Adjudication determinations in Australia

The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (the Act) is a unique form of statutory regulation for the building and construction industry. The Act gives virtually all industry participants a statutory right to, and a means of recovering, payments for work done under a construction contract. The research objectives of the research are to assess the level of awareness of the Act amongst industry participants, to determine if the Act has improved security of payment, and to examine emerging trends in adjudication determinations and in decisions from the Supreme Court of New South Wales (NSWSC) in relation to adjudication determinations. The latter two objectives are the main focus of this paper. Data for this research is being collected through questionnaires, from a sample of past adjudication determinations, and recent decisions from the NSWSC. The research demonstrates that: adjudication gives claimants a high chance of obtaining the full or partial amount of a payment claim; and the adjudication process is being frustrated by lawyers seeking an injunctive relief and relief in the nature of 'certiorari'.