Proactive risk mitigation, matched with prompt dispute advice — advisory support that adds to your commercial acumen across TIME · COST · CONTRACTS, through both phases of the project lifecycle. Serving the UK, Ireland, the EU, the GCC and Canada.
From ERs to final certificate — the documents, the machinery and the record that protect the scheme.
From tender qualification to true value — entitlement built in real time, and defended.
From due diligence to drawdown to step-in — security that stays liquid because the record stays current.
One side per matter, always — every instruction is conflicts-checked, with the outcome confirmed within one working day.
Major statutory shifts are monitored continuously, so every determination, tender review and claim position reflects the current law — not last year's.
Payment mechanisms, notices and pay-less positions, true-value adjudication, suspension rights — tracked through the evolving case law that decides them.
Gateways, duty-holder and competence requirements, and the golden thread — reflected in Employer's Requirements, appointments and contract administration.
The new public procurement regime — procedures, transparency notices and exclusion grounds — factored into procurement strategy and tender management.
The reformed framework for England-seated arbitration — summary disposal, the governing-law default and recast court powers — reflected in arbitration support and multi-tier escalation strategy.
After Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil, the courts can order parties into ADR — embedded in the CPR from October 2024. Mediation positioned early, before positions harden and costs sanctions bite.
Ipso facto protection for supplies: termination-on-insolvency clauses restrained in supply contracts — screened within termination support and supply-chain reviews before any election is made.
Thought-leadership at practice level — the disciplines that build and enforce the project record, published as four practice-note series. No clients, no projects, ever; the reading destination is LinkedIn.
Statutory adjudication under the Construction Act 1996 — notices, jurisdiction, true value, enforcement.
The delivery-phase disciplines that create the record — baseline to final account.
NEC4 ECC administered as machinery — programme, early warning, compensation events, W-option disputes.
When the contract is not enough — warranties, bonds, insurance clauses, insolvency and termination.
The 1999 and 2017 Books run as machinery — Sub-Clause 20.2 claims, Engineer's determinations under 3.7, DAAB practice — for GCC and international work.
Empower stakeholders by proactively addressing risk to prevent cost overruns and delays — with robust structures ready to manage claims and resolve disputes.
A proactive service model across all phases, from risk assessment to dispute resolution — anticipate early, prevent complications, represent expertly when disputes arise.
Seasoned professionals across project management, legal compliance and risk assessment — preventive strategies and practical solutions in balance.
The elements behind the name reflect the legal divisions of the work: construction contracts; service and consultancy agreements; and commercial damages. A practice-area motif, not a map — service jurisdictions are stated separately: UK · Ireland · EU · GCC · Canada.
Whoever you are — end user, developer, funder, design team, lawyer or contractor — the team assembles around your side of the table.
Advice arrives while it can still change the outcome — delivered cost-efficiently, framed for the decision at hand, never hedged into uselessness.
Authority lines tracked, annual industry reporting reviewed, continuous professional development embedded — the advice is current because the practice is. The practice library is maintained against primary sources and the current editions of the leading protocols, standard-form suites and treatises, with a continuing update discipline.
Ethical, professional and technical standards held at the highest level on every engagement — the same rigour whether the matter is routine or existential.
Long-term client relationships built on a deepening understanding of each client's projects, pressures and goals — the trusted-advisor seat, earned repeatedly.
“Independent analysis that stands up to scrutiny.”
Forensic quantum and delay analysis, independent expert evidence and Earned Value insight — prepared to the standard the tribunal expects, and delivered by practitioners who have administered the contracts they now examine.
Acting for instructed party-side or as independent expert — never both in the same matter; conflict check within one working day
When Quantico is instructed as an independent expert, our duty is to the tribunal — not to the instructing party, and not to Quantico's commercial interest. Expert evidence is prepared in accordance with Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules and its Practice Direction, the Civil Justice Council's Guidance for the Instruction of Experts, and — in arbitration — the CIArb Protocol for the Use of Party-Appointed Expert Witnesses, as the forum requires.
