Adjudication is often described as being a statutory procedure by which any party to a construction contract has a right to have a dispute decided by an adjudicator. The relevant statute in England and Wales is The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. “The Act” which together with a number of Regulations and Orders forms the Legislation for Adjudication.

In regard to the Act, it was said that:-

“The intention of Parliament in the Act was plain. It was to introduce a speedy mechanism for settling disputes in construction contracts on a provisional interim basis, and requiring the decision of adjudicators to be enforced pending the final determination of disputes by arbitration, litigation or agreement….. The timetable to adjudication is very tight….. Many would say unreasonably tight, and likely to result in injustice. Parliament must have been taken to have been aware of this… It is clearly Parliament’s intention that the adjudication should be conducted in a manner which those familiar with the grinding detail of the traditional approach to the resolution of construction disputes find it difficult to accept. But Parliament not has abolished arbitration disputes it has merely introduced an intervening provisional stage in the dispute resolution process. Crucially, it has made it clear that decisions of adjudicators are binding, and are to be complied with until the dispute is finally resolved.”

The Act had its origins in a report prepared in 1944, which reviewed the procurement and contractual arrangements in the construction industry.

Whilst the word "disputes" may cover any one of a number of things, the most common dispute is over a stage or interim payment. Importantly the Contract Documentation for many construction projects in the Channel Islands does make provision for adjudication. In the absence of such a provision, contracting parties are of course free to agree that an adjudicator be appointed either before, or after a dispute has arisen. Read More…