Jurisdiction and the meaning of dispute

Under s108 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 a dispute arising out of a construction contract may be referred to adjudication. The adjudicator is then required to give a ruling on the issue before him, and that decision is provisionally binding unless reversed on appeal by an arbitrator or the courts. Adjudication is designed to provide a speedy mechanism for the resolution of disputes, and in particular will operate where a dispute arises in the course of the construction work being carried out so that work can continue while the dispute is resolved. However, under s107 of the 1996 Act, the agreement must be in writing: if it is not, then the rules on adjudication are inapplicable. In Redworth Construction Ltd v Brookdale Healthcare Ltd [2006] EWHC 1994 (TCC) the main issue was a factual one: whether the parties had entered into a written agreement at all (so that adjudication was available) and if so whether they had done so on JCT terms (those terms incorporating an adjudication provision). A supplementary issue was whether the parties were actually in dispute.