Is Adjudication Worth The Cost?

Obstacles to recovering adjudication costs mean it might not be the best choice for complex disputes, write Akin Akinbode and Tracey Summerell.

Parties cannot recover legal costs incurred in adjudication without written agreement – after service of the adjudication notice – that the adjudicator has costs jurisdiction. That's the general position, despite varying interpretations of section 108A of the Construction Act and recent court decisions that suggest alternative means to recover costs.

This basic principle makes adjudication potentially expensive for those embroiled in complex, high-value disputes. Such disputes are often referred to adjudication, contrary to what most envisaged when the process was introduced 20 years ago. They require intensive preparation to meet uncomfortably short deadlines, and do not come cheap.