The Court held that an adjudicator's determination under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) is void where the adjudicator fails to provide adequate reasons for a critical aspect of the decision, and that it is left to speculation why a contractual clause was not applied constitutes a failure to comply with s 22(3)(b) amounting to jurisdictional error. The Court confirmed the weight of authority that discrete aspects of a determination affected by jurisdictional error cannot be severed from the balance, as the Act requires a single determination and a void determination cannot be reconstituted by the court into a partial recovery. The Court also held that an adjudicator's determination is not an 'instrument' within the meaning of s 32 of the Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW), foreclosing that avenue for partial validity arguments.
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