Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 16
Adjudication
16.1 Introduction
WhileitwasappreciatedthatPartIIoftheHousingGrants,ConstructionandRegen-
eration Act 1996 (henceforth 'the 1996 Act') would have a very significant impact
upon dispute resolution in the construction industry, when the first edition of this
book was published, there had been very little experience of the operation of the 1996
Act in practice. In the first edition, only two pages of text were devoted to adjudica-
tion.Suchhasbeentheimpactofadjudicationthattherehavesincebeenhundreds
ofdecisionsfromthecourtsandnumerousbookswrittenonthesubject.
The 1996 Act came into force on 1 May 1998. It was, arguably, the most signifi-
cant piece of legislation to affect the construction industry for decades. he legislation
sought to address certain long-standing problems within the industry, as set out by
Sir Michael Latham in his 1994 Report 'Constructing the Team', namely serious pay-
mentproblemsafectingmanyintheconstructionindustry,particularlysmallerirms;
and the problem of the costs and delays in resolving construction disputes. Adjudica-
tion and payment are, by their nature, inextricably linked. Payment is considered in
Chapter 8.
As far as adjudication itself is concerned, the aim of the 1996 Act was to offer a
quick means of resolving disputes. he 1996 Act introduced a right to adjudication as
a means of dispute resolution for construction contracts as those contracts are defined
by the 1996 Act, which include, by virtue of amendments made to the 1996 Act by the
2009 Act all construction contracts, whether wholly in writing, partly in writing or
wholly oral. This is considered in Section 1.2.2.
16.2 The scope of Part II of the 1996 Act, as amended by the 2009 Act
To properly appreciate the scope of Part II of the 1996 Act requires an understanding
of sections 104-107. These sections are discussed in Chapter 1.
Section 108, as amended, enshrines the right to refer a dispute to adjudication. It
provides that:
1. A party to a construction contract has the right to refer a dispute arising under
the contract for adjudication under a procedure complying with this section.
For this purpose 'dispute' includes any difference.
MacRoberts on Scottish Construction Contracts
,hirdEdition.MacRoberts.
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
