Construction law: Guide as to substance of adjudications

Generally, adjudicators will be given considerable latitude as to the manner and form of their determination. The recent Supreme Court of Queensland case of JAG Projects Qld Pty Ltd v Total Cool Pty Ltd & Anor [2015] QSC 211 is an example of the application to the facts of well known principles of the Queensland security of payment regime. The facts of the case can be described in fairly short compass.

Total Cool Pty Ltd (First Respondent) was the beneficiary of an adjudication decision under the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld) ("the Act") requiring JAG Projects Pty Ltd (Applicant) to pay $88,000.00. The Applicant did not pay by the due date and the First Respondent issued a statutory demand under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), which also went unpaid.