Statutory Regulation of Entitlement to and Recovery of Progress Payments
Quick Take
1A 'construction contract' under s 64 of the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld), including an 'other arrangement', requires a sufficiently concluded state of affairs which is bilateral; where a subcontractor provided a schedule of rates, performed works at those rates, and the principal contractor paid multiple claims calculated on those rates, the requisite bilateral arrangement existed even absent a signed written contract or novation.
2A reference date under s 67 of the BIF Act may be 'worked out under' a construction contract through a combination of express communications (such as automated claim-submission reminders specifying the 25th of each month) and the parties' consistent course of conduct in submitting and paying claims by reference to that date.
3Time limits set by an adjudicator for further submissions under s 84(2)(b)–(c) of the BIF Act are not basic and essential jurisdictional requirements; whether submissions delivered outside such a time limit are 'properly made' under s 88(2)(c)–(d) is a matter within the adjudicator's own jurisdiction, and an adjudicator's implicit acceptance of slightly late submissions does not give rise to jurisdictional error.
