Both sides now - The return of Arbitration in construction disputes in the United Kingdom?

Abstract

This summer saw the re-release of Joni Mitchell’s 1970’s back catalogue of albums and outtakes of recordings, that included her most famous ballad “Both Sides Now”. Punk rock heralded the demise of the 1970’s singer-songwriter in the same way that Adjudication, with its fast-track decision within 28 days of the Adjudicator’s appointment, consigned Arbitration to the past in the UK. Arbitration in construction disputes is for the Woodstock generation whereas Adjudication has endured in modern times to give a quick decision of the Adjudicator at a manageable cost. Adjudication resembles Joe Strummer’s “combat rock” and Arbitration was and still is the comfortable easy listening of the past. I have seen Adjudication and Arbitration from “both sides now, from win and lose” and I am able to compare them both to one another.