Construction Adjudication
1. You have received Notice of Adjudication relating to your construction contract
If you are visiting this page because someone has referred a construction dispute with you to adjudication, then please call Peter Webster on 07704 645368 without delay.
We are experienced in the construction adjudication process, and can organise the necessary material and draft and serve a response within the very tight timetables allowed.
We can also act as your advocate at any meeting called by the adjudicator, and (if appropriate) negotiate with your opponents in an effort to limit the costs of the process.
2. You want to start an Adjudication Process
If you are considering starting a construction adjudication to challenge a certificate, recover overdue payments, or seek damages for defective design and/or works, then we can help you prepare a notice of adjudication and referral notice with suitable supporting documents.
We can if necessary attend your offices or those of your professional consultants to work together on preparation of bundles, to save the time, expense and hassle of copying, moving around and updating large volumes of documents.
We will coordinate your written and oral evidence and pleadings, and act as your advocate in any meetings with the adjudicator.
If need be, we will also prepare and serve court documents to enforce the adjudicator's decision, and act as your advocate at the enforcement hearing.
Fixed fees for each stage can be discussed.
3. You want an alternative to Construction Adjudication
If you are thinking about commencing a construction adjudication, or are facing the prospect of being taken into one, then there is an alternative approach which could save a lot of unnecessary cost.
We can be appointed by you and your opponent jointly to facilitate ongoing negotiations between you. The appointment can include a provision that if you and the other party agree that negotiations have reached an impasse, then we can be asked to provide a non-binding early neutral evaluation of the dispute. This can then be accepted by both of you as settling the construction dispute, be the basis for further negotiations, or simply be borne in mind as proceedings continue and risk assessments are made.
Your own costs, and the costs of your advisors, are not normally recoverable from your opponent in adjudication if you are successful. If you have a solicitor, a barrister, a quantity surveyor and an engineer all assisting you with your case, this costs bill could be quite substantial. This alternative option provides an intermediate step in those disputes where direct negotiations have not resolved matters, but the parties do not yet want to hand over decision-making powers in relation to the dispute to a third party.
4. Connected Disputes in a Contractual Chain
If you are in a contractual chain, and a party above or below you in the chain makes or threatens a referral to adjudication, then it is likely to be cost-efficient for you to involve any other members of the contractual chain with whom you would have a dispute based upon the same facts.
This cannot be done under the standard adjudication procedure, which covers construction disputes under one contract only.
We can negotiate with the potential referring party and its representatives, and with the connected parties, in an effort to agree an ad hoc process to settle the chain of disputes most efficiently.
Adjudication is a statutory right under UK law where there is a dispute under a written construction contract. Parties may therefore have to be persuaded not to exercise this right. We can set out the advantages, and the alternative approaches, so that trigger-happy parties have a chance to reflect upon whether this is the right route to choose to resolve their dispute.
