Construction Law Update: Court Declines To Enforce Adjudicator's Decision

In Tenderbids Ltd t/a Bastion (applicant) v Electrical Waste Management Ltd (respondent) [2025] IEHC 139, the High Court in Ireland dismissed an application to enforce an adjudicator's decision.

It is unusual for a Court to decide not to enforce an adjudicator's decision. The grounds for doing so are narrow. The Court must be satisfied that the adjudicator lacked jurisdiction to determine the adjudication, or there must have been a breach of the principles of natural justice.

In this case, the Court found that the adjudicator had lacked jurisdiction to hear the dispute because of the means of delivery by the applicant of the notice of intention to refer a payment dispute for adjudication ("notice of intention").