What is a Surrejoinder in construction Adjudication ?

This article is all about explaining what is a Surrejoinder in Construction Adjudication . This term is a key component or step of the Construction Adjudication process. If you want to learn more about Construction Adjudication we have an online course for sale on this website.

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What is a Surrejoinder in Construction Adjudication ?

A Surrejoinder in Construction Adjudication is simply a response by the referring party to the responding parties response.

Lets break that down a little more.

The referring party is essentially the plaintiff who refers the dispute to adjudication. This referring party will issue a referral notice which is their side of the story. The responding party (essentially the defendant) will issue their side of the story, ‘the response’. Now should the referring party can comment on the response. Should the responding party issue comments on those comments its called a rejoinder. And then should the referring party want to comment on the responding parties rejoinder, its called a surrejoinder.

Clear as mud!

This is simply just another possible step in the Adjudication process.

There are several steps in adjudication, which we will not go through one-by-one in detail here but just simply list out.

The steps are as follows:

1. Give notice of intention to refer a dispute to adjudication
2. Send application form to the RICS
3. Prepare and send the referral notice
4. Comment on the Other Parties response
5. Deal with the Adjudicator
6. The Decision
7. What happens then?

A Surrejoinder is simply the step in between steps 4 and 5 above.  Lets explain it more in the next section.

Surrejoinder explained

Once the adjudicator receives the referral document, they will set out an agenda for the adjudication.

The other party will read the referral document and issue a response. This is called ‘the response from the responding party’. This document should follow the same format as ‘the referral notice‘ and should respond to the issues raised in the referral.

Then you as the referring party have to read their response and issue a reply to their response!! This is called ‘the reply from the referring party’. You should only reply to comments raised in the response. This should not raise new arguments in this reply.

The responding party can then issue another reply which is called ‘the rejoinder from the responding party’ but they must keep their comments strictly limited to what was mentioned in the ‘reply from the referring party’.

The referring party does have an opportunity to issue another reply called a ‘Sur-Rejoinder’ to respond to any new arguments.

So this is what a Surrejoinder is.