A new adjudication procedure is to be published on 18 March to provide a simple and cost-effective process to make adjudication more accessible for SME’s
The Construction Industry Council will publish a ‘Low Value Disputes Model Adjudication Procedure’ (CIC LVD MAP) in March.
Adjudication is currently unaffordable to many SMEs, and the CIC LVD MAP encourages the use of adjudication as a disputes resolution process where the amount in dispute is small.
Simple and cost-effective adjudication procedure
The publication of the CIC LVD MAP First Edition is in response to growing construction industry concerns about the increasing complexity and prohibitive costs of adjudication. The purpose is to provide a simple and cost-effective procedure to make adjudication more accessible for SME’s and others involved in lower value claims – it is aimed at disputes where claims are for £50,000 or less, and the issues in dispute are relatively uncomplicated.
Another aim is to allow newly qualified Adjudicators to gain experience deciding Low Value Disputes.
The CIC LVD MAP First Edition was developed by a working group chaired by Martin Burns, RICS head of ADR research and development, and which included representatives from other key industry bodies such as the Adjudication Society, CIC, CEDR, ICE and the RICS.
The CIC LVD MAP complies with the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 as amended by Part 8 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 (the “Construction Act”).
Streamlined adjudication
The new adjudication procedure is the result of two consultations with the construction industry and other stakeholders, from which comprehensive and informed feedback was considered. The document sets out a streamlined adjudication procedure for Low Value Disputes and, by linking the Adjudicator’s fee to the amount claimed, provides certainty as to how much the Adjudicator will be paid for making an Adjudicator’s Decision.
By including an outline timetable for the procedural stages it provides a flexible yet simple to understand approach to the key elements of the adjudication process.
The CIC LVD MAP is supported by ten Participating Adjudicator Nominating Bodies (ANBs).
The ten Participating ANBs are:
- Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR)
- Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)
- Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)
- Construction Industry Council (CIC)
- Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)
- Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET)
- Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)
- Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
- Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
- UKANB Limited (UK Adjudicators)
