Vanguard Developments v Promax

The case of Vanguard Developments v Promax involved a dispute between a developer and a subcontractor concerning the payment of an interim progress claim under a building contract. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The developer, Vanguard Developments, sought to enforce a payment schedule issued by an adjudicator, while the subcontractor, Promax, contested the validity of the adjudication and the amount claimed.

The court was tasked with determining whether the adjudicator's decision was valid, particularly in light of the fact that the final claim was issued after the contract had been terminated. Additionally, the court had to consider whether the adjudicator erred in failing to assess defects that were alleged to have existed at the time of an earlier adjudication but were only identified subsequently. The subcontractor argued that the adjudicator made a jurisdictional error by accepting a reference date that did not exist and by not addressing the alleged defects identified post-termination.

The Supreme Court held that the adjudicator did indeed commit a jurisdictional error by accepting a reference date that was not valid. Consequently, the decision made by the adjudicator was flawed. Furthermore, the court found another jurisdictional error in the adjudicator's failure to assess the defects that existed at the time of the earlier adjudication but were identified later. The court concluded that these errors meant that the adjudicator's decision could not stand, and the developer's application for enforcement of the payment schedule was dismissed. The court did not order any specific payment to be made in this instance, as the jurisdictional errors rendered the adjudication invalid.