The Court held that s 17(1) of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) permits only one adjudication application per payment claim, and that multiple adjudication applications in respect of different parts of a single payment claim are not authorised. The adjudicator's determination was found void for material denial of natural justice because the adjudicator resolved the jurisdictional question by finding 25 separate contracts existed (based on separable portions) — a basis neither party had contended — without giving the parties an opportunity to address that reasoning. The Court also held that s 20(2B), which prevents a respondent from raising in an adjudication response reasons for withholding payment not included in the payment schedule, does not preclude jurisdictional objections that could not have arisen until the adjudication applications were lodged.
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