Because Quantico also acts party-side — in commercial management, claims preparation and party representation in adjudication — every prospective expert appointment is conflict-checked before acceptance. What you get in return is an expert whose opinions are formed the same way whichever side instructs them.
The law itself draws the line, and Quantico holds it: as claims consultants we prepare and prosecute the client's case; as independent expert our overriding duty is to the tribunal, under CPR Part 35 and CIArb standards. The two chairs are never occupied in the same matter — the conflict check enforces the line. You always know which chair is taken, and the tribunal always gets the duty it is owed.
The duties held on every appointment run wider than the dispute: the contract and its machinery; the liability matrix; limitation horizons; the insurance architecture and the security schedule; the delivery-phase record-building disciplines; endings; and every resolution forum — for employers, contractors and funders alike, conflicts checked.
CPR Part 35, CJC guidance and the CIArb protocol govern every instruction, whichever forum hears the matter.
Every prospective appointment is screened against current and past engagements before acceptance — and we tell you the outcome straight away.
Where we have advised a party, we will not accept an independent-expert instruction on the same dispute. Advisory and expert roles stay separate, always.
Michael J Pratt is an expert quantum consultant & delay analyst with 30+ years across the UK, EU and GCC, spanning JCT, NEC and FIDIC administration on programmes to AED ~4.00bn in capital value. Appointments span adjudication, arbitration and litigation support, developed and defended for employers, contractors and funders alike.
Tell us the forum, the form of contract and where the matter stands. A view and a next step within one working day — enquiries handled in strict confidence.
Instruct an independent expert →Statutory adjudication under the Construction Act 1996 resolves construction disputes in as little as 28 days — and the decision binds until finally determined by litigation in the Technology and Construction Court, arbitration, or agreement. Whether you are chasing a notified sum or defending one, the outcome usually turns on work done long before the Notice of Adjudication is served. That is where Quantico sits.
s.108, Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (as amended by the LDEDC Act 2009) · Scheme for Construction Contracts (SI 1998/649, as amended)
Every party to a construction contract has a statutory right to refer a dispute to adjudication at any time — before, during, or after the works. An independent adjudicator, appointed within seven days, decides the dispute within twenty-eight. The decision must be complied with immediately, and the TCC enforces adjudicators' decisions robustly by summary judgment, even where the adjudicator got the facts or the law wrong. Speed is deliberately given precedence over perfection: the right answer is subordinated to a fast one, and the merits can be revisited later.
Most adjudications are about money — and most money adjudications are about notices. Under s.111 of the Act, the payer must pay the notified sum by the final date for payment. If no valid Payment Notice or Pay Less Notice is served in time — by mistake, oversight, or otherwise — the payee's own application stands as the notified sum, right or wrong, and an adjudicator will order it paid in full. The industry calls this a "smash and grab"; the courts prefer payment notice dispute, because the referring party is simply enforcing a statutory right to cash flow. Whole payment positions turn on whether a notice stated the sum considered due, the basis of its calculation, was clearly labelled, correctly served, and landed within the prescribed period — and, increasingly, whether it reflected a genuine assessment rather than a placeholder.
If the contract's adjudication clause falls short of s.108 in any respect, the statutory Scheme replaces it wholesale. Payment clauses that fall short are patched only where deficient. Knowing which regime actually governs your contract — JCT, NEC4 Option W2, FIDIC as amended, bespoke rules, or the Scheme — is the first question in every dispute, and the one most often answered too late.
Every compliant construction contract runs the same statutory machinery: a stated due date, a payment notice window, a pay less notice window, and a final date for payment. Miss a window and the notified sum crystallises. The standard forms are compliant out of the box — but their clocks run differently, and amendments routinely break them.
The "adequate mechanism" required of every construction contract — Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, ss.110–111 (as amended).
