Excepted matters under contract remain non-arbitrable where the parties reserve final decision-making to the engineer hierarchy.

Contractually excluded disputes, including the rate payable for extra work, cannot be referred to arbitration where the agreement makes the Engineer's and, on appeal, the Chief Engineer's decision final and binding. Because the Chief Engineer had not finally determined the rate, the matter remained within the contractual decision-making mechanism and outside the arbitrator's jurisdiction. An arbitral award on such an excepted matter is legally unsustainable to that extent.

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Issues: Whether disputes expressly treated as excepted matters under the contract, particularly the rate payable for extra work, could be referred to arbitration and decided by the arbitrator.

Analysis: The contract specifically carved out certain matters from the arbitration clause and made the Engineer's and, on appeal, the Chief Engineer's decision final and binding. The dispute regarding payment for extra work fell within that excluded category. Since the Chief Engineer had not finally decided the rate, the matter remained within the contractual mechanism and not within the arbitral domain. An arbitrator cannot assume jurisdiction over a dispute that the parties have expressly excluded from arbitration, and an award rendered on such a non-arbitrable issue is legally unsustainable.

Conclusion: The arbitrator had no jurisdiction to decide the excepted dispute concerning the rate for extra work, and the award was invalid to that extent.

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