Adjudication of payment disputes under construction contracts
has the advantage of being relatively quick and cost effective,
with a determination (usually) guaranteed within 28 days of the
application being made under the Construction Contracts Act. Also,
experience shows that, right or wrong, once a payment award is made
in favour of a subcontractor, head contractors tend not to dispute
the claim in court or arbitration even though they retain the right
to. They usually just accept the adjudicator's payment award
and move on.
An adjudication award has the further advantage of being an
interim determination only, which neither side can use in evidence
and which does not finally determine the rights and interests of
the parties. So the risk of an adjudicator getting it wrong is
mitigated, and an adjudicator cannot permanently jeopardise a
party's rights under the contract.
