Icon Co (NSW) Pty Ltd v Australia Avenue Developments Pty Ltd

The appeal concerned a judicial review of an adjudicator's determination under the *Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999* (NSW). Icon Co (NSW) Pty Ltd, the appellant, sought to set aside a decision of the primary judge who had quashed the adjudicator's determination. Australia Avenue Developments Pty Ltd, the respondent, had argued that the adjudicator had exceeded their jurisdiction by making allowances in the awarded amount that were not contained within the payment claim as submitted.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the adjudicator had made a jurisdictional error by determining a claim other than that made by the claimant. Specifically, the court had to consider the scope of the payment claim as presented and whether the adjudicator had a duty to consider only the claim as made, or if they had the power to interpret and determine the scope of the claim themselves. This involved an examination of sections 20 and 22(2) of the Act.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that the adjudicator's role was to determine the claim as made by the claimant, and that the scope of that claim was a matter for the adjudicator to determine. The court found that the primary judge had erred in concluding that the adjudicator had exceeded their jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, setting aside the primary judge's orders and dismissing the respondent's proceedings. The court further ordered that moneys held in court be paid out to the appellant and that the respondent pay the appellant's costs of the appeal and in the Division.