Adjudication

Adjudication is a fairly recent development in construction law which has streamlined the process of bringing claims for damages in construction disputes.

We regularly use adjudication for our clients to good effect to achieve a result in construction disputes.  A property developer client of ours had been involved in a long running and acrimonious dispute with an employer in a mixed residential and commercial development.  The employer who had contracted with our client for our client to carry out buildings works, though insolvent, was in financial difficulties and chose to keep afloat by simply not paying our client on its invoices.  The employer raised a raft of spurious allegations as a smokescreen to try to dissuade our client from issuing court proceedings.

We advised our client that there was no merit in the employer’s arguments and we immediately commenced adjudication proceedings.  Within a matter of weeks, the matter was decided by an adjudicator, a neutral third party surveyor, in our client’s favour.  Our clients invoices were paid in full within the 14 days.