Pierse Contracting €3.2m claim ‘effectively settled’

PIERSE Contracting has effectively settled a legal action aimed at securing €3.2 million allegedly due to it under an €81m contract related to adevelopment at Grand Canal Square in Dublin, the Commercial Court heard yesterday.

The proceedings by Pierse against Grand Canal Square Developments Ltd, with registered offices at Malahide Road, Balgriffin, Dublin, were admitted to the Commercial Court last month by Mr Justice Peter Kelly.

After hearing counsel for both sides yesterday, the judge noted the case was “effectively settled” and agreed to adjourn it for mention only on April 20 when, he was told, it was unlikely to trouble the court further.

Pierse had claimed it entered into a contract with the defendant company in April 2006 to carry out works for a contract sum of about e62.2m, excluding VAT. It claims the contract was later varied in July 2008 to alter the contract sum to a lump sum of e81m.

The company alleged payments under the contract were to be made on the basis of monthly interim architect certificates.

It claimed an interim certificate issued on December 18 2008 for €2,192,117, which was due for payment on December 31, 2008, while a further certificate issued on January 23 2009 for e1,063,477 was due for repayment on February 3 2009.

The full amounts of both certificates remain unpaid and the defendant company had provided no justification for the non-payment, Pierse claimed. It said it was owed some €3.255m and its cashflow, and the cashflow of sub-contractors engaged on the Grand Canal Square project, was being adversely affected.

The defendant company had indicated to the court it would be seeking a right of set-off in relation to the alleged debt and said there was an issue relating to cladding of a building.