The Subcontractors Blueprint

Adjudication, Records, and the £180,000.00 Lesson.

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Jacob Austin unpacks adjudication in Episode 138 of The Subcontractors Blueprint — cutting through the fear around it to explain why it's a commercial lever, not a last resort. He breaks down two routes available under the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996: the smash-and-grab adjudication for enforcement of a notified sum when pay-less notices are missed, and the true value route for deeper valuation disputes. More critically, he explains what makes a claim winnable - and why most subcontractors lose before the adjudicator is ever appointed, through poor records, missed notice windows, and applications that don't meet the statutory standard.

Key Takeaways

  • A smash-and-grab adjudication only works if your payment application clearly states the sum and the basis of calculation, a vague applications undermine your position before the argument even begins.
  • Under the S&T v Grove Court of Appeal decision, if payer fails to serve a valid pay-less notice, they must pay the notified sum in full first - any argument about valuation happens after payment.
  • Subcontractors don't lose adjudications because their claims were wrong — they lose because records didn't exist or can't withstand scrutiny from someone who wasn't on the project.
  • A site diary written the day an event occurs by the person who was present carries significantly more evidential weight than a narrative compiled from memory months later.
  • Under JCT, a verbal instruction confirmed back in writing becomes as good as a written instruction if the contractor doesn't challenge it within a reasonable period — most subcontractors never do this and leave recoverable cost completely unprotected.
  • The 28-day 3rd-party test: could someone with no knowledge of your project follow the events from contract start to the sum you're claiming, using only your documents? If not, your records need work.

    • Best Bits

    • "Adjudication doesn't have to be a last resort. It's a commercial lever."
    • "By the time you're in a 28 day adjudication, you do not have time to go back and rebuild a paper trail."
    • "A site diary with gaps can be weaker than no site diary at all, because the gaps become the story."
    • "The contemporaneous record is your witness, so you need to build it like one."
    • "If you serve incorrectly or to the wrong address and notice that could otherwise have been perfect can become invalid."
    • "Your records are your case. Contemporaneous, traceable, and contract correct records are your friend in adjudication."

      • Host Bio

      Jacob Austin is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with over a decade of experience in UK construction, having worked across education, health, and residential developments from £1,000s to over £300m of concurrent projects with some of the industry's leading contractors. Through The Subcontractors Blueprint podcast and The Subcontractors Blueprint Academy, he's on a mission to give the UK's 1 million SME subcontractors the commercial knowledge they need to protect their margins, manage risk, and build stronger businesses. His approach is direct, practical, and grounded in real contract experience- no theory, no fluff.

      Links

      www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-austin

      www.instagram.com/subcontractorsblueprint

      www.subcontractorsblueprint.uk/all-links

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      The Subcontractors BlueprintBy Jacob Austin