Adjudication DIY Guide

Adjudication Checklist

Is this something you should do yourself?

We would not recommend doing this without at least some prior experience. Why? The Act is not hard to follow, however a failure to comply with the provisions (timeframes are probably the most critical) will most likely result in a rejected application. The end result will be that the opposing party will have a full copy of your failed submission and will be well prepared for the next time you try to adjudicate (if you are able to do so).

It is absolutely vital that you know the answers to the below questions before you attempt to lodge an adjudication application. If you are not sure, get someone competent to give you advice before proceeding.

  • Was your payment claim served on or after the appropriate date? Early payment claims may be invalid (although not always).
  • Is your payment claim valid? This is actually not always an easy answer. It is not as simple as serving an invoice and stating that it is made under the Act. For instance does it adequately identify the construction work to which it relates?
  • Did you receive a payment schedule within the time allowed by the Act (10 business days after you served the payment claim)?
  • Is the payment schedule valid? It must propose an amount to be paid (if any), must relate back to your payment claim and must state reasons why the scheduled amount is less than the claimed amount.
  • Do you know your due date for payment? Again, the contract will usually nominate a due date for payment. However, it cannot be longer than prescribed by the Act.
  • Are you still within the time allowed by the Act to lodge an adjudication application? You have 10 business days after you receive a valid payment schedule, 20 business days after the due date for payment or 10 business days after you served a notice under s 17(2). You must know which of the situations applies to you as it will determine the appropriate steps you need to take.
  • ​Were all the documents served in accordance with the Act, please read our service of documents page.

Failure to correctly comply with the Act in relation to the above items at best should result in a rejected adjudication application and at worst the adjudication application may succeed only to be quashed in the Supreme Court later, read our Adjudication page for more information.

Adjudication Content

Adjudication is done by correspondence, there will be no oral arguments in front of the adjudicator and in almost all cases you will never see the adjudicator.

​​There really is no “correct” way to do an adjudication submission. It is up to you how you put it together, but ideally it should:

  • Start off with an introduction. Briefly describe the project and what you did and when.
  • Go into details of your payment claim, why are you due the money? Do this for every item.
  • Discuss why the reasons given (if any) by the respondent for non-payment are invalid.
  • Attach and refer in your submission to all the evidence you think is relevant.
  • Your argument should be structured around your contract, for example you must demonstrate that the money you are claiming for the work carried out are due and payable under the contract. Ideally you should also prove that the reasons for non-payment (by the respondent) are invalid and not in accordance with the contract.
  • Preferably you should know the basic contract law principles.
  • Very rarely will you be allowed to submit any additional information to the adjudicator and as such you must include all the information, evidence, arguments in your original application. Should you submit unsolicited additional information, it will most likely be ignored by the adjudicator.
  • You have to demonstrate that you have carried out the work. Merely stating that my contract is for $40,000 and this is why my claim is $40,000 usually will not be sufficient.
  • The adjudicator is not there to babysit you. You must explain what the evidence is and how it supports your case. It’s not good enough to just attach a bunch of photos or emails and hope that the adjudicator will make sense of it.
  • State facts, don’t cry to the adjudicator of how bad you were treated.
  • Keep in mind that while most adjudicators have good knowledge of construction practices, they are not experts in every field. Your arguments must be understood by a person who does not necessarily know all technicalities and jargons of your trade (e.g. electrical).
  • A good test would be to give a draft version of your application to someone who does not know the project and see if they can understand what you are trying to argue.