Commentary on Sections Arbitration by Adjudicator Section 51: Arbitration: supplementary
313.Subsections (1) and (2) provide that the tenant must pay a fee for making a referral for arbitration to the Adjudicator under section 48 or where the tenant has given notice that the Adjudicator should be appointed, as mentioned in section 50(3)(b). The fee must be specified in regulations. Subsection (3) specifies that the regulations may provide for the fee to be returned to the tenant in certain specified circumstances
314.Except where specified otherwise in these provisions, subsection (5) requires that any arbitration carried out by the Adjudicator or by someone appointed by the Adjudicator must be conducted in accordance with the rules issued by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators or the rules of another dispute resolution body specified by the arbitrator.
315.The pub-owning business that is party to the arbitration is required by subsection (6) to pay the fees and expenses of the arbitrator except where the arbitrator considers the referral made by the tenant to be vexatious.
316.Subsection (7) states that the Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about how much the tenant should pay towards the costs of an arbitration. Costs of an arbitration include the pub-owning business’s costs as well as the tenant’s own costs. The regulations may provide that the costs faced by the tenant can be limited and the specific circumstances in which the tenant may be required to pay costs above that limit.