Adjudication: "Ambush Tactics" And Natural Justice

Two recent TCC decisions suggest that it will be difficult to establish that "ambush adjudication" is procedurally unsound on the grounds of breach of the rules of natural justice.

First Case

The Dorchester Hotel employed Vivid to carry out the refurbishment of its hotel. A dispute between the parties concerning the final account was referred to adjudication by Vivid on 19 December 2008. The Referral Notice was 92 pages long and incorporated 37 lever arch files. Amongst the 37 files there was material that was entirely new and many of the figures in the final account had been changed from previous submissions.

Vivid had allowed only modest extensions to the adjudication timetable.