Rainbow Pty Ltd and HAWKINS and Anor

Rainbow Pty Ltd and two of its directors, Hawkins and another, were involved in a dispute with a builder over the quality of work performed on a building project. The dispute was brought before the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which had to determine the legality of the Building Disputes Tribunal's decision that the application for review was out of time due to the non-payment of the prescribed fee, and whether the applicants had complied with the preliminary notice requirements as stipulated by the Builders' Registration Act 1939 (WA).

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the application to the Building Disputes Tribunal was out of time because it was not accompanied by the required fee, and whether the applicants had fulfilled the preliminary notice requirements. The court had to examine the statutory provisions of the Builders' Registration Act 1939 (WA) and assess whether the non-payment of the fee and the failure to comply with the notice requirements constituted a valid reason to deem the application as out of time.

In affirming the decision of the Building Disputes Tribunal, the court found that the applicants had not complied with the statutory requirements. It was determined that the failure to accompany the application with the prescribed fee and the non-fulfillment of the preliminary notice obligations were valid grounds for considering the application as out of time. The court held that the statutory requirements were mandatory and that non-compliance could result in the application being deemed invalid. Consequently, the application for review was dismissed, and the decision of the Building Disputes Tribunal was affirmed.

The court's orders were that the application for review be dismissed and that the decision under review be affirmed. This meant that the applicants' challenge to the Building Disputes Tribunal's decision was unsuccessful, and the Tribunal's ruling stood. The applicants were required to adhere to the statutory requirements in future applications, including the payment of the prescribed fee and the compliance with the preliminary notice provisions.