Articles

By Section 108(1) of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, as amended by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, (the "Act") a party to a construction contract has the right to refer any dispute arising under the contract to adjudication.

This article considers the implications of a Party referring a dispute to adjudication concerning a quotation for a compensation event which has been treated as having been accepted, in accordance with the deeming provisions of Core Clause 6 of the NEC3 Form of Contract.

If you Google my name (so I am told as I obviously wouldn’t do that myself…), I’m nowhere to be seen. The first hit you get is the former lead male in the Royal Ballet (the name is where the similarities end) and an English General who took a pounding from the Scots in 1745.

"Can a party be prevented from referring a dispute to Adjudication?" This was Lord Woolman's summary of the question posed in T Clarke (Scotland) Limited v Mmaxx Underfloor Heating Limited – which was also described by him as a "novel point".

In Peterborough City Council v Enterprise Managed Services [2014] EWHC 3193 (TCC), the Technology and Construction Court made an interesting observation about dispute resolution clauses: the effect of which may differ according to whether the final dispute resolution procedure is litigation and arbitration.

Although not the subject of a formal complaint, I came to hear about a “grumble” recently concerning how “cosy” the adjudicator and the Responding Party’s representative had appeared during the course of an adjudicator.

Call me a sceptic but in November 2009, when the Local Democracy and Economic Development Act 2009 received Royal Assent, I did not believe that the new payment regime would necessarily translate into a reduction in the number disputes over payment within the construction industry.