Thoughts from an Adjudicator – How to effectively present your adjudication response.

I’ve been involved in adjudication since its inception, at the start both preparing adjudcation Referrals and Responses and latterly acting as an Adjudicator.

In respect of how to present your response to an Adjudicator, I always used to reply on a ‘point by point’ basis i.e. replying to every paragraph in the Referral, however, I was never entirely satisfied with these responses as I suspeted that my response was tied to the arguments presented by the Referring Party and I felt that the resultant document was repetitive and ineffective. In effect it was a ‘he said, she said’ reponse.

At an adjudication seminar a few years ago, an eminent Adjudicator said that when he was doing Responses, he basically started afresh and effectively ignored the Referral and just presented his Party’s case in response (whilst responding to the main points in the Referral. This struck me as a very good way and likely more effective way to frame a Response.

For example, if a Referring Party brings a claim that no payment notice or pay less notice was issued by you, and you have an idea that their application was not issued in time or is invalid for any other reason, then start your Response with this as your main argument and then cover the reasons for the non issue of a payment notice / pay less notice as subsidiary arguments.

By starting with your strongest arguments first, this (in my opinion) is more powerful and persuasiuve to an adjudicator and will increase your chances of a successful result.

This document (and any information accessed through links in this document) is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Professional legal advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from any action as a result of the contents of this document.

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