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A ruling on a dispute between Clerical Medical and three members of the team building its new headquarters in Bristol was released this week. Technology & Construction Court Justice Ramsay refused to make a binding declaration on the dispute, which centred on the performance of the chilled beam system in the building, which was due to be completed this April but is not yet complete. The case was against defendants Crest Nicholson, who was developing the scheme, contractor Kier and services engineer Hoare Lea. The contract was a 1998 JCT Standard Form design and build.

Claimant Clerical Medical was seeking a declaration by the court that the air temperature in the new building should be 22C (plus or minus two) during the winter months and that the blinds in the building should not be taken into consideration when sizing the chilled beams in the office areas of the building.

Summing up, Justice Ramsay said: "I do not consider that the court should make binding declarations which are not firmly grounded upon particular legal obligations. To do so is likely to have unfortunate consequences in any future proceedings, not least because the impact of that declaration on any particular future contentions would be uncertain."

For the full ruling, .