Construction disputes: poke the adjudicator at your peril

IN BRIEF

In years gone by, poking at an adjudicator's decision was a popular past-time for the construction lawyer. That is, when an adjudicator made a determination that the client didn't like (often the paying party), you would be instructed to challenge the validity of the determination in court.

These days, however, adjudicator poking has gone out of fashion due to the courts tendency to enforce the determination (and rightly so). Once in a while, however, some brave soul will have a go in order to avoid the intended consequence of that determination (i.e. payment).

In the recent case of Eastland Truss & Timber Pty Ltd v Matthew John Byrnes (trading as Qualibuilt Constructions), the Supreme Court considered whether a poke at the adjudicator's determination was valid. You can probably guess what happened next.