Sequencing the notice of adjudication and the request for the appointment of an adjudicator

In Lane End Developments Construction Ltd v Kingstone Civil Engineering Ltd [2020] EWHC 2338 (TCC) HH Judge Halliwell, sitting as a judge of the High Court, held that an adjudicator did not have jurisdiction to decide a dispute which had been referred to adjudication because the notice of adjudication had been sent after the request had been made for the appointment of an adjudicator. Paragraph 2(1) of the Scheme for Construction Contracts requires that the notice of referral be sent before the request for the appointment of an adjudicator is submitted and the consequence of the failure to properly sequence the process was that the adjudicator was held to have no jurisdiction to reach the decision which he had reached. Further, it was held that there was no basis on which it could be said that the defective appointment had been waived. This was because there was held to be no choice given to the claimant which could attract the operation of waiver or election.