The 100-day clock: how a CIPAA adjudication actually runs

The appeal of statutory adjudication under the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 is its speed. A payment dispute that might sit in arbitration for two years can produce a binding, enforceable decision in around 100 working days. But that speed cuts both ways: the same statutory timetable that gets you a fast decision will punish a party who misses a deadline. Here is how the clock actually runs.

Step 1 — The payment claim (s.5)

The process begins when the unpaid party serves a payment claim. It must identify the amount claimed, the works to which it relates and the due date for payment. This document is not a formality — a defective payment claim can be challenged later, so it is worth getting right before it goes out.

Step 2 — The payment response: 10 working days (s.6)

The paying party has 10 working days to serve a payment response, admitting or disputing the claim. If it serves nothing, it is deemed to dispute the entire claim. Either way, the dispute is now crystallised and the unpaid party can move to adjudication.

Step 3 — Notice of adjudication and appointment (ss.8, 21–23)

The claimant serves a notice of adjudication describing the dispute. The parties then try to agree on an adjudicator; if they cannot within 10 working days, either party asks the Director of the Asian International Arbitration Centre to appoint one, which the Director does within about 5 working days of the request.

Step 4 — The submissions (ss.9–11)

Once the adjudicator accepts appointment, the exchange is tight: the claimant serves the adjudication claim within 10 working days; the respondent serves the adjudication response within 10 working days of receiving it; and the claimant may reply within 5 working days. Each of these is a hard deadline.

Step 5 — The decision: 45 (+30) working days (s.12)

The adjudicator must decide within 45 working days from the end of the period for the adjudication response, extendable by a further 30 working days only if both parties agree. The decision is binding and enforceable, and stays binding until the dispute is finally resolved by arbitration, court or settlement.

Why the paperwork wins

Notice that almost every step is a document served within a deadline. The merits — who is right about the money — only get decided at the very end. In our experience most adjudications that fail, fail earlier: a payment claim that did not comply, a notice that misdescribed the dispute, a submission served a day late. Map the deadlines from your claim date at the outset and diarise every one. Our CIPAA Adjudication Timeline Planner does exactly that.