An application to set aside an adjudicator’s decision pursuant to the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (BIFA) on the basis that: (1) the decision was delivered by the adjudicator outside the period prescribed by the BIFA, and (2) the first respondent was not appropriately licenced to perform the building work. Dalton J determined that the adjudicator’s decision was void because it was delivered later than the prescribed period. On that basis, her Honour also determined that the adjudicator was not entitled to payment of his fees and ordered the adjudicator to refund the fees paid by the first respondent on the adjudication application.
Her Honour also considered:
- Whether a road was a dedicated road for the purpose of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991;
- Whether the building work in dispute – the construction of bus stops and a bike rail – was excluded from the definition of building work in the QBCC Act because it was work on a “road” or a “footpath”; and
- Whether the building work came within the scope of work of the “Builder restricted to structural landscaping” licence.
Rachel De Luchi (with P Dunning QC) appeared for the respondents, instructed by HWL Ebsworth.
The judgment is available here.