Statutory construction adjudication: four years on

It is nearly four years since part 2 of the UK's Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996—generally referred to as the ‘Construction Act’—came into force and, with it, the automatic right to a 28-day adjudication to settle disputes over payment. This paper reports that, despite some rigorous challenges in the courts, the legislation has remained largely intact and is achieving its key objective of freeing-up cash flow with the British construction industry. It concludes that despite the dire predictions made when it was enacted, the Construction Act may well prove to have been the single most beneficial change in UK construction law ever.