Rain on a yard office window on a Monday morning, a printed notice on the desk.

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What is adjudication, and can I use it to get paid for construction work?

The short answer

Yes. In a construction contract1, either side can refer a dispute to an adjudicator at any time5, and the adjudicator must decide within 28 days of referral8. The decision binds on delivery8 and holds until a court, an arbitrator or an agreement replaces it: the loser pays now and argues later. Work on a home the client lives in3 is excluded.

Mara, WolfX research desk
Written with AI, checked by a person · 8 October 2026

England and Wales only. WolfX is software, not a law firm.

The numbers

The adjudication clock.

7 daysTo refer the dispute to the adjudicator, counted from the date on your notice.8

28 daysFor the adjudicator to decide, counted from the referral.5 8

+14 daysThe adjudicator can add this, but only if the referring party consents.5 8

What you can add

A £22,400 unpaid application, taken to adjudication

Say a fit-out subcontractor applied for £22,400 for work done. The final date for payment was Wednesday 15 July 2026. Nothing was paid, and no pay less notice (the formal notice that they will pay less) came. Interest is 8% over the Bank of England base rate11: 11.75% a year12 for anything that went late between 1 July and 31 December 2026. The notice of adjudication went out on Monday 20 July. The referral followed on Wednesday 22 July; the latest day was Monday 27 July. The decision is due by Wednesday 19 August, 28 days after the referral.

£22,400.00The unpaid application

£252.38Interest: £22,400 × 11.75% ÷ 365 × 35 days11

£100.00Fixed sum (debts of £10,000 or more)10

£22,752.38Claimed to 19 August 2026

Then it grows by £7.21 a day until it is paid. The adjudicator decides the interest, with an eye to any interest term in your contract8, so ask for the interest and the fixed sum in the notice. The adjudicator's fee is not in this sum: ask for it first.

The road ahead

Eight steps. The clock starts at step 4.

Step 1: Check the work counts
Building, fitting out, scaffolding, installing heating or lighting and decorating2 count, and so do design and surveying1 on them. Delivering materials alone does not.
A contract where one party lives in the house, or will,3 is outside the Act. A subcontract on that house is usually covered, because neither party lives there.
Cost: FreeTime: 10 minutes
Step 2: Find your contract's adjudication clause
Look for a clause naming an adjudicator or a body that picks one, and the address for notices. If there is none, or no written contract, the default rules apply5: the Scheme for Construction Contracts. The steps below follow it. A clause that meets the Act also gives the adjudicator 28 days5.
A contract made on or after 1 October 2011 need not be in writing4 to count.
Cost: FreeTime: 15 minutes
Step 3: Write your referral before you send the notice
Adjudication suits a dispute with a paper trail and a clear sum: an unpaid application, a valuation, a final account, a retention. The Act counts any difference as a dispute5.
The referral is the hard part: it sets out your case with copies of the contract and the papers you rely on8, and the other side gets a copy at the same time. You can use any adviser, legally qualified or not8, unless your contract says otherwise.
Cost: FreeTime: 1 to 2 days
Step 4: Serve the notice of adjudication
Send the letter below to every other party to the contract. It must say four things8: the dispute and the parties, where and when it arose, what you want, and the names and addresses. Name the right party and the right contract: the same dispute, once decided, cannot be adjudicated again8.
Cost: FreeTime: Same day
Step 5: Get an adjudicator, then refer within 7 days of the notice
Ask the person your contract names. If it names none, ask the nominating body it names, or failing that an adjudicator nominating body8: a body that publicly offers to pick one. Ask the day you serve the notice: the referral is due within 7 days of the date on it8.
When the adjudicator accepts, ask for the fee in writing before you refer. The Scheme sets no figure8: the adjudicator names a reasonable amount.
Cost: Ask for the fee firstTime: Inside 7 days of the notice
Step 6: Answer the adjudicator, then wait for the decision
Follow the adjudicator's requests and directions8. The decision is due 28 days after the adjudicator gets the referral8: 42 with your consent, longer if you both agree. Ask for reasons: the adjudicator must give them if you ask8.
Cost: Your timeTime: 28 days
Step 7: Settle who pays the fee
The adjudicator decides how the fee is split8, and each of you can be asked for the whole of what stays unpaid. A contract term on costs works only if it lets the adjudicator allocate the fees, or you agree it in writing after the notice6.
The Scheme says nothing about the loser paying the other side's costs8; it speaks only of the adjudicator's fee. Plan to bear your own.
Cost: The adjudicator's fee, or your shareTime: Usually in the decision
Step 8: Collect the money, or enforce the decision
Pay or be paid on delivery of the decision8, unless the adjudicator sets another time. If the loser does not pay, the decision is enforced in court: the court rules list enforcing it9 among the claims that suit the Technology and Construction Court.
That is the point to hire a solicitor who does construction disputes.
Cost: Free if they pay; court fees if notTime: From delivery

A letter you can copy

Notice of adjudication, ready to send

Send it once your referral is drafted and you have read your contract's adjudication clause. The 7 days to refer count from the date at the top.

New email

SubjectNotice of adjudication:

Dear , NOTICE OF ADJUDICATION I give notice, under , of my intention to refer the dispute described below to adjudication. 1. The dispute and the parties The parties are (the referring party) and (the responding party). The contract is . The dispute is that . 2. Where and when it arose The dispute arose under that contract, in the works at , on . 3. The redress I seek A decision that must pay , with interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 from until payment, the fixed sum under that Act, and the adjudicator's fees and expenses. 4. Names and addresses Referring party: , . Responding party: , . I will ask to act as adjudicator or to select one, and I will refer the dispute to the adjudicator within 7 days of the date of this notice. If you believe any of this is wrong, please tell me straight away and say why. Kind regards,

Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.

Send it to every other party to the contract, by email and by post to the address the contract gives for notices. Date it the day you send it and keep the sent copy and proof of posting: the 7 days run from the date of the notice. If your contract has its own adjudication clause, follow its wording and its steps for the notice. The four numbered headings are what the Scheme asks a notice to cover. If your contract sets its own interest or late-payment terms, use them in heading 3 in place of the interest and fixed sum.

When not to bother

When it isn't worth it

The sum is small. Add the adjudicator's fee and your own time to the cost before you start. If they would eat most of the sum, send a letter before action first.
The work is outside the Act. A home the client lives in3, or an order that only supplies materials, has no right to adjudicate under it. Use a letter, then a court claim. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules.
They are going under. A decision does not make a company with no money able to pay. If they are in liquidation or administration, the road is different.
A letter would do. If no pay less notice came in time, the notified sum is due in full7. A short letter with the sum and a date may do.
It is mostly a defects row. A big counterclaim over defects is a technical case on a 28-day clock, and the adjudicator can appoint experts8 to weigh it. Have a solicitor who does construction disputes read the contract first.

The Wolf's note

Adjudication favours whoever arrives with the papers in order. The 7 days start on the date of the notice, so write the referral first and the notice second. After that the adjudicator's clock, not the argument, sets the pace.

Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX

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