Combating The Risk Of Successive Adjudicator Nominations

When drafting the dispute resolution procedures of a contract, the parties usually either name a specific adjudicator or state that the adjudicator should be nominated by one of the so-called Adjudicator Nominating Bodies (such as RICS or TeCSA). A recent case in the TCC has highlighted a lacuna in the law where parties can apply to ANBs for successive nominations until an adjudicator is appointed who they like.

In the case, the referring party (GTI) applied to the ICE for nomination of an adjudicator. Once nominated, GTI complained that the adjudicator was likely to be biased given his previous involvement acting on the other side of an acrimonious dispute. GTI then refused to participate any further in the adjudication and failed to serve their Referral Notice. A subsequent nomination to the ICE was then made. The respondent commenced proceedings seeking an injunction to restrain GTI from "continuing or making further applications to adjudicate a particular dispute"