An adjudicator who decides an adjudication application on a basis for which neither party has contended — including by deciding that obiter dicta in a prior Supreme Court judgment are incorrect — must give the parties notice and an opportunity to make submissions on that point, failing which the determination will be void for denial of natural justice. A contractual clause requiring notice of claims as a precondition of entitlement (such as cl 45) does not conflict with s 13(4) of the Security of Payment Act and is not void under s 34, because such a clause concerns entitlement rather than the time for making payment claims. Courts should be slow to decide security of payment challenges on the basis of want of good faith where denial of natural justice provides a sufficient alternative ground.
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