The Adjudication Society and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators have been working together in order to produce a series of adjudication guidance notes. The first one, dealing with jurisdiction, has recently been approved by the Policy Sub-Committee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Executive Committee of the Adjudication Society. Version 2 was approved and published on 31 Dec 2012, and it amends the Guidance Note to deal with the changes introduced by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. It is available here. (The first out of date version is available here).
The purpose of the guidance note relating to jurisdiction is to assist not just adjudicators but also parties and parties’ representatives in respect of the key issues that they and adjudicators face when dealing with adjudication under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration 1996 as amended by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. Guidance will take into account the Scheme, and also case law. The idea is to make people aware of the key issues and also attempt to identify some of the more difficult issues that can be encountered.
The guidance note does not debate all of the legal issues in an attempt to find some philosophical answer to these problem areas, but instead tries to identify a sensible or practical approach, which could be considered to be relatively "safe". In this respect it is an attempt at best practice, and so the guidance note will probably need to be revised from time to time.
Acknowledgment must be given to Claire King, Associate at Fenwick Elliott, for her hard work and assistance in drafting and collating comments for the Guidance Note.
Nicholas Gould
Chairman, Guidance Note Committee, Adjudication Society and Guidance Note Sub-Committee, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators