A judge in the Technology and Construction Court ruled that time limits for enforcing adjudicators' decisions through the courts can be reduced to ensure speedier compliance.
The court also ruled that any costs incurred by a company that has to resort to the courts to enforce payment can be recovered.
The ruling was made during a case presided over by Judge Humphrey Lloyd between Surrey-based groundworks specialist Outwing Construction and contractor H Randell & Son.
Outwing had won an adjudication decision against Randell, which was ordered to pay £16 096.98 to the specialist within seven days of the adjudication. However, in order to enforce the ruling, Outwing was forced to issue a writ against Randell. This would usually give Randell a further 28 days to decide whether it would defend the writ, further delaying payment. However, after an application from Outwing's lawyers, the court reduced this to ensure the adjudicator's decision was complied with as speedily as possible.
After the writ was issued, Randell paid the amount in the writ. However, Outwing insisted that the company also be made liable for the legal costs it had incurred enforcing the adjudicator's decision. The judge agreed and ordered Randell to pay additional costs of £872.50.
He said it was parliament's intention that parties going to adjudication comply with the decision of the adjudicator.
Outwing was perfectly entitled to a reduction in the time usually allowed to a defendant to contest a writ, the judge went on, because it would ensure compliance with the adjudicator's decision. He said there was no provision for a stay of execution of payment within the act since that would undermine the purpose of adjudication, which was that disputes should be resolved quickly and effectively.
Constructors Liaison Group legal adviser Rudi Klein welcomed the decision. "Now people know what will happen if they fail to comply with an adjudicator's decision," he said. "It reinforces the whole process of adjudication one hundred-fold." Dominic Helps, partner with solicitor Shadbolt & Co, which acted for Outwing, said the decision broke new ground for adjudication and took the process a step further than the court's ruling last month in Macob vs Morrison.
In Macob vs Morrison the court ruled that the right of a losing party to challenge an adjudicator's decision should not delay payment owed to the winning party as a result of the adjudication process.
Helps said: "This ruling goes a stage further because it shows that courts will take steps to ensure speedy enforcement of decisions through the courts." Alan Foreman, director of Outwing Construction, said: "It's refreshing to find a legal system that works in days instead of months.
"We've no animosity towards anyone, but, hopefully this will help redress the balance between the big guy and small guys like us." Randell was unavailable for comment.
