Construction Law Update: Interest In Adjudication Decisions

The High Court in Ireland addressed interest for late payment in adjudication decisions in a judgment in Finnegan Contracts Ltd v Killycard Developments Ltd [2024] IEHC 752.

The proceedings concerned an application to enforce an adjudicator's decision. The Court was satisfied that there was nothing in the procedural history or substance of the decision to prevent the Court from granting an enforcement order.

There was one question, however, as to the correct approach to the part of the decision dealing with interest for late payment. The adjudicator had fixed a rate of €38.10 for each continuing calendar day. The Court considered that it should give effect to the rate of interest in the adjudicator's decision post-High Court judgment for two reasons: