Fastrack to take action on £150k non-payment

Brickwork contractor Fastrack has started legal proceedings against main contractor Morrison Construction over non-payment of more than £150,000, awarded to the firm by an adjudicator.

Fastrack won the adjudication case against Morrison six weeks ago (CJ 7 July, page 2). The case centred over money Fastrack claimed it was owed for its brickwork subcontract on the £17.5 million Leisure World and Arena site in Coventry, being built by the joint venture of Morrison Developments and Italian contractor Impreglio.

The adjudicator awarded Fastrack £120,000 together with interest of £2,000 and costs of £8,500.

In May, Fastrack won an adjudication for £36,000 and the subcontractor then used this settlement to mount a case for the larger amount. MD of Fastrack, Andy Jack said he had just received Morrison's response to the writ his firm issued three weeks ago. He said Morrison's refusal to pay seemed to be based around the assumption that no dispute existed when Fastrack initiated the adjudication process.

A spokesman for Morrison said the firm was unable to comment "because of the legal proceedings" but he did confirm that it intended to contest "a number of issues that relate to the adjudication."