Tanna v Queensland Building and Construction Commission

Michelle Margaret Tanna sought to review a decision made by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (the Commission) not to direct the remediation of a serious breach by the builder of her property when it had an opportunity to do so. The Commission had decided not to direct the builder to rectify the work because it was more than six years and six months since the building work was carried out, and it had also disallowed a claim under the statutory insurance scheme. Ms Tanna sought to join the builder as a party to the review proceedings. The Commission applied to the Tribunal to dismiss the application to review on the basis that it was lacking in substance and ought to be dismissed under s 47 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld) (QCAT Act).

The legal issues the court was required to decide were whether Ms Tanna's application to review identified a number of decisions made by various employees of the Commission, and whether the Tribunal had the power to extend the time limit for issuing a direction to rectify work under the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld) (the Act). The court found that the application to review clearly identified the Commission's decision of 25 February 2020 as the reviewable decision. The court also found that the time for giving a direction to rectify had expired by virtue of s 72A(4) of the Act. There was no application before the Tribunal by the Commission to extend the time limit. There was no power to compel the Commission to apply to the Tribunal for an extension of the time limit. The court was satisfied it was appropriate in the circumstances of this matter to dismiss the application to review under s 47 of the QCAT Act on the basis that the application was misconceived or lacking in substance because the time limit for issuing a direction to rectify had expired and the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to extend the time limit unless the Commission had applied to do so.

The Tribunal dismissed the application to review filed on 23 March 2020. The court found that the application to review clearly identified the Commission's decision of 25 February 2020 as the reviewable decision. The court also found that the time for giving a direction to rectify had expired by virtue of s 72A(4) of the Act. There was no application before the Tribunal by the Commission to extend the time limit. There was no power to compel the Commission to apply to the Tribunal for an extension of the time limit. The court was satisfied it was appropriate in the circumstances of this matter to dismiss the application to review under s 47 of the QCAT Act on the basis that the application was misconceived or lacking in substance because the time limit for issuing a direction to rectify had expired and the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to extend the time limit unless the Commission had applied to do so.