Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd v Brolton Group Pty Ltd

Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd sought to enforce an adjudicator's determination made under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW). Brolton Group Pty Ltd contested the determination, asserting it was void due to jurisdictional error and denial of natural justice. The dispute centred on whether the adjudicator's failure to allow the parties to submit on the choice of reference date for the payment claim rendered the determination void, and whether the claimant could support the determination by referring to a different reference date than the one used by the adjudicator. Additionally, the court had to consider whether the adjudicator could justify the determination based on a different reference date than the one initially relied upon.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the adjudicator's determination was void due to a failure to provide an opportunity for the parties to comment on the reference date, and whether the adjudicator could justify the determination on a different reference date. Furthermore, the court needed to determine if the payment claim was referrable to work completed after the relevant reference date, as per sections 8 and 13 of the Act. The court also had to consider the authorities, including Southern Han Breakfast Point Pty Ltd (In Liq) v Lewence Construction Pty Ltd, to interpret whether a payment claim could relate to work done after the reference date for the payment claim was served.

The court found that the adjudicator's determination was not necessarily void because of the failure to provide an opportunity for the parties to comment on the reference date. It held that the adjudicator could justify the determination on a different reference date if it was reasonably open to do so. The court also concluded that the payment claim could relate to work done after the relevant reference date, as long as it was in respect of the payment claim served. The court relied on the authority of Southern Han Breakfast Point Pty Ltd (In Liq) v Lewence Construction Pty Ltd and other cases to support this interpretation. Ultimately, the court decided that the determination was not void and granted conditional relief, severing the part of the determination that was within the jurisdiction from that part which was not.