Levi Pty Ltd v Z&H Building Development Pty Ltd

Levi Pty Ltd has brought a judicial review application against Z&H Building Development Pty Ltd, seeking to overturn an adjudicator's determination regarding a payment dispute under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic). The matter was heard and determined in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The primary dispute concerns whether the adjudicator's determination is marred by a jurisdictional error, specifically regarding the identification of the reference date and whether a payment claim was properly served in relation to this date.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the adjudicator correctly identified the reference date as 28 December 2018 and whether certain work performed by Levi could be lawfully claimed. Levi argued that the adjudicator's determination was incorrect because the reference date should have been 17 October 2018, and the payment claim was not properly served in relation to the reference date of 28 December 2018. Z&H Building Development defended the adjudicator's decision, asserting that the reference date was correctly set and that the payment claim was validly served.

The court examined the statutory provisions of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic), the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic), and relevant sections of the Building Act 1993 (Vic). The court found that the adjudicator did not make a jurisdictional error in determining the reference date as 28 December 2018 and that the payment claim was appropriately served in relation to this date. The court concluded that the adjudicator's determination was correct and that Levi's application for judicial review should be dismissed. The court held that the adjudicator had the necessary jurisdiction and applied the correct legal principles in reaching their decision.