WA: Respondent FAILS to serve a Notice of Dispute within Time

A payment response (the Act calls this a notice of dispute) need only be prepared if the respondent does not propose to pay the full amount claimed by the due date for payment.

Not paying the full claimed amount and not providing a notice of dispute (the contract may give it another name) before the due date for payment allows the applicant rights to pursue payment.

The applicant can:

• sue in court or commence any dispute resolution process permitted by the contract (not recommended as both expensive and lengthy); or
• apply in writing to Adjudicate Today for appointment of an adjudicator; and/or
• request in writing for Adjudicate Today to seek to facilitate agreement with the respondent for the appointment of a preferred adjudicator. If a party nominates an adjudicator and the other party refuses consent to that appointment that adjudicator will not be appointed; or
• seek the respondent's written agreement to the appointment of a preferred adjudicator. It may be that the contract requires, subject to the agreement of the adjudicator, appointment of a nominated adjudicator.

Any adjudication application must be made within 90 business days after the expiry of the due date for payment.

Seek to recover payment by giving notice of adjudication

Almost all applicants choose to go to adjudication as this avenue avoids the risk of lengthy and expensive litigation. Adjudication is a quick and informal process introduced by government to "keep the money flowing in the building and construction industry". It represents an alternative to the slow, expensive and difficult process of going to court. Adjudication was requested by many in the industry.

The right to make an adjudication application only arises after the due date for payment has passed. A common reason for an adjudication application not being properly made is that the applicant gives notice of adjudication either too early or too late because they have wrongly calculated the due date for payment.

Please move to the next step on the WA flowchart by selecting either "Full or any part of claimed amount NOT paid by Due Date for Payment" or "Full Payment made by Due Date for Payment. Process under the Act complete" depending on the circumstances.