Oracle Building Corporation Pty Ltd v Queensland Building and Construction Commission

The case of Oracle Building Corporation Pty Ltd v Queensland Building and Construction Commission involved a dispute concerning a decision to issue a direction to rectify. The matter was heard in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT). The dispute centred around whether the Tribunal was functus officio when reviewing the decision to issue a direction to rectify, and whether the decision itself was reviewable under the Building Act 1993.

The court had to decide if the Tribunal had the power to review the decision to issue a direction to rectify, particularly given that the rectification work had already been undertaken by a third party. Additionally, the court needed to determine if it was fair to give a direction to rectify in such circumstances and whether the Tribunal should extend the time for giving the direction when no application to extend the time had been made. The court also considered whether the direction to rectify was a reviewable decision under the relevant legislation.

The court found that the Tribunal did not have the power to review the decision to issue the direction to rectify once the rectification work had already been completed. The court relied on previous obiter dicta from the case of Queensland Building & Construction Commission v Whalley, which stated that the Tribunal's jurisdiction was only triggered by a decision to issue a direction to rectify, not the direction itself. The court held that the direction to rectify was not a reviewable decision as it was not a decision made or taken to be made by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) to give a direction to rectify or remedy.

Consequently, the court set aside the decision to issue a direction to rectify in GAR092-18 and dismissed the application for review of the direction to rectify in GAR286-18. The court concluded that the direction to rectify was not a reviewable decision and that the Tribunal was functus officio in reviewing it.