PRIOR TO APPLYING FOR ADJUDICATION

PAYMENT SCHEDULE PROVIDED

  • If within 10 business days of being served with a payment claim, the Respondent provides the Claimant with a payment schedule, and the Claimant disputes the Respondent's reasons for withholding the claimed amount, or the Respondent fails to pay the claimed amount by the due date, the Claimant can apply to Adjudicate Today for adjudication of the claimed amount . Where the Claimant disputes the reasons for withholding payment, the Claimant must apply for adjudication (the adjudication application) of the claimed amount within 10 business days of receiving the payment schedule. Where the Respondent fails to pay the scheduled amount by the due date, the claimant has 10 business days to apply for adjudication.

    Click Payment Schedule served flowchart

PAYMENT SCHEDULE NOT PROVIDED

  • If after 10 business days of being served with a payment claim, the Respondent has NOT provided the Claimant with a payment schedule and has failed to pay the claimed amount by the due date, the Respondent becomes liable to pay the claimed amount. The Claimant must now make an important decision. Failure to provide a payment schedule creates a statutory debt for the claimed amount which the Claimant is entitled to recover independently of and irrespective of the terms of the construction contract. This means the Claimant must sue in a court of competent jurisdiction for the claimed amount (statutory debt). The time for suing is within 6 years. A Respondent is entitled to defend a claim and avoid paying the Claimant until judgement. Therefore most Claimants wish to avoid the potential delays in payment and costs of suing and elect for optional adjudication (see next point).
  • The notification for optional adjudication is made under section 18(2) of the Act. If the Claimant elects to apply for optional adjudication, the Claimant must notify the Respondent within 10 business days of the due date for payment that they will be proceeding to adjudication . This is called the notice of optional adjudication or section 18(2) notice and must include advice that the Respondent has 2 business days to respond with a payment schedule before the claimant is entitled to apply for adjudication. If after the section 18(2) notice, the payment schedule is still not received or the Claimant disagrees with the scheduled amount, the Claimant has 5 business days from the expiry of the Section 18(2) notice to apply for adjudication.

    Click Payment Schedule NOT served flowchart

AFTER APPLYING FOR ADJUDICATION

  • Within 4 business days of receipt of an application, Adjudicate Today will provide a formal Notification of Acceptance of an Adjudication Application on behalf of the appointed adjudicator.

  • If a payment schedule has been provided within time, the Respondent is eligible to submit an adjudication response. The response should be submitted either within 5 business days after receiving the adjudication application from the Claimant or 2 business days after receiving the Notification of Acceptance of an Adjudication Application from Adjudicate Today, whichever is the later.

  • The Adjudicator has 10 business days from the Notification of Acceptance of an Adjudication Application to make a determination, unless the Claimant agrees to an extension of time.

  • If the Respondent doesn’t pay the determined amount, the Claimant can apply for an Adjudication Certificate 5 business days after the Respondent received the determination unless the Adjudicator determines a later date. The Claimant may also give 2 business days notice of intention to suspend work.

  • If the adjudicated amount exceeds $100,000 either party may have a right to make a review adjudication application. The application must be made within 5 business days after the applicant receives a copy of the determination. 

    Click Review Adjudication flowchart


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