Claire Rewais and Osama Rewais t/as McVitty Grove v BPB Earthmoving Pty Ltd

The appeal concerned an adjudication under the *Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999* (NSW). Claire Rewais and Osama Rewais, trading as McVitty Grove, were the claimants, and BPB Earthmoving Pty Ltd was the respondent. The dispute centred on whether the adjudicator had jurisdiction to determine a payment claim, with the primary judge having found that the adjudication application was filed prematurely.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether the service of the payment claim and notice of intention to apply for adjudication complied with the requirements of section 31(1)(d) of the *Security of Payment Act*, specifically concerning the use of an email address that was allegedly "specified" for service. Secondly, the Court considered whether contraventions of the *Home Building Act 1989* (NSW), relating to statutory requirements for licence and insurance, prevented the enforcement of an adjudication determination made under the *Security of Payment Act*.

The Court of Appeal upheld the primary judge's decision. It reasoned that the email address used for service was not sufficiently "specified" for the purposes of section 31(1)(d) of the *Security of Payment Act*, meaning the preconditions for the adjudication application had not been met. Consequently, the adjudicator lacked jurisdiction. The Court also found that the contraventions of the *Home Building Act* did not operate to prevent the enforcement of the adjudication determination in this instance. The appeal and cross-appeal were dismissed, with the appellants ordered to pay the respondent's costs.