Unamended · default periods
Interim Payment Application made by the Interim Valuation Date · due date 7 days later · Payment Notice within 5 days of the due date · final date 14 days from the due date · Pay Less Notice not later than 5 days before the final date.
Unamended · default periods
Application for Payment submitted before the Assessment Date · Project Manager certifies and payment becomes due 7 days after the Assessment Date · final date 21 days from the due date · Pay Less Notice not later than 7 days before the final date.
Default, unamended positions shown for orientation — always verified against the executed contract, its amendments, and the Scheme where provisions fall short. Quantico builds these calendars, per contract and per supply-chain tier, as part of notice architecture.
Without jurisdiction, an adjudicator's decision is a nullity and the TCC will not enforce it. With it, the courts enforce robustly — even where the adjudicator got the facts or the law wrong. The Adjudication Society and CIArb Construction Adjudication Practice Guideline distils threshold jurisdiction into a checklist every referring party should clear before serving notice — and every responding party should test on receipt.
The referring party's discipline mirrors the checklist: crystallise the dispute before notice — claim made, considered, and not admitted; scope the Notice of Adjudication tightly, because it defines the adjudicator's jurisdiction; refer one dispute; appoint strictly per the contract or the Scheme; and assemble the evidence before the notice is served, so the seven-day window works for you, not against you.
Before any referral spend: clear the jurisdiction threshold screen — construction contract, construction operations, crystallised dispute — and sequence true-value strategy correctly where a notified sum is in play.
A responding party who doubts jurisdiction has a strategic choice: refuse to participate, participate while expressly reserving its position, refer the point to the court, or waive the objection and proceed. The safest course is usually to participate under a clear, early, and specific reservation — preserving the challenge for enforcement.
The trap: participate fully without reserving your position and you may confer jurisdiction by conduct, losing the objection entirely at the enforcement stage. Reservation discipline in the first response is not a formality — it is the challenge.
Professionals: notify PI insurers on the Notice of Adjudication — not the decision. Notification clauses commonly bite at the notice, and leaving it until the decision risks the cover the defence depends on. Confirm the position with your broker the same day the notice lands.
Where an adjudicator strays beyond the notice, fails to consider a properly raised defence or set-off, or decides a matter already bound by a prior decision, the decision — or the severable part of it — will not be enforced. Scoping the Notice of Adjudication and testing it against this checklist is a quantity surveying and commercial exercise as much as a legal one.
A decade of TCC and Court of Appeal authority reshaped what a missed notice costs — and what can be done about it afterwards. Three cases tell the story, with Harding v Paice [2015] EWCA Civ 1231 as the bridge: the Court of Appeal held that a final account could always be re-valued in a further adjudication despite missing notices, and expressly left open whether the interim-payment cases were rightly decided. Coulson J answered that question in Grove.
[2014] EWHC 4007 (TCC)
An employer served neither a Payment Notice nor a Pay Less Notice against a £1.1m application. The court held the employer must be taken to have agreed the value stated in the application — and could not launch a second adjudication to establish the "true" value of the same interim application. The smash and grab era began.
silence against an application was treated as agreement of its value.
[2015] EWHC 412 (TCC)
A vastly over-stated £3.9m "Indicative Final Account" application met no valid notice. The court enforced the decision but — exceptionally — stayed execution above £1.5m to avoid manifest injustice, exposing the strain in the Seevic logic: if the value was truly "agreed", why stay any of it?
the courts flagged the injustice, but only a rare partial stay relieved it.
[2018] EWHC 123 (TCC); upheld [2018] EWCA Civ 2448
On a £14m application served just after practical completion — where the interim cycle could no longer self-correct — the court held Seevic, Estura, and Kersfield wrongly decided: the notified sum must be paid first, but the payer may then adjudicate the true value of the application as a separate dispute, with any overpayment repaid. A second adjudication runs in strict sequence; it can never act as a Trojan horse to avoid paying. The case is also the leading authority on Pay Less Notice validity — sum due, basis of calculation, judged as a reasonable recipient would read it.
pay the notified sum, then fight the true value — in that strict order.
