Since 2016, any party to a construction contract in Ireland has held a statutory right most still don’t know exists: refer a payment dispute to adjudication and get a binding decision within 28 days. No waiting years for a court list; no arbitration priced beyond the claim. For the subcontractor carrying a main contractor’s arrears — and the contractor facing an inflated claim — adjudication is where payment disputes are now decided.
How the Process Runs
Notice of adjudication from the referring party crystallises the dispute. The parties agree an adjudicator or one is appointed from the Ministerial panel — the chair appoints within days of a request, so appointment cannot be stalled. The referral (the referring party’s full case: contract, payment claims, valuations, evidence) starts the clock: decision within 28 days, extendable to 42 with the referring party’s consent. The decision is binding pending final determination and enforceable through the High Court’s dedicated mechanism. The tempo rewards the prepared: adjudications are substantially won before the notice ever issues, in the quality of the payment paperwork — see payment claim notices.
The Act’s Sharp Edges
- Pay-when-paid is dead (almost): conditional payment provisions are ineffective save in defined insolvency circumstances — the main contractor’s classic excuse no longer holds;
- The right to suspend: unpaid parties can suspend work after proper notice — leverage that concentrates minds, used correctly: the unpaid subcontractor’s remedies;
- The dwelling exception: the Act does not apply to contracts relating to a dwelling of 200 m² or less which a contracting party occupies or intends to occupy — most domestic extensions sit outside it, and content promising every homeowner adjudication is simply wrong. Homeowner routes live here instead: disputes with builders;
- Adjudication sits alongside the contract’s arbitration clause and the courts — route selection is strategy: arbitration vs court.
Both Chairs
We act for referring parties — assembling the payment case, timing the notice, running the referral to the 28-day drum — and for responding parties, where the first week decides everything: jurisdiction points taken properly, the valuation case answered, settlement weighed while leverage lasts. Full process guide: the CCA 2013 adjudication guide.
Owed Money on a Construction Contract?
Or served with a notice of adjudication? Either way the clock is the strategy - call before the week is out.
Call 01 5827148