If you need advice in connection with commencing or defending a smash and grab adjudication, Altion Law’s smash and grab adjudication solicitors and barristers are ideally placed to assist. We work with construction companies, contractors, subcontractors, and employers across a wide range of disputes, combining specialist construction law knowledge with genuine commercial understanding.
For a confidential discussion, call us today on 01908 414990, email us at Hello@altion-law.co.uk, or complete our Free Enquiry Form and we will call you back.
Our smash and grab adjudication solicitors can support and guide you from the start of a smash and grab adjudication until its conclusion. Just some of the tasks we regularly undertake include the following:
- Reviewing the contractual payment timetable and checking whether payment notices and pay less notices were served in time, in the correct form, and in accordance with the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.
- Assessing whether a smash and grab route is the best approach, or whether a true value adjudication better serves the client’s commercial interests.
- Preparing the notice of adjudication, the referral notice, and the supporting evidence, and managing the adjudication timetable, including responding to any jurisdictional or procedural challenges raised by the other side.
- Advising on the steps available if the losing party does not comply with the adjudicator’s decision voluntarily.
- Identifying the strongest grounds of challenge quickly, including notice validity arguments and jurisdiction.
- Pursuing a true value adjudication to recover any overpayment following a smash and grab adjudication.
- Helping clients implement better payment administration processes to reduce the risk of the same issues arising on future projects.
Why choose our smash and grab adjudication solicitors?
The outcome of a smash and grab adjudication can have immediate and significant consequences for a construction business. For the party pursuing payment, the outcome will have a direct impact on its cashflow. Construction businesses operate on tight margins, and unpaid applications, withheld interim payments, or disputed final account sums can put genuine strain on a company’s ability to pay its own suppliers, workforce, and overheads. A successful smash and grab adjudication can unlock that money within weeks, without the need for lengthy and expensive litigation.
For the paying party, the exposure is just as significant. An adjudicator’s decision is temporarily binding and enforceable through the courts, meaning they are generally required to pay up even if they intend to challenge the underlying valuation later. This ‘pay now, argue later’ principle means that failing to serve a compliant payment or pay less notice in time can result in a significant sum leaving the business before any true value dispute is resolved.
Given the importance of smash and grab adjudications, effective legal support is crucial. At Altion Law, we offer our clients:
- Legal expertise
Construction law is a specialist area, and the outcomes in individual cases often turn on precise technical points. For example, it may be necessary to establish the content requirements for a valid pay less notice, whether service was effective, whether the notice of adjudication accurately captured the dispute referred, and whether the adjudicator has jurisdiction. Altion Law’s construction disputes team has the depth of knowledge to identify and argue these points effectively, and the experience of both bringing and defending adjudications to present them in a way that carries weight with adjudicators.
- Cost efficiency
Construction adjudications operate on tight timetables, typically 28 days from referral to decision and extendable to 42 days or longer by agreement, which means legal costs can escalate quickly if work is not managed properly.
At Altion Law, our experience in the area enables us to devise and implement strategies swiftly and cost-efficiently, and for certain matters we can offer a fast, fixed-fee initial consultation to review your position and advise on your options before you commit to any larger expenditure. Our focus is on getting the right result as cost-effectively as possible, without cutting corners on the legal work that matters.
- Commercial expertise
Our team combines the skills of solicitors and barristers with commercial experience gained working for public sector bodies and FTSE 100 businesses, which means that our advice is grounded in an understanding of how construction businesses actually operate. We do not give you abstract legal analysis; we give you practical advice you can act on.
- Client focus
Our approach is built around client retention and recommendation, not billable-hour targets or a conveyor belt of new files. In practice, that means you will speak to a specialist solicitor who understands your business and the dispute with which you are concerned, and will not be passed around a team unfamiliar with you and your case. We also understand that receiving a notice of adjudication, or deciding whether to issue one, is often stressful and time-critical, and we respond accordingly, giving clear advice quickly so that you can make informed decisions with confidence.
Speak to a specialist today
Smash and grab adjudications move fast. Whether you are considering bringing a claim, have just received a notice of adjudication, or simply want an early view on your payment notice position before things escalate, Altion Law’s smash and grab adjudication solicitors are ready to help.
For a confidential discussion, call us today on 01908 414990, email us at Hello@altion-law.co.uk, or complete our Free Enquiry Form and we will call you back.
