Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The adjudication process is set to a very strict and tight timetable. The process is started by
the serving of a notice of adjudication, and the adjudicator must be appointed and the refer-
ral served on the adjudicator within 7 days. The adjudicator must reach a decision within 28
days of the date of the referral, but that may be extended by 14 days if the referring party
consents, or to any date provided that it is agreed by both referring party and responding
party. These are basic time periods under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regenera-
tion Act 1996, but the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations
1998andtheprovisionsofvariousproceduresandstandardformconstructioncontractsmay
add additional times to those in the Act. For example, the JCT Standard Form of Contract
1998 stipulated that the responding party had 7 days from receipt of the referral in which
to respond. In a case under another contract with the same provision, the court held that the
adjudicator had absolute discretion to extend the period for service of the response because
the adjudicator had the right under the contract to 'set a procedure'.
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The general rule is that where time periods are specified, they are very important, and
failure to observe them may render the adjudication process or any decision a nullity. For
example, if the referral is served later than the seventh day after the notice of adjudication,
position was modified by a court when considering the situation where the referral notice
had been served on time to the adjudicator and responding party, but the adjudicator had not
validly served. An important factor was that the responding party had received the referral
and the accompanying documents on time.
The adjudicator must reach a decision 28 days after the date of the referral notice. It is
important to note that this period starts from the date of the notice, not from the date the no-
tice is received by the adjudicator. Paragraph 19(3) of the Scheme requires the adjudicator
todeliver acopyofthedecision totheparties assoonaspossible after thedecision hasbeen
reached. There hasbeenconsiderable discussion abouttheposition iftheadjudicator fails to
reach a decision in time or if the decision is reached in time but is not delivered as soon as
possible. The problem has been the subject of several cases. It now appears settled that the
adjudicator's jurisdiction to make a decision comes to an end on the expiry of the time limit
will be ineffective if the period has already expired, because something which no longer ex-
istscannotbeextended.Sofarasdeliveryisconcerned,iftheadjudicatorreachedadecision
within the relevant timescale, a two-day delay in delivering the decision to the parties was
