ABSTRACT
A system of statutory adjudication operates under the Watertight Homes Resolution Services Act 2006 (NZ), in relation to claims by the owners of leaky homes. The legislation represents the most radical statutory intervention ever made in the operation of construction contracts. The statutory payment provisions are complemented by provisions concerning statutory adjudication. It is intended to operate as a fast-track form of dispute resolution that gives parties to a construction contract a quick, provisionally binding decision as to their rights and obligations, so as to ensure that if there is a dispute over a person's entitlement to payment under a construction contract, that dispute can be resolved speedily by adjudication. And any decision of the adjudicator that is favourable to the person who performed the work in question may be relied upon by that person as a basis for seeking payment of the amount determined by the adjudicator to be due.
