Comment The courts will be cautious to cut through the “pay now, argue later” purpose of the CCA which was introduced to facilitate the quick payment of disputed amounts in the construction industry. Parties to construction contracts should be aware that the adjudication process endorsed by the CCA is not intended to be a final determination of all issues (although more often than not parties will accept the determination of the adjudication without further rounds of arbitration or litigation). A successful application for judicial review of an adjudicator’s determination will need to meet the threshold of showing a genuine excess of jurisdiction by the adjudicator, a serious breach of natural justice, or some apparent and significant error of law. Rather, those who are dissatisfied with an adjudication determination should pay the required amount and then utilise the other dispute resolution methods endorsed by the CCA, such as litigation, arbitration, or mediation.
About the author Sarah is a litigation and Intellectual Property solicitor at Kensington Swan.
She graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Laws.
In 2016 she worked as a graduate law clerk at the Building Disputes Tribunal, and also in the same year she was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. Sarah Redding Solicitor Kensington Swan