Adjudications are won on preparation, not eloquence. Quantico provides senior commercial, quantum, and delay expertise across the full adjudication lifecycle — from notice discipline months before a dispute crystallises, through referral or response support, to true-value proceedings after payment. Capability is stated at practice level; every engagement is conflict-checked and confidential.
Getting the regime right
Quantum, defended or advanced
Delay, evidenced properly
Direct support at any stage: pre-emptive notice audits while the project is live, rapid referral or response preparation once a dispute crystallises, and quantum or delay analysis for true-value proceedings after a notified sum has been paid. The seven-day and twenty-eight-day clocks reward parties whose evidence is assembled before the notice is served — engage early and the timetable becomes your advantage, not your opponent's.
Conflict check within one working dayIndependent quantum and delay input for adjudication, TCC enforcement, and subsequent final determination — prepared to the standards expected of expert evidence under CPR Part 35 and the CIArb protocol, so analysis produced under adjudication pressure survives into litigation or arbitration without rework. Practice-level engagement, no client or project identification in marketing materials, ever.
Conflict check within one working dayFor disputes up to £100,000, the CIC Low Value Disputes Model Adjudication Procedure (RICS-supported) and the ICE Payment Notice Dispute procedure cap the adjudicator's fee by reference to the sum in dispute — making recovery of a modest notified sum economic where a conventional adjudication would not be. Referrals under the CIC procedure rose sharply through 2025. Quantico prepares proportionate, fixed-scope referrals and responses matched to these procedures — on the fixed-fee low-value track: £3,500 – £6,500 for claims of £10,000 – £100,000, with the adjudicator's fee capped on a published sliding scale of £2,000 – £5,000 for disputes under £100,000.
Quantico acts as commercial adviser, party representative, or independent expert — but never in combined roles on the same matter. Independence and the duty to the tribunal are preserved from first instruction.
Thirty minutes on your payment cycle, your notices and your options — whether the dispute is a risk on the horizon or a Notice of Adjudication on the desk. Call or book directly; enquiries handled in strict confidence.
Schedule an introductory consultation →Whichever seat you hold, the offer is framed from your side of the contract.
Whichever sector, the route in is by seat — the three doors above land on each persona's natural entry pages, conflicts checked within one working day.
“Continuous professional development, tailored to your team.”
Seminars for all levels, delivered by senior practitioners. In-house programmes tailored to the client's specific needs. UK & GCC delivery; CPD-aligned.
“Shared risk where the merits support it. Fixed fees where independence demands it. Small print you can actually read.”
Fees are published for business clients and are exclusive of VAT. Every figure is an indicative starting point from the value stated — subject to the initial discussion, the information available and the agreed scope, and confirmed on scoping. Quantico acts for business clients only — engagements are not accepted from consumers or from individuals contracting as residential occupiers. Every figure on this page is an invitation to treat, not an offer capable of acceptance — engagement is subject to Quantico's Standard Terms of Appointment and Service Agreement, issued with the Engagement Letter prior to appointment, and, for dispute work, the Stage 1 review. Further particulars are available on request, within one working day.
One condition sits above all others, in plain terms: your prospects depend on the evidence file you provide — comprehensive, and logically and chronologically structured. A file-structure template is issued on instruction. The Stage 1 report covers the contractual position, a notice-validity audit, quantum shape, a heads-of-claim triage — the head named, the machinery identified, the notice position and record set checked — a jurisdiction threshold screen for adjudication matters (construction contract, construction operations, crystallised dispute) before any referral spend, a security & insurance response screen (bonds and PCGs held, triggers live, PI / CAR notification status), limitation check and opponent solvency screening, a recommended dispute route, and the fee route(s) Quantico is prepared to offer.
