The Subcontractors Blueprint

Disputes Mini-Series: Four Routes to Dispute Resolution

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Episode 148 of The Subcontractors Blueprint opens a new mini-series on disputes, with host Jacob Austin mapping the four routes a subcontractor can take when the work is signed off but the payments have stopped. Jacob lays out commercial conversation, statutory adjudication, mediation, and the heavyweight options of arbitration and litigation- what each one costs in pounds and in time, and when to walk through it. He explains why doing nothing is the real risk, how marking talks "without prejudice" protects a settlement offer, and why the strength of your records decides every outcome. The message is plain: see all your options first, then choose your route with your eyes open.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Why doing nothing on an unpaid account quietly weakens your position every single week — and teaches the other side they can do it again.
  • The cheapest door in the building, plus the one tool that lets you put an offer on the table without it ever being used against you later.
  • How adjudication hands you a binding decision in 28 days, and why "pay now, argue later" was written into law for your industry specifically.
  • When mediation beats a straight win-or-lose fight — and why flatly refusing it can count against you when a court looks at the case.
  • Why arbitration is only ever on the table if your contract selected it, so you need to know what yours says before a dispute lands.
  • The one question to keep in the back of your mind on every job — because evidence, not who's right, is what actually gets you paid.

    • BEST BITS

    "A dispute is not a failure."

    "Doing nothing isn't the safe option."

    "You try the cheap door before you try an expensive one."

    "The decision stands, the money has to move."

    "Winning on paper and getting paid are different things."

    "Miss the contract detail and the commercial risk falls on you."

    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

    LinkedIn — www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-austin/
    Instagram — www.instagram.com/subcontractorsblueprint/
    www.subcontractorsblueprint.uk/all-links

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    The Subcontractors BlueprintBy Jacob Austin