Downer EDI Works Pty Ltd v Parsons Brinckerhoff Australia Pty Ltd

(2011) 80 NSWLR 202; [2011] NSWCA 78

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Building and Construction Law
2. › Security of payment legislation
3. › Payment claims
4. › Service of payment claims
5. › Ordinary place of business
6. › Whether head office qualifies as ordinary place of business where project administered from different location
7. › Whether provision should be read down to require closest connection with relevant works
8. › Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW), s 31(1)(c)
1. Building and Construction Law
2. › Security of payment legislation
3. › Payment claims
4. › Service by facsimile
5. › Whether sending by facsimile addressed to person's ordinary place of business
6. › Meaning of 'addressed to' in context of facsimile transmission
7. › Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW), s 31(1)(c)
1. Statutory Interpretation
2. › Reading down words of general application
3. › Whether statutory provision should be read down to conform with perceived legislative intent
4. › Multiple purposes served by single provision
5. › Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW), s 31(1)(c)

Quick Take

A payment claim under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) may be validly served by facsimile or post to any ordinary place of business of the respondent, including a head office, and need not be sent to the office with the closest connection to the relevant construction works. A person may have more than one ordinary place of business for the purposes of s 31(1)(c). When serving by facsimile, the notice is 'addressed to' the ordinary place of business if the facsimile number dialled is a number at which transmissions are received at that place. It remains an open question whether the provision may be read down to exclude places of business that have no relationship at all with the construction business.