admiralty Quarter development in Portsmouth.
Gateley Plc said the Technology and Construction Court ruled that associated Ardmore group companies could be jointly and severally liable for an unpaid adjudication award of about £14.9 million and for any future liability that Ardmore Construction Limited (ACL) may be found to owe.
The claim was brought by entities within the Crest Nicholson group of companies, which acted as developer and headlease proprietor of the residential scheme.
Admiralty Quarter was completed between 2007 and 2009 under a design and build contract with ACL as principal contractor.
Crest alleged defects including combustible insulation, missing and defective cavity barriers, deficiencies in fire stopping and compartmentation, and further issues said to render parts of the development unfit for habitation.
ACL entered administration in August 2025, one day before an adjudicator issued a decision awarding Crest about £14.9 million in relation to fire safety defects in the external wall systems.
Court sets out scope of the orders
Gateley Plc said Crest applied for two forms of relief under sections 130 and 131 of the Building Safety Act 2022 following ACL’s insolvency.
The first application sought an anticipatory Building Liability Order so that any liability ACL may ultimately be found to owe under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972, or as a result of a building safety risk, would also be the joint and several liability of associated Ardmore group companies.
The second sought an adjudication Building Liability Order to make those same associated companies jointly and severally liable for the adjudicator’s unpaid award.
The Ardmore group defendants accepted that they were associates for the purposes of the Building Safety Act 2022.
They argued that the application was premature, that it was not just and equitable to make the orders at that stage and that an adjudicator’s decision could not amount to a relevant liability under section 130.
Mr Justice Constable held that the Court has jurisdiction to make anticipatory Building Liability Orders before liability is finally determined.
He also held that an adjudicator’s decision can constitute a relevant liability for the purposes of section 130.
Judgment addresses adjudication and future liability
Gateley Plc said the Court found that Building Liability Orders form part of a wider legislative scheme intended to ensure that those responsible for historical building safety defects bear the cost and that liability cannot be avoided through corporate structuring or insolvency.
Mr Justice Constable stated at paragraph 192 of the judgment: “a conclusion that adjudication is fundamentally incompatible with the application of BLOs would deprive the construction industry of the use of one of the most important dispute resolution tools from which it has benefited significantly over the last 30 years.”
At paragraph 193, he added: “building safety matters, in the wake of Grenfell Tower, have given rise to what is probably the single largest area of construction disputes in recent history, if not ever.”
The Court ordered that any liability ACL may ultimately be found to owe under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 or as a result of a building safety risk will also be the joint and several liability of the associated Ardmore group companies.
It also ordered that those companies be jointly and severally liable for the adjudicator’s award of about £14.9 million, even though the decision remains open to final determination at trial.
In each case, the Court held that the statutory test of what was just and equitable was satisfied on the facts.
Gateley Plc said the judgment confirms that claimants do not need to wait until after trial before seeking relief against solvent associated companies where the original defendant is insolvent, and that adjudicators’ decisions can in principle support Building Liability Orders under the Building Safety Act 2022.
Mark Lennon, Gemma Bowkett and Abbie Lockwood of Gateley Legal’s Construction Unit acted for Crest in the application.
