Adjudication Lawyers Brisbane and Queensland
Adjudication runs in business days, not months. Miss a window and the right is gone.
Under the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld), a party owed money for construction work can have that claim decided by an independent adjudicator in weeks rather than years. The decision is enforceable as a judgment. The process is fast, technical, and unforgiving of procedural error. Most adjudications are decided by documents prepared before anyone thought a dispute was likely.
Boyle Litigation acts for claimants and respondents in adjudications across Queensland, from single progress claims to complex claims running into the millions. Litigation is the only work we do.
What adjudication decides, and what it does not
Adjudication is a cash flow remedy. It answers one question: how much is payable now under a specific payment claim. It is an interim answer, designed to keep money moving through a project while the larger argument continues.
- Adjudicated amounts are adjusted in the final reckoning between the parties, which is why the sequence of claims matters as much as the merits of any one of them.
- It does not finally determine rights under the contract. Either party can litigate or arbitrate the same issues afterwards.
- It binds the parties on an interim basis and can be enforced as a judgment debt.
- It decides the amount payable under a payment claim, and the date by which it must be paid.
Used well, adjudication moves money and shifts leverage.
Used as a substitute for a final determination of contractual rights, it disappoints. Part of our job is telling you which one you are actually asking for.
Who we act for
- Head contractors and subcontractors pursuing unpaid progress claims and final claims
- Principals, developers and asset owners responding to payment claims and adjudication applications
- Suppliers and trade contractors owed for goods and services supplied to a project
- Respondents facing a claim where no payment schedule was given, or where the schedule was prepared without advice
- Parties enforcing an adjudication decision, or resisting enforcement of one
- Insolvency practitioners appointed to construction companies with live, lapsed or unenforced claims
The statutory timetable
Every stage runs on business days. The applicable window depends on the pathway taken and on whether the claim is standard or complex. The table below is a working guide. It is not a substitute for advice on your documents.
| Stage | Who acts | Indicative window |
|---|---|---|
| Payment claim | Claimant | The period allowed by the contract or the statutory window, whichever gives more time |
| Payment schedule | Respondent | The earlier of the period stated in the contract and 15 business days after the payment claim is given |
| Notice of intention to apply | Claimant | Required where no payment schedule was given. Generally within 20 business days after the due date for payment. The respondent then has a short further period to give a schedule |
| Adjudication application | Claimant | 30 business days after a schedule for less than the claimed amount, 20 business days after the due date where a scheduled amount is unpaid, or 30 business days after the due date where no schedule was given |
| Adjudication response | Respondent | 10 business days for a standard claim. 15 business days for a complex claim, with a further extension available on request |
| Adjudicator decision | Adjudicator | 10 business days for a standard claim or 15 business days for a complex claim after the response is due, unless extended by agreement |
| Payment of the adjudicated amount | Respondent | Within 5 business days after the decision is given, or a later date fixed by the adjudicator |
Stage
Who acts
Claimant
Respondent
Adjudicator
Respondent
Indicative window
The earlier of the period stated in the contract and 15 business days after the payment claim is given
Two dates decide most adjudications.
The date the payment claim was given, and the date the payment schedule was due. Get either wrong and nothing that happens afterwards saves the claim.
Acting for claimants
Where claims fail
- The document relied on was not a valid payment claim, or was given outside the permitted window
- The application was lodged outside the applicable business day window, or the wrong window was used
- The application asserts an entitlement that was never identified in the payment claim
- The supporting material is disorganised, so the adjudicator cannot trace the claimed amount to the contract and the work performed
- Variations are claimed without evidence that they were directed, valued and claimed in accordance with the contract
We prepare applications the way we prepare a case for hearing: entitlement, contractual pathway, evidence, and arithmetic, in a form an adjudicator can follow in a single reading.
Acting for respondents
- We draft payment schedules with the adjudication in mind, not just the invoice in front of you
- We assess whether the payment claim is valid at all, which can end the claim before the merits are reached
- We prepare responses that engage with the claim item by item rather than asserting a global set-off
- For complex claims, we advise on the additional reasons that can be raised and on the reply the claimant is then entitled to make
- Where a decision has already been made, we advise on payment, security, and the realistic prospects of review
Served with a payment claim?
The schedule window is short, and the schedule is the single most important document in the dispute. Do not send it before it has been reviewed.
Standard claims and complex claims
A payment claim of more than $750,000 excluding GST is a complex payment claim. The tier changes the timetable, the scope of the response, whether new reasons can be raised, and the practical cost of running the adjudication.
It also changes strategy. On a complex claim, the respondent has room to build a case, so the claimant needs to anticipate that case in the application rather than reserve material for a reply that may never be permitted. On a standard claim, the discipline runs the other way: the schedule is the defence, and everything depends on getting it right within days.
After the decision
Enforcement
An adjudication certificate can be filed in a court of competent jurisdiction and enforced as a judgment debt. Where a respondent does not pay, a claimant may also have statutory options including suspension of work and, in some circumstances, recourse against a party higher in the contracting chain. We move to enforcement without a pause, because the value of the remedy is in its speed.
Review
There is no appeal on the merits. A decision can be challenged in the Supreme Court on limited grounds only, principally jurisdictional error or a substantial denial of natural justice. A respondent seeking to restrain enforcement will ordinarily be required to pay the adjudicated amount into court as security. In practice that