Available only where the Stage 1 review confirms eligibility. Quantico shares your risk; it does not buy your claim. Any uplift is calculated on Quantico's base fees only — never on, or by reference to, the amount you recover.
| Element | Basis |
|---|---|
| Ongoing fee — payable monthly, win or lose | 50% of Rate Card rates for work performed |
| Deferred balance — payable on Success | The remaining 50% of Rate Card rates |
| Success fee — payable on Success | An uplift of 25–50% on Quantico's base fees only |
Non-contentious, non-contingent, and available without the Stage 1 gateway — the advice that prevents the dispute, not merely the representation that fights it.
Hourly and day rates are confirmed on scoping and fixed for the engagement. The full Rate Card is available on request.
Basis of publication. All figures are exclusive of VAT and are indicative starting points from the value stated — subject to the initial discussion, the information available and the agreed scope — pending confirmation in the Engagement Letter. This page is a proposal framework and an invitation to treat, not an offer capable of acceptance; no contract arises until Quantico issues, and you accept, an Engagement Letter to which the Standard Terms of Appointment and Service Agreement are attached, issued prior to appointment. Those documents contain the entire agreement: nothing on this website forms part of any contract or is to be relied on as a representation, and if anything on this page conflicts with them, they prevail. Quantico acts for business clients only — engagements are not accepted from consumers or from individuals contracting as residential occupiers, and the Terms contain a warranty to that effect on which Quantico relies. The Stage 1 fee is payable in advance and is non-refundable once the review has been completed; any credit applies as stated in the Engagement Letter.
The evidence file. Every merits assessment, submission and fee offer depends wholly on the evidence file provided, and on its completeness, accuracy, authenticity and provenance, which you warrant — including disclosure of matters adverse to your position. Prospects of success depend on comprehensive, complete evidence, logically and chronologically structured and indexed — the contract and all amendments; payment applications, payment notices and pay less notices with dates of service; programmes and progress records; variations and instructions; correspondence; and any adjudication, settlement or without-prejudice history. A file-structure template is issued on instruction. The compressed adjudication timetable makes the time limits notified for instructions, documents and approvals essential, and late or altered instructions are at your risk. Deficient, false, misleading, materially incomplete or late material voids any assessment, is a Payment Event on which fees for work performed fall due at full Rate Card rates, and permits suspension or termination (clauses 4 and 10).
Adjudicator's fees — payable by you in all events. The adjudicator's and any nominating body's fees and expenses are your liability, owed jointly and severally with the other party, payable regardless of outcome and wholly outside every proposal above — unless a capped-fee low-value procedure applies and is stated in the Engagement Letter. Outside a capped procedure, adjudicators commonly charge £300+ per hour and total fees frequently reach £20,000 – £30,000. An adjudicator may apportion fees against you even where you are otherwise successful, and you bear the risk that a decision proves unenforceable while remaining liable for those fees under the adjudicator's own terms (clause 7).
No costs recovery in adjudication. Party costs — including Quantico's fees — cannot be recovered from the opposing party in adjudication. Statutory interest and fixed-sum compensation on qualifying commercial debts are claimed as part of your substantive entitlement where applicable; your fees under these proposals are paid by you, from your recovery where a conditional basis applies. Disbursements — nominating fees, independent experts, counsel, mediator fees, venue hire and similar — are payable by you regardless of outcome and may be required in advance.
Conditional fees — how they work, and what they are not. Any success fee is an uplift calculated on Quantico's base fees only and is never determined by reference to the amount recovered; “Success” operates solely as the event on which payment falls due, not as a measure of any fee, and nothing on this basis is a damages-based agreement. You remain free at all times to settle or discontinue. Settling, compromising or abandoning the dispute without Quantico's prior written agreement to the fee consequences, failing to cooperate or to provide instructions or funds within 14 days of written request, providing false, misleading or materially incomplete information, and insolvency are Payment Events — agreed events, not breaches — on which Rate Card fees for all work performed fall due as a debt (neither damages nor a penalty), together with any success fee already earned. Success is measured at the point of recovery: a later true-value determination or repayment is a separate matter and does not reduce fees earned; where the opposing party's insolvency prevents receipt, adjudicator's fees, disbursements and fees payable in any event remain due, with the conditional elements as stated in the Engagement Letter. If the engagement ends early, a Success achieved within 12 months in reliance on Quantico's work product triggers the deferred balance and any success fee (clauses 9, 10 and 13).
