Tim Willis

The Midlands region held a successful re-launch meeting on 25 June at the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The meeting was attended by about 50 people.

Professor Rudi Klein gave a thought provoking presentation “ Adjudication where are we now?”, raising a number of issues which he considered worthy of debate and possible amendment to the legislation.

Professor Klein referred to the radical nature of the Housing, Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act which is a radical statutory intervention into the commercial arrangements between parties.

Almost all of the cases concerning adjudication that you read about in these pages concern challenges to the adjudicator’s jurisdiction, which are raised as a defence to an application to the Court to enforce the adjudicator’s decision.

The parties will by that stage have gone through an adjudication process – albeit one will be objecting to the adjudicator’s jurisdiction.

Tony Bingham spoke to an audience of 35 on the Blue Standard Approach to Adjudication. The event held at the Birmingham Chamber Commerce and Industry on 28 July attracted a mixture of existing members and new members and provided a forum for debating the role of the adjudicator.

The Midlands Region held an evening talk on 23 June in which the question of the desirability and purpose of a Code of Conduct for adjudicators was debated.

Delia Dumaresq presented arguments as to the need for and desirability of such a code and John Riches responded as to why such a code was not necessary.