Agripower Australia Ltd v Queensland Engineering and Electrical Pty Ltd

Agripower Australia Ltd sought a declaration that an adjudication decision, made under the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld), was void and for ancillary relief. The decision in question related to a contract between Agripower Australia and Queensland Engineering and Electrical Pty Ltd (the first respondent). The primary legal issue before the court was whether the first respondent's contract with Agripower Australia was illegal and, therefore, unenforceable, rendering the adjudication decision void. This hinged on whether the first respondent had contravened the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld) by performing electrical work without a necessary licence and whether it had performed professional engineering services in breach of the Professional Engineers Act 2002 (Qld) without being a practising professional engineer.

The court found that the first respondent had indeed contravened s 56 of the Electrical Safety Act by advertising and performing electrical work without the required licence. Additionally, the court determined that the first respondent was not a practising professional engineer, yet it was carrying out professional engineering services in breach of s 115 of the Professional Engineers Act. Based on these findings, the court concluded that the contract was illegal and unenforceable under s 115(1) of the Professional Engineers Act, aligning with the decision in Cant Contracting Pty Ltd v Casella. Consequently, the adjudication decision was void for jurisdictional error because it was made on the basis of an illegal contract. The court further ordered that the adjudication decision and the related certificate were void, and the first respondent was permanently restrained from enforcing the adjudication decision. The court also ordered the first respondent to pay Agripower Australia's costs of and incidental to the originating application, including reserved costs.