Invoices, funds and security. Invoices are payable within 14 days and, where the appointment is a construction contract for Construction Act purposes, each invoice stands as the payee's payment notice. Reasonable sums on account of fees and disbursements may be required before any stage, including before a referral is served; unpaid invoices or unfunded requests permit suspension of the services on seven days' written notice, with a remobilisation charge on resumption. Sums due are payable in full without set-off, are payable within seven days of receipt of any recovery, carry interest if late, and are secured by a charge over recovery proceeds limited to the sums due and a lien over papers; a director's guarantee may be required for corporate clients (clauses 5, 9, 11 and 13).
Expert evidence. Independent expert witness work is strictly non-contingent, excluded from every conditional arrangement, and procured on the terms of Proposal D or from an external independent expert as a disbursement. Where Quantico has acted as your claims consultant or advocate in the same dispute, it may decline the witness role and act instead as expert advisor behind your legal team, recommending a suitably qualified independent expert, to protect the weight of your evidence (clause 8).
Status, privilege, liability and enforcement. Quantico (L.A.W.) Limited is a specialist construction claims and commercial consultancy. It is not a firm of solicitors, is not regulated by the SRA, and does not conduct litigation; legal advice privilege does not attach to consultant communications and privilege in adjudication cannot be assured — take separate legal advice where privilege is critical. Enforcement of an adjudicator's decision requires court proceedings conducted by solicitors; Quantico will introduce its solicitor panel, and that retainer is separate and yours. Quantico does not advise on or arrange insurance or litigation funding and signposts authorised providers only. Quantico gives no warranty as to the outcome of any dispute, and its liability is limited as set out in clause 14 of the Terms, capped by reference to its professional indemnity cover — insurer details and territorial coverage available on request. Advisory deliverables are provided for the instructing client alone and may not be relied on by any third party without written consent.
Acceptance discretion. All proposals are subject to the Stage 1 review (Proposals A–C), Quantico's underwriting criteria, capacity and conflict checks; Quantico may decline any instruction, without giving reasons, or offer an alternative proposal, and the engagement may be reviewed where the claim's prospects or the opposing party's financial covenant materially deteriorate (clause 13.2). Where the underlying contract in dispute is with a residential occupier, the statutory right to adjudicate does not apply and any adjudication depends on that contract's own terms — this forms part of any merits assessment. The worked illustration above demonstrates the fee arithmetic only and is not a prediction of outcome; no outcome is promised anywhere on this site.
Further particulars. The full fee proposal and the Rate Card are issued with the Standard Terms of Appointment prior to appointment, and all three are available on request — info@quantico.law — with a response within one working day. See also Legal & Regulatory.
Twenty minutes, no fee, no obligation — is the claim worth pursuing, and which route fits? Triage and scoping only; advice on the merits follows the Stage 1 review of your evidence file.
Book the free triage call →Instructing solicitor? Conflict check within one working day →
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“Tell us where the project is — preconstruction or post contract — and where you need an opinion. A professional opinion to help guide your strategy.”
Schedule a free 20-minute triage call directly, call +44 (0)330 229 7990, or write to info@quantico.law. UK · Ireland · EU · GCC · Canada coverage. Enquiries handled in strict confidence.
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The introductory consultation is a triage and scoping conversation, not advice on the merits — for dispute work, advice on the merits follows the Stage 1 review of your evidence file. By submitting an enquiry you agree to the Privacy Notice.