Commentary on Sections Arbitration by Adjudicator Section 49: Timing of referral for arbitration by tied pub tenants
306.This section sets out the period within which a tied tenant may refer a dispute to the Adjudicator. Subsection (2) specifies that a tied tenant may not refer a dispute to the Adjudicator until a period of 21 days has passed after the date on which the tenant notified the pub-owning business, in writing, of the alleged breach of the Code. The 21-day period is to allow the parties a reasonable time to try to resolve the dispute at this point without the need to resort to arbitration.
307.The exception to subsection (2) is where a tenant alleges that the pub-owning business has failed to produce a parallel rent assessment within the period specified by the Adjudicator (subsection (3)). In that instance, the tied tenant may refer the dispute to the Adjudicator no earlier than the day after the date by which the Adjudicator specified the assessment should be provided.
308.No dispute may be referred to the Adjudicator for arbitration once 4 months have elapsed since the earliest date it could have been referred (subsection (4)).