MAISON A.E. DOR v Soft Construct Limited

The Supreme Court of Victoria, in a decision by Nicholas Smith J, considered a dispute between MAISON A.E. DOR (the plaintiff) and Soft Construct Limited (the defendant). The plaintiff sought to enforce an adjudication decision made under the *Building and Construction Industry Security of Payments Act 2002* (Vic) (the Act). The defendant sought to resist enforcement, arguing that the adjudication decision was void due to alleged jurisdictional error.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the adjudicator had committed a jurisdictional error by failing to consider a crucial aspect of the defendant's payment claim, specifically the alleged defective work. The defendant contended that the adjudicator's oversight rendered the entire adjudication determination invalid and unenforceable.

Nicholas Smith J analysed the principles of jurisdictional error in the context of the Act, referencing established High Court authority. His Honour found that while the adjudicator had a duty to consider all relevant submissions and evidence, the scope of that duty did not extend to a requirement to make specific findings on every contested factual issue, particularly where the claim was not fundamentally flawed. The Court determined that the adjudicator had, in fact, considered the defendant's submissions regarding defective work, even if the weight given to those submissions was not to the defendant's satisfaction. Consequently, no jurisdictional error was established.

The Court therefore ordered that the adjudication decision be enforced.