No Claim Certificate does not bar arbitration where final measurement is pending and coercion is alleged.

A No Claim Certificate does not automatically bar arbitration where the contract work has not been finally measured and the certificate is alleged to have been signed under coercion or duress. Clause 43(2) operates as a safeguard against claims after final measurement, not as an absolute prohibition in every case. On the stated facts, the earlier finding of coercion and the absence of final measurement meant that genuine contractual disputes survived, and the contractor could still seek reference to arbitration. The certificate therefore did not extinguish the claims or defeat recourse to the arbitral process.

---

---

Issues: Whether a contractor who had signed a No Claim Certificate could still invoke arbitration and maintain claims where the contract work had not been finally measured and the certificate was alleged to have been obtained under coercion and duress.

Analysis: Clause 43(2) was intended as a safeguard against claims after final measurement of the works and was not meant to operate as an absolute bar in every case. The record indicated that the work had not been finally measured when the certificate was obtained, and the earlier arbitrator had found that the certificate was signed under coercion and duress. In such circumstances, the mere existence of a No Claim Certificate could not, by itself, extinguish genuine disputes arising under the contract or defeat recourse to arbitration.

Conclusion: The contractor was entitled to seek reference of the disputes to arbitration, and the No Claim Certificate did not bar the claims.

---