Subcontractor charges: The latest from Queensland

By David Opperman and Geoff Hansen

The effect of the amendments to the Subcontractors' Charges Act 1974 (Qld) (Act) were recently considered by the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Queensland in the case of Abigroup Contractors Pty Ltd v Multiplex Constructions Pty Ltd & Ors. The Act had been amended to expand the circumstances in which a subcontractor may secure a charge in respect of money payable for work performed under a subcontract. Those amendments were made in response to a series of decisions, beginning with Riteway Constructions, to the effect that contract requirements for the certification of a payment claim, or resolution of a dispute about a related issue, must have been complied with before the subcontractor could claim a charge under the Act.