Smith v Queensland Building Services Authority

[2010] QCAT 448

CITATION: Smith v Queensland Building Services Authority [2010] QCAT 448

PARTIES:	Mr Bradley George Smith
v
Queensland Building Services Authority

APPLICATION NUMBER:   GAR081-10

MATTER TYPE: General administrative review matters

HEARING DATE:     22 July 2010

HEARD AT:  Brisbane

DECISION OF: Richard Oliver – Senior Member

DELIVERED ON: 15 September 2010

DELIVERED AT:      Brisbane

ORDERS MADE:

1.  Compliance with the procedural requirement to stamp the Tribunal’s seal on the application lodged with the Tribunal on 19 January 2010 is waived.

2.  The application to join Ryan Mayne and Amy Mayne and Eco Housing Building Systems as respondents is refused.

CATCHWORDS :  Procedural requirements for filing an application in QCAT; whether prescribed fee must be paid on filing for the application to be filed; sections 33(2), section 38 and Rule 31 considered; waiver of requirement to stamp seal on application and consideration of section 61(1)(c) of the QCAT Act; Application to join parties; consideration of section 42 of the QCAT Act.

APPEARANCES and REPRESENTATION (if any):

APPLICANT:	Bradley Geroge Smith represented by Mr B. Herd solicitor of Carne Reidy Herd Lawyers
RESPONDENT:	Queensland Building Services Authority represented by Ms K Hunt, solicitor

REASONS FOR DECISION

1. On 21 December 2009 the Queensland Building Services Authority (“the Authority”) issued a Direction to Rectify and/or Complete number 33970 to the Applicant in respect of building work undertaken by him at 119 Dean Road, Verrierdale, a property owned by Ryan and Amy Mayne (“the Maynes”).

1. The Direction to Rectify noted that:

“BSA’s decision to direct you to carry out the work as detailed on page 3 of this document is reviewable in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT). Review applications to QCAT must be made within 28 days. Before making an application, you should consider obtaining independent legal advice.”

1. The right to review is contained in section 86 of the Queensland Building Services Authority Act (“QBSA Act”) which is in the following terms:-

“The tribunal must not review the following decisions of the authority—

(a) a decision to recover an amount under section 71;

(b) a decision to direct rectification or completion of tribunal work by a building contractor and any finding by the authority in arriving at the decision if—

(i) 28 days have elapsed from the date the direction to rectify or complete was served on the building contractor and the contractor has not, within that time, applied to the tribunal for a review of the decision”

1. On 19 January 2010 the Applicant lodged with the Tribunal an application to review the Authority’s decision.  The application has a Tribunal date stamp on it stating “19 Jan 2010”.  On the right hand side at the top of the application there is a box “for office use only” which records case number, date, registry, sent to, fee paid and rec no.  This information is recorded in the box by Tribunal staff, but on this document the box has nothing recorded in it.  A comparison with the subsequent application to review that was…