Ingeteam Australia Pty Ltd v Susan River Solar Pty Limited & Ors

[2024] QSC 30

Supreme Court of Queensland

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For Australian Law.

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Contracts
2. › Building, engineering and related contracts
3. › Remuneration
4. › Statutory regulation of entitlement to and recovery of progress payments
5. › Adjudication of payment claims
6. › Jurisdictional error by adjudicator
7. › Whether erroneous denial of jurisdiction based on licensing findings was jurisdictional error
8. › Whether jurisdictional error was material where alternative basis to decline jurisdiction existed
9. › Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld), ss 42, 68, 70, 75, 84, 88, 101
1. Administrative Law
2. › Procedural fairness
3. › Denial of opportunity to respond to new allegations raised in reply submissions
4. › Whether denial of procedural fairness was material
5. › Whether realistic possibility of different decision had procedural fairness been observed
1. Administrative Law
2. › Jurisdictional error
3. › Erroneous denial of jurisdiction
4. › Finding of non-existence of jurisdictional fact
5. › Whether error ceases to be jurisdictional error because alternative basis for decision existed
6. › Whether materiality requirement embedded in concept of jurisdictional error or separate inquiry
1. Contracts
2. › Building, engineering and related contracts
3. › Licensing
4. › Whether laying plywood taped to floor was exempt 'floating floor' not requiring licence
5. › Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld), s 42, Sch 1A, Sch 2
6. › Queensland Building and Construction Commission Regulation 2018 (Qld), Sch 1, Item 30

Quick Take

A floor covering that is not fixed to the subfloor (such as plywood taped in place) constitutes a 'floating floor' within the meaning of Item 30 of Schedule 1 to the QBCC Regulation and is exempt from the definition of 'building work', so no QBCC licence is required. An adjudicator's erroneous determination that there is no valid construction contract due to licensing breaches is a jurisdictional error that is material where it engages Dualcorp issue estoppel and would bind a subsequent adjudicator, even where there was an alternative basis to decline jurisdiction. Section 101(4) of the BIF Act permits the Court to declare void only the part of an adjudication decision affected by jurisdictional error while leaving other parts to stand, including threshold jurisdictional decisions under s 84(2)(a)(i).