Adjudication

Green states have legislation, green do not Several jurisdictions, within Australia and elsewhere, have now passed legislation providing for adjudication of construction disputes. As yet, South Australian, Tasmania and ACT have yet to pass legislation. These pages are intended as a convenient gateway into some of the available resources.

The Jurisdictions

The jurisdictions that have legislation are:

Effective start date	Jurisdiction	Legislation	Government web site
1 May 1998	England & Wales	Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998 Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act (England and Wales) (Commencement No. 4) Order 1998 Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Exclusion Order 1998.	Department of Trade and Industry
1 May 1998	Scotland	Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (Scotland) (Commencement No. 5) Order 1998 The Scheme for Construction Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 1998. The Construction Contracts (Scotland) Exclusion Order 1998
1 June 1999	Northern Ireland	The Scheme for Construction Contracts in Northern Ireland Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 The Construction Contracts Exclusion Order (Northern Ireland) 1999,
20 March 2000	New South Wales	Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Amendment Act 2002 Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Regulation 2001	Department of Works and Services
January 2003	Victoria	Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Regulation 2003	Building Commission.
1 April 2003	New Zealand	Construction Contracts Act 2002
1 October 2004	Queensland	Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 Building and Construction Industry Payments Regulation 2004	Building & Construction Industry Payments Agency
1 January 2004	Western Australia	Construction Contracts Act 2004 (click here for pdf) Construction Contracts Regulations 2004	Department of Housing and Works
1 July 2005	Northern Territory	Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004 Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Regulations 2004	Department of Justice
1 April 2005	Singapore	Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2004	Building and Construction Authority

Comparison of Australian Legislation

See our tabular summary

Contractual Arrangements

Can the parties agree to adjudicate? In some other jurisdictions, such as the UK, adjudication is a matter of agreement; the way the legislation works is by providing that, if the parties to a construction contract have not agreed a compliant adjudication arrangement, the law will imply one. In Australia, the legislation works by setting up a statutory scheme.

But there is also a Contractual Adjudication Scheme prepared by the Contractual Adjudication Group, which provides an alternative.