Construction
How adjudication has become a lifeline for construction projects
- Written by: Samuel Okoronkwo
- Published on:
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Let me, for a moment, cast your mind back to the heyday of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? On that show, a contestant would answer a series of questions to reach the ultimate prize of one million pounds. In the process of answering these questions, they would have access to three lifelines. For questions the contestant struggled to answer alone, they could use one of these three lifelines to request help to avoid the catastrophe of missing out on the ultimate prize.
What does this have to do with adjudication? Just like in Who Wants to be a Millionaire? lifelines are not to be used after disaster has already struck. In cases of construction project disputes, adjudication is such a lifeline.
Therefore, you do not have to reach breaking point to pursue adjudication – in fact, I would highly recommend against it. Adjudication is designed to keep projects moving by resolving disputes before they spiral.
To avoid implementing adjudication later than needed, here are three scenarios in which adjudication can mean the difference between a delayed project and a decisive outcome.
1. Payment delays
The most common reason adjudication is implemented during construction projects is due to payment disputes – in particular what are known as “smash and grab” claims. These payments are demanded without a valid payment notice or pay less notice. Other scenarios may involve disputes over final payment amounts due to interim payments.
It is bad enough that these disagreements cause cashflow issues but, in addition, these disagreements also raise tensions, damage trust and, eventually, become full blown disputes.
Adjudication can protect both position and process by forcing a binding payment decision in 28 days that removes the need to go to court.
2. Miscommunication or lack of communication
Disagreements during construction projects are not always loud. In many cases, they are the exact opposite. Unanswered emails, misrepresented facts and poor communication protocols are just a few of the ways disagreements can arise and become formal disputes.
When there is silence or miscommunication during a construction project, quite often this is deliberate on one party’s behalf. The reason for this is for that party to gain leverage or deploy strategic stalling that will work in their favour during a dispute.
To prevent this from happening, and further impacting the construction project, adjudication can set hard deadlines, reintroduce urgency and/or put the other party under pressure to respond, legally.
3. Blame circling without ownership
While payment is one of the most common reasons adjudication is pursued, lack of ownership happens across nearly every project at some point. Everyone wants to believe that a construction project will be launched and completed flawlessly, but this is rarely the case.
Blame will circulate construction projects for the smallest reasons and cause delays, potentially even defects and damage relationships. What makes matters worse is that the longer this ambiguity goes on for, the harder it is to fix.
In these scenarios, adjudication can cut through the noise by delivering legal clarity on who is responsible and for what.
Adjudication makes decisions when no one else will
I hope this article has helped highlight how adjudication has become more than a legal process for construction projects. It truly is a lifeline that safeguards the life of a construction project and prevents the need for high pressure court proceedings.
That is why it is vital you use adjudication early to prevent damage instead of trying to control the damage that has already been done.
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