Introduction

9.1 The Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (‘the Act’) changed the landscape of construction dispute resolution beyond recognition. Many disputes, big and small, which otherwise would have been litigation through the TCC have been resolved through adjudication processes which, while non-binding, have led the parties to accept the result as a final decision, or arrive at settlement. While this has had the inevitable effect of reducing the number of substantive disputes being litigated, it also spawned a seemingly ceaseless flow of satellite claims relating to the enforcement of adjudication decisions, or disputes resulting from the payment process requirements of the Act. There are now over 600 cases which deal with adjudication, and countless articles and publications. This chapter is not intended as a substitute for more in-depth books,1 but rather focusses on the nexus between the Court function and adjudication.