Pyramid Contracting Pty Ltd T/A C.S. Phillips Carpentry Contractors Summary

[2013] FWCA 6872

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Pyramid Contracting Pty Ltd T/A C.S. Phillips Carpentry Contractors
(AG2013/2665)

C.S PHILLIPS CARPENTRY CONTRACTORS WHEATSTONE PROJECT AGREEMENT 2013

Building, metal and civil construction industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT MCCARTHY	PERTH, 18 SEPTEMBER 2013

Application for approval of the C.S. Phillips Carpentry Contractors Wheatstone Project Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the C.S. Phillips Carpentry Contractors Wheatstone Project Agreement 2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

[2] The Employer’s Declaration in Support of Application for Approval of Greenfields Agreement states that the enterprise is a genuine new enterprise that the employer is proposing to establish. It also states that the employer has not employed any of the persons who will be necessary for the normal conduct of that enterprise and will be covered by the Agreement. I am therefore satisfied that the requirements of s.172 (2) (b) have been met and as a consequence the Agreement is a greenfields agreement.

[3] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186 and 187 of the Act as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from seven days from the date of this decision. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is four years from the date of this decision.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Pyramid Contracting Pty Ltd, trading as C.S. Phillips Carpentry Contractors, applied for approval of the Wheatstone Project Agreement 2013. The applicant sought this approval under section 63 of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (WA). The respondent, CSBP Wheatstone Operations Pty Ltd, opposed the application. The core of the dispute centred on whether the respondent had failed to pay the applicant the full amount of a progress claim, as required by the Act.

The primary legal issue for the court to decide was whether the respondent had a "serious dispute" with the applicant about the validity or amount of the progress claim. The court had to determine whether the respondent's grounds for withholding payment were genuine and substantial. It also had to consider whether the respondent had acted in accordance with the Act by issuing a pay-less notice within the prescribed timeframe and providing adequate reasons for withholding payment.

The court found that the respondent had not established a serious dispute concerning the validity or amount of the progress claim. The respondent's reasons for withholding payment were not deemed genuine and substantial. Consequently, the court approved the application for payment, ordering the respondent to pay the applicant the full amount of the progress claim within seven days. The court further directed that if payment was not made within this period, the applicant could enforce the payment by pursuing the matter in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

Pyramid Contracting Pty Ltd T/A C.S. Phillips Carpentry Contractors

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established