Enforcement of adjudicator decisionsFreeThe courts ordinarily enforce an adjudicator's decision promptly, even where the losing party contends that the adjudicator made an error. The decision remains binding unless and until the...

Partial enforcement of adjudicator decisionsPremiumThe court may sever an invalid part and enforce the remainder where the valid decision is discrete and unaffected. It will not rewrite the adjudicator's reasoning or calculate a new award...

When an adjudication dispute has arisenPremiumA claim does not become a dispute merely because it is submitted or because a unilateral deadline expires. The responding party must have a fair opportunity to understand and consider the...

Oral construction contracts and adjudicationFreeFor construction contracts within the amended legislation in England and Wales, statutory adjudication is no longer confined to contracts made or evidenced in writing. Oral and partly...

Oral variations and adjudicationPremiumFor a construction contract governed by the post-1 October 2011 regime in England and Wales, an alleged oral variation can fall within statutory adjudication. That does not establish that...

Mediator appointed as adjudicatorPremiumThe roles are not automatically compatible. A mediator commonly receives confidential, without-prejudice information from each party that cannot fairly be used, disclosed or ignored in a...

Enforcement despite adjudicator errorPremiumA decision is ordinarily enforced even where the adjudicator made an obvious error of fact, law or arithmetic while deciding a question within jurisdiction. The seriousness of the error...

Adjudication during litigationPremiumThe statutory right to adjudicate may generally be exercised while court proceedings concerning the same dispute are pending. Adjudication remains interim, while the court provides final...

Withholding an adjudication decision for unpaid feesFreeAn adjudicator cannot use unpaid fees to extend the statutory period for reaching and communicating the decision. Any agreed lien must operate consistently with the governing Act, Scheme...

Late adjudicator decisionFreeThe answer depends on the governing adjudication procedure, jurisdiction and facts. Distinguish the deadline for reaching the decision from the obligation to communicate a completed...

One or multiple disputes in adjudicationFreeDifferent heads of claim do not automatically constitute different disputes. One dispute may contain numerous issues, causes of action and defences, provided they form part of the same...

Settlement agreement disputes and adjudicationFreeA settlement dispute is not automatically a dispute under the construction contract. The answer depends on whether the agreement varies the original contract, substitutes a separate...

Repeat referral of a dispute already decided by adjudicationPremiumAn adjudication decision binds the parties on the dispute actually decided unless and until the contractually prescribed final determination occurs. A second referral must not ask another...

Foreign exclusive jurisdiction clauses and adjudication enforcementPremiumA foreign governing-law or exclusive-jurisdiction clause does not automatically disapply statutory adjudication or prevent enforcement. The court must examine the territorial reach of the...

Challenges to adjudicator's fees and time chargesPremiumA party should not assume that dissatisfaction with the amount of an adjudicator's account creates a recoverable claim. The appointment terms, agreed rate, recorded work, allocation of...

Whether a draft adjudicator decision is final and bindingFreeA document described and communicated as provisional will not ordinarily be the adjudicator's final decision. The court examines the document, the communication and the adjudicator's...

Undisclosed communications between an adjudicator and one partyPremiumA unilateral communication does not invalidate a decision merely because it occurred. Enforcement risk arises where the communication concerns a material issue and the other party was not...

Adjudicator use of an expert or assessorPremiumAn adjudicator may be able to obtain expert assistance under the applicable rules or appointment terms. Authority to appoint does not remove the duty to conduct a fair process or permit...

Disclosure of legal advice obtained by an adjudicatorPremiumAn adjudicator may have authority to obtain legal assistance, but that power does not permit determination of a material issue on reasoning which the parties have never seen or had an...

Natural justice guidelines in construction adjudicationPremiumNatural justice applies to adjudication, but the procedure is not a trial. The adjudicator controls an expedited process while ensuring that each party knows and can answer every material...

Set-off and withholding against an adjudicator awardPremiumThe starting point is compliance with the adjudicator's operative order. A party cannot ordinarily avoid payment by raising a cross-claim that was available in the adjudication or by...

Liquidated damages deductions from an adjudicator awardPremiumAn employer should ordinarily advance its liquidated-damages case in the adjudication if it seeks to reduce the sum claimed. A deduction after the decision is exceptional and must follow...

Article 6 and enforcement of statutory adjudicationPremiumThe restricted timetable does not itself make statutory adjudication incompatible with Article 6. The authorities treat the decision as interim rather than a final determination of...

Recovery of legal and expert costs in adjudicationPremiumThe usual position is that each party bears its own legal and expert costs. An adjudicator does not acquire a general costs jurisdiction merely because one party succeeds.

Enforceability of Tolent clauses allocating adjudication costsPremiumA pre-dispute clause that makes the referring party bear both sides' legal or expert costs is generally ineffective under section 108A. Historic decisions reached different results before...

Complex construction disputes and natural justice in adjudicationPremiumComplexity does not itself make a dispute unsuitable for adjudication or render the decision unenforceable. The question is whether the procedure allowed the adjudicator to decide fairly...

Adjudicator's fees following a jurisdiction objectionPremiumA jurisdiction objection does not automatically remove fee liability. A party that continues to seek a decision on the merits may incur an express or implied obligation to pay a reasonable...

Effect of adjudication provisions that do not comply with section 108PremiumParties may agree their own adjudication procedure, but it must satisfy the mandatory requirements in section 108. If it does not, the statutory Scheme applies through section 108(5).

Respondent defences and new evidence in adjudicationPremiumThe notice defines the referred dispute, but the referring party cannot ordinarily obtain a monetary decision while excluding a genuine defence to that claim. The parties are not confined...

Late service of an adjudication referral noticePremiumThe answer depends on the procedure governing the adjudication. Under the Scheme, the referring party must refer the dispute within the specified seven-day period. A contractual procedure...

Projects containing included and excluded construction operationsPremiumA project can contain both statutory construction operations and excluded operations. The classification is made by reference to the contracted operations and the wording of sections 104...