An Independent Adjudicator for Western Australian Projects

Nomination by an authorised nominating authority

For most disputes, a claimant applies to an authorised nominating authority, which appoints a registered adjudicator. This is the intended, everyday path, and it is how most applications proceed, including most of those Christopher determines. Nominating authorities are central to the system, and Christopher welcomes their nominations.

A named adjudicator in the contract

The WA Act also lets a construction contract name the adjudicator to determine any future application. Where a contract does, the application can go directly to that adjudicator. It is a narrower, deliberate choice for specific projects, and it always leaves the nominating-authority route as the fallback if the named adjudicator is unavailable or conflicted.

Where well-advised parties are negotiating a significant or tailored contract, they may prefer to agree their decision-maker up front, for certainty about how any future dispute will be handled.

Where a likely dispute turns on complex valuation or design questions, the parties may want to secure an adjudicator with that specific expertise in advance, rather than leave it to the point of dispute.

For alliances, repeat engagements or a programme of work, continuity of a single, familiar and trusted neutral across the relationship can be worth agreeing at the outset.

Agreeing an independent adjudicator jointly, before any dispute exists, can feel less adversarial than a unilateral application later, while keeping the nominating-authority route available if needed.

Registered under the Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2021 (WA) as both an adjudicator and a review adjudicator, and registered in four other jurisdictions. His WA registration is listed on the Building and Energy public register, so an appointment on your WA project, by nomination or by naming, is on solid, verifiable footing.

A dual-qualified solicitor and registered architect. Payment disputes turn on the value of building work, and Christopher reads them as both a lawyer and a builder of contracts.

Extensive experience on Western Australian commercial and residential projects, from Perth's western suburbs to regional and resources-linked work, means the built context is understood, not guessed at.

Whether nominated by an authorised nominating authority or named by agreement of both parties, an impartial adjudicator whose neutrality and natural-justice obligations are the same either way.

Commercial, civil and mixed-use projects where progress payments, variations and delay claims can escalate. Whether nominated or named, an experienced adjudicator gives principal and contractor confidence in how a dispute is resolved.

Architect-designed and premium homes across Perth and Western Australia, where the value of the work and the specification make disputes complex. Christopher's architect's eye is directly relevant to valuing the build.

Perth metro

Commercial and multi-residential work across the Perth metropolitan area, where progress-claim and variation disputes are the everyday currency of a payment fight, resolved through the security of payment regime.

Western suburbs

Dalkeith, Cottesloe, Peppermint Grove and the riverside and coastal western suburbs, where high-spec, architect-designed homes make the value of the work, and the disputes about it, genuinely complex.

Regional & resources WA

Regional centres and resources-linked construction across the state, where remoteness and program pressure raise the stakes on payment, and a prompt determination keeps projects moving.