Security of payment after termination: Walton Construction and Corrosion Control Technology

Introduction

Your contract is terminated and there are amounts still owing to you – can you use the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld) (BCIPA) to make another claim? The answer, according a recent Queensland Supreme Court decision, is only if you have an available reference date which arose before termination because reference dates (being dates from which a payment claim can be made) stop accruing post termination.  

This decision is unique to Queensland. For example, current law states that reference dates will accrue post termination under the New South Wales equivalent of the BCIPA.

Recap: what are reference dates?

A claimant under the BCIPA can only serve a payment claim from each reference date.