Queensland Building and Construction Commission v B & L Constructions Qld Pty Ltd

The Queensland Building and Construction Commission appealed against the decision of the Tribunal that it had jurisdiction to hear an appeal by the respondent, B & L Constructions Qld Pty Ltd, against an internal review decision. The appeal was dismissed by the court. The issue before the court was whether an internal review decision made under s 86(1) of the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld) was a ‘reviewable decision’ within the meaning of s 86E of the same Act. The court held that it was, and that the Tribunal had jurisdiction to hear the appeal.

The court examined the definition of “reviewable decision” in s 86E, which includes a decision to allow a claim under the insurance scheme, and an internal review decision. The court held that the internal review decision to allow a claim under the insurance scheme was a reviewable decision. The court rejected the argument that the internal review decision should be read down in order to avoid an anomaly in the operation of the review provisions. The court held that the literal meaning of the words of s 86E(b) was clear, and that there was no evidence of a legislative intention to widen the scope of external review in this way. The court held that the appellant’s argument that the internal review decision should not be a reviewable decision was contrary to the plain meaning of the words of the section, and that the appeal must be dismissed.

The court also noted that the 2014 amendments to the Act, which introduced the idea of an internal review of reviewable decisions, were the result of the implementation of the government’s response to the report of a Parliamentary Committee following an Inquiry into the operation and performance of the Queensland Building Services Authority. The court held that there was no evidence that the amendments were intended to widen the scope of external review in this way, and that the appeal must be dismissed.

The orders of the court were that leave to appeal was granted, the appeal was dismissed, and that if either party sought an order for costs, that party must provide submissions in writing supporting such an order to the associate to the Deputy President and to the other party within fourteen days of this decision. If such submissions were provided, the other party may provide submissions in writing in response to the associate and to the party applying within fourteen days of receiving such submissions. Any submissions in writing in reply are to be provided within seven days of receiving the submissions in response. If submissions seeking costs are received, the Appeal Tribunal will decide the question of costs on the papers pursuant to s 32 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld).