Norwest Holst chases steelworks payment

Norwest Holst is heading for a High Court showdown in a row over payment for its work on the Corus Scunthorpe Steel Plant in North Lincolnshire.

Norwest accused main contractor Danieli Davy Distington of failing to pay it more than £329,000 for work on the £10m project.

The work included the design, supply, installation and commissioning of a continuous casting machine and civil engineering and building works at the steelworks, which is the largest in the UK.

The extension to the Scunthorpe scheme involved digging a 22m-deep contiguous piled cofferdam and the excavation of a basement up to 21m deep and 18m wide.

Tarmac, which supplied concrete to Norwest Holst, claimed the foundations were the site of the world's largest-ever single concrete pour, which totalled 926m3.

Norwest Holst carried out civil engineering and building works as part of the scheme and brought in an adjudicator after a dispute over payment arose with Danieli Davy Distington.

But solicitors for Danieli Davy Distington challenged the adjudicator's jurisdiction, saying that the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1966 did not apply to the contract, according to a High Court writ. Norwest Holst disputes the claim.