Adjudication Update: High Court In Ireland Grants Another Enforcement Application

The Court has again given support to adjudication by granting leave to enforce an adjudication decision in McGill Construction Ltd ("referring party") v Blue Whisp Ltd ("respondent") [2024] IEHC 205, rejecting four grounds of opposition.

Validity of "notice of intention to refer" to adjudication

The respondent argued that the notice of intention to refer was invalid, submitting that "payment dispute" under the Construction Contracts Act 2013 (the "Act") is confined to a complaint that an individual "payment claim notice" has not been paid, but that the notice of intention in this case included disputes relating to more than one payment claim notice.

This had been raised by the respondent as a preliminary issue in the adjudication and the judge had to consider whether the adjudicator was able to issue a decision on this issue which would be binding on the parties. As a general principle, an adjudicator does not have jurisdiction to make a binding determination