The Court held that personal service of a payment claim on a corporation under s 31(1)(a) of the SOP Act requires the document to come to the attention of a relevantly responsible person within the corporation, not merely any employee at any location. Similarly, 'lodging' under s 31(1)(b) requires more than leaving documents with a junior or functionally unrelated employee. A contractual provision deeming delivery after 4pm to be effected the following business day is not void under s 34 of the Act as it is facultative and does not modify the operation of s 31, but rather gives effect to s 31(1)(e). 'Normal office hours' for the purposes of s 31(1)(b) means the hours kept by administrative or clerical staff, not the operational hours of the business.
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