An adjudicator's error in construing a contract is not, of itself, a jurisdictional error; it is an error made in the course of the decision-making process. However, an adjudicator who awards amounts without identifying any contractual source of entitlement — treating the mere incurring of costs before the reference date as sufficient — commits a jurisdictional error by failing to take into account a required matter and misconceiving the nature of the adjudicator's functions. Under the Queensland BCIPA, jurisdictional error affecting any part of a decision renders the entire decision void; there is no scope for partial invalidity or severance.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 25 later cases that cite this judgment.
7 of the 25 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.