Christmas Shutdown and the Security of Payment Surprise

By Robert Riddell and Daniel Fitzpatrick of Gadens Lawyers, Sydney

Christmas is almost here again and most people will be looking forward to enjoying a well earned break. Many offices will be closing for the year on Thursday week, if not before. Many will not re-open until well into January.

Unfortunately for some, one thing that does not take much time off over Christmas is the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (the Act ). Apart from public holidays, weekends and the days between Christmas and New Year, the time for providing payment schedules and adjudication responses continues to run.

For example, if your office were to close on 18 December 2008 and you are served with a payment claim under the Act the following day, the 10 business days to provide a payment schedule in response would expire on Monday, 11 January 2009. Many will only be returning to work that day. Being served late in December with an adjudication application would