McDougall J held that it is arguable that the time limit in s 13(4)(b) of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) — requiring payment claims to be served within 12 months of the last construction work — is a jurisdictional precondition, such that an adjudicator's factual findings on compliance with that provision are reviewable by the court. The Court refused summary dismissal and granted leave to amend, finding it was open to the developer to prove in court that no valid reference date existed or that the payment claim was served outside the statutory time limit, notwithstanding the adjudicator's contrary findings. The question of whether a judgment founded on an adjudication certificate can be set aside after satisfaction of the judgment debt was noted as unresolved, with conflicting observations from Basten JA and Leeming JA in the Court of Appeal left open.
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