Many of you who are involved in the construction industry and
property development will have heard the word
'adjudication', some of you may even have been unlucky
enough to have actually been involved in an adjudication. In this
article we seek to outline the basic principles and process of
adjudication and explain what to expect.
Overview of
adjudication
Adjudication has often been referred to as a 'quick and
dirty' way of resolving disputes. This is in part due to the
fact that the adjudication should only last 28 days between the
Notice of Referral and the decision, or if agreed upon by the
parties, a slightly longer period. In most cases adjudications last
between 4 and 6 weeks from the receipt of the Notice of
Referral. The decision of the adjudicator, who will normally
be nominated by a professional body, is only interim and the
parties can take the same dispute to final determination through an
arbitration or the courts. For this reason decisions
