Adjudication timetable calculator
Work out the key dates in an adjudication under the Scheme for Construction Contracts in England and Wales: the deadlines for appointing the adjudicator, the last day to refer the dispute, and when the decision is due.
A guide, not legal advice. These dates follow the Scheme, which applies where your contract has no adjudication procedure that complies with the Act. Your contract or the adjudicator’s directions may set different dates, and the facts of your case matter. Check your contract and take advice before relying on a date.
How the Scheme timetable works
Either party can start an adjudication at any time by giving written notice of adjudication to every other party. The referring party then asks the adjudicator named in the contract, or a nominating body, to act. A named adjudicator has 2 days from receiving the request to say whether they will act. A nominating body has 5 days to send its selection, and the person it selects has 2 days to confirm.
The referring party must then refer the dispute to the adjudicator in a referral notice, with the relevant parts of the contract and the documents it relies on, not later than 7 days from the date of the notice of adjudication, sending copies to the other side at the same time. That leaves little room if a nominating body uses its full 5 days, so make the request early.
The adjudicator must reach a decision within 28 days of receiving the referral notice. The referring party alone can agree to extend that to 42 days. Any longer period needs both parties to agree, after the referral notice has been given.
How days are counted
Periods start the day after. Section 116(2) of the Act says that a period after or from a date begins immediately after that date. So 7 days from a notice given on Monday 1 March 2027 ends on Monday 8 March 2027.
Christmas Day, Good Friday and bank holidays are left out. Section 116(3) leaves out Christmas Day, Good Friday and any bank holiday in England and Wales. Weekends still count, and a deadline is not moved if it lands on a Saturday or Sunday.
Why there is a switch. Section 116 applies to periods “for the purposes of” Part II of the Act. The Scheme is made under Part II and takes effect as implied terms of the contract (s.114(4)), and it is widely treated as following the same rule, including for the 7-day referral and the 28-day decision period. The calculator leaves those days out by default. The point is not entirely free from doubt, and the cost of getting it wrong is high: a late referral or a late decision can lead to a challenge to the adjudicator’s jurisdiction. Where the two methods give different dates we show both. If in doubt, refer by the earlier date and ask the adjudicator to decide by it too.
Bank holiday dates come from gov.uk and cover 2019 to 2028. Outside those years only Christmas Day and Good Friday are left out, and the calculator warns you.
The rules behind each date
References are to Part I of the Schedule to the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998, as amended in 2011, and to the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (HGCRA).
- Notice of adjudication
- Any party may give written notice of its intention to refer a dispute to adjudication, at any time. Scheme Part I para 1 and HGCRA s.108(2)(a).
- Named adjudicator to say whether they will act
- Within 2 days of receiving the request. Scheme Part I para 2(2). The same 2 days applies to a replacement under para 6(2).
- Nominating body to send its selection
- Within 5 days of receiving the request. The person selected then has 2 days from receiving the request to say whether they will act. Scheme Part I para 5(1) and (3).
- Last day to refer the dispute
- Not later than 7 days from the date of the notice of adjudication. Scheme Part I para 7(1). The Act requires a timetable aimed at appointment and referral within 7 days of the notice (HGCRA s.108(2)(b)).
- Decision due
- Not later than 28 days after receipt of the referral notice; 42 days if the referring party consents; or a longer period agreed by the parties after the referral notice. Scheme Part I para 19(1)(a), (b) and (c) and HGCRA s.108(2)(c) and (d).
- If no decision is reached in time
- Any party may serve a fresh notice of adjudication. Scheme Part I para 19(2).
- Counting days
- Periods begin the day after the starting date, and Christmas Day, Good Friday and bank holidays are left out. HGCRA s.116.
Before you rely on these dates
- The Scheme applies only where your contract has no adjudication procedure that complies with the Act (s.108(5)). Many standard forms have their own rules, and an adjudicator’s directions set the dates for the response and later submissions.
- The decision period runs from when the adjudicator receives the referral notice. If you know that date, enter it.
- It covers England and Wales only. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules.
- Part II of the Act does not apply to contracts with a residential occupier (s.106), or to some kinds of work (s.105(2)).
- Check what your contract says about how notices must be given and when they count as received.
Facing an adjudication, or thinking of starting one?
Mill Court Consultants prepare and respond to adjudications for contractors and subcontractors, from the notice of adjudication and referral to the response and beyond, in offshore wind, power, infrastructure and building.