Hannah McCarthy

Hannah has significant experience of a wide range of disputes, including payment issues, defective workmanship as well as delay and disruption claims, and of standard form contracts used in the construction industry, in particular JCT and NEC contracts. She also has a practice in energy matters, in particular oil and gas related disputes, as well as the waste disposal industry. She has experience of fire-related and cladding disputes, including design and safety issues. She has worked as a junior in multi-million pound complex claims as well as sole advocate in a range of contractual disputes (including arbitration and adjudication), professional negligence issues and statutory claims involving contractors and project designers.

Examples of recent work include:

• Instructed by operator in luxury hotel delay and defects dispute.
• Instructed by local authority on fire and other defects across multiple schools
• Acting as sole counsel for a contractor in a multi million pound dispute in respect of a waste treatment and recycling facility
• Acting for a local authority in a waste disposal PFI dispute;
• Advisory work for local authorities and construction professionals on cladding issues and fire safety management;
• Acting for a management firm in a dispute arising from a PFI contract, involving fire compartmentation, fire safety management and unavailability provisions;
• Acting for a contractor in a claim brought by the developers of a disused power station;
• Acting for a main contractor in delay and disruption claim arising in the course of a multi-million pound infrastructure dispute in East Africa;
• Advisory work for a local authority in respect of a waste treatment disposal plant;
• Acting for a contractor in a multi-million pound gas distribution dispute;
• Acting for the owner in a dispute in respect of glazed window units on a high-rise hotel;
• Advising on complex design and payment issues arising on construction of a residential construction project;
• Advising and acting for homeowners as well as contractors on a range of residential construction matters

Cases of Note

• Galliford Try Construction Ltd v Arcadis Consulting (UK) Ltd [2025] EWHC 3002 (TCC) Acting for the fourth defendant in the successful defence of the Claimant’s application to enforce an implied agreement to extend a stay in proceedings, resulting in the strike out of the claim, which arose from the design and construction of a multi-million pound library in Worcester.
• CLS Civil Engineering Ltd v WJG Evans and Sons [2024] EWHC 194 (TCC) Instructed by an employer, in whose favour the court granted declarations pursuant to Part 8 in respect of a cap on liability agreed as part of a letter of intent. The court also clarified the approach to be taken in respect of a Part 8 challenge to Part 7 enforcement proceedings.
• Henry Construction Projects Ltd v Alu-Fix (UK) Limited [2023] EWHC 2010 (TCC) [2023 [ EWHC 2010 (TCC) – Successfully resisted enforcement of an adjudicator’s decision for an employer on the grounds that the contractor had not discharged an immediate payment obligation
• Sleaford Building Services Ltd v Isoplus Piping Systems Ltd [2023] EWHC 969 (TCC) – Instructed by a main contractor in an application to enforce an adjudicator’s decision under Part 7, and to seek declarations by way of Part 8
• Struthers v Davies (t/a Alastair Davies Building) [2022] EWHC 333 (TCC) – Instructed by a contractor in a residential property dispute, involving termination issues and defects claims
• Keadby Generation Ltd v Promanex (Total FM and Environmental Services) Ltd & Ors [2020] EWHC 2444 (TCC) – Instructed by the second defendant in a damages claim arising from a fire at a coal-fuelled power plant