Bright Days Herston Pty Ltd v ATG Project & Property Solutions Pty Ltd

Bright Days Herston Pty Ltd and ATG Project & Property Solutions Pty Ltd were involved in a dispute regarding a construction contract. The dispute centred on an adjudication application made by ATG under the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld) after a payment claim was made. Bright Days objected to the adjudicator's determination of the application due to concerns about bias. The adjudicator responded by stating he would not issue a decision, leading ATG to request the Registrar refer the adjudication application to another adjudicator. Bright Days then challenged the second adjudicator's decision, arguing it was affected by jurisdictional error on two grounds. The first was that the second adjudicator did not have jurisdiction to determine the adjudication application because the initial adjudicator's decision not to issue a decision was a decision under the Act. The second was that the second adjudicator failed to consider mandatory considerations, including Bright Days' submissions regarding the second adjudicator's jurisdiction and a subsequent payment made by Bright Days.

The court found that the second adjudicator did have jurisdiction to determine the adjudication application because the initial adjudicator's decision not to issue a decision was not a decision under the Act. The court also found that the second adjudicator did not fail to consider mandatory considerations. The court held that the second adjudicator adequately addressed the jurisdictional issues and considered all relevant submissions made by Bright Days. The court concluded that the second adjudicator's decision was not affected by jurisdictional error.

The application was dismissed with costs. The court found that Bright Days' arguments regarding jurisdictional error were not substantiated and that the second adjudicator's decision was valid. The court ordered that the application be dismissed and that Bright Days pay the costs of the proceeding.