Any party served with notice of commencement and the bill of costs may dispute any item in the bill by serving points of dispute on the receiving party and every other party to the detailed assessment proceedings. This must be done within 21 days after the date of service of the notice of commencement (CPR 47.9(2)), unless the parties agree to extend or shorten the time specified by the rule. A party may apply to the court for the time to be extended or shortened.

Where a notice of commencement is served on a party outside England and Wales the period within which that party should serve points of dispute is to be calculated by reference to CPR Part 6 Section IV (special provisions about service out of the jurisdiction) as if the notice of commencement was a claim form and as if the period for serving points of dispute were the period for filing a defence.

If the receiving party is not served with any points of dispute and the period for doing so has expired, he may apply for a default costs certificate (see Section 21).