New Victorian Decision On Adjudication Applications

On 24 April 2009, Justice Vickery of the Victorian Supreme Court handed down his decision in Hickory Developments Pty Ltd v Schiavello (Vic) Pty Ltd [2009] VSC 156. The case is one of the relatively few Victorian cases relating to the interpretation of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic) (the SOP Act). The decision highlights that Victorian Courts are likely to take a similar approach to New South Wales by avoiding a technical interpretation of the Act.

Facts

The plaintiff in the proceeding, Hickory Developments Pty Ltd (Hickory) challenged the validity of an adjudication under the SOP Act instigated by the first defendant, Schiavello (Vic) Pty Ltd (Schiavello). The second defendant to the proceeding was the adjudicating authority, Adjudicate Today, although it did not actively participate.