Construction Adjudication Update: Oral Contracts And Wycombe Demolition

A recent decision of the Technology and Construction Court has highlighted the increased latitude an adjudicator enjoys, now that oral contracts are within the statutory adjudication framework.

In order for the adjudication provisions in Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 ("the Act") to apply to a contract, the agreement in question must be a "construction contract", as defined by section 104 of the Act.

Previously, a construction contract had to be in writing (under what was section 107 of the Act). But with effect from 1 October 2011 in England and Wales, section 107 was repealed (by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009), meaning oral contracts were brought, for the first time, within the ambit of Part II of the Act.