Adjudication is a contractual process for the resolution of a dispute by way of a procedure written into a contract or a right provided by statute.

The statutory provisions are provided in Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (“HGCRA”), as amended by Part 8 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 (“LDEDCA”). HGCRA and LDEDCA are colloquially referred to as the “Construction Act”. The Construction Act deals with two major issues in the industry, namely, (i) payment and (ii) the resolution of disputes.

Generally, construction contracts, save for a few exceptions, provide a statutory right to refer a dispute under the contract to adjudication.



Section 108 subsections (1) to (6) of the Construction Act provides a right to a party to refer a dispute arising under the contract for adjudication at any time under a procedure complying with those sections. The subsections include (i) requiring the adjudicator to reach a decision within 28 days of the referral (the Referring Party's case) or such longer period as is agreed by the parties after the dispute has been referred (ii) the contract shall provide that the decision of the adjudicator is binding until the dispute is finally determined by legal proceedings, by arbitration (if the contract provides for arbitration or the parties otherwise agree arbitration) or by agreement and (iii) if the contract does not comply with the requirements of subsections (1) to (4) the adjudication provisions of the Scheme for Construction Contracts apply.

The appropriate Scheme for Construction Contracts provides a set of comprehensive default rules for both payment and adjudication being imported into the contract as implied terms.

The construction industry has welcomed this innovative statutory dispute resolution process. It has brought to commercial enterprises a relatively quick and inexpensive way of obtaining an interim but binding decision in a court of law.

The success of adjudication has, in part, been brought about by the court's policy to generally enforce adjudicators' decisions save for limited reasons. Adjudication in the UK has become so successful that other parts of the world have adopted a similar process.

Statutory adjudication in the UK has evolved into a complex procedure, moulded by the common law in the form of judgments of the Court including the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court (formerly the House of Lords). Adjudication Law continues to evolve.

Nigel is a practicing Barrister, Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Chartered Arbitrator and Panel Registered Adjudicator. He is registered with the RICS, CIArb, RIBA, CEDR Solve (2008 Panel), CIC and CPA panels of adjudicators. Nigel is available to receive appointments to act as adjudicator or to provide advice and/or representation to party’s contemplating or involved in adjudication³. 

For more details, please go to my Curriculum Vitae page.

3 Nigel is a practising Barrister at 3PB Barristers and must comply with the relevant parts of the Bar Standards Board Handbook which includes the Code of Conduct for barristers.