Can you adjudicate 'at any time'?

摘要

While the Construction Act provides that parties may refer a dispute to adjudication "at any time", the very recent judgement in Mentmore Towers Ltd v Packman Lucas Ltd demonstrates that, in certain circumstances, the court may withdraw this right.rnIn this case, Mentmore engaged structural engineers Packman in respect of two developments. However, during the project, Mentmore encountered planning difficulties, which led to the project being abandoned.This left Mentmore owing Packman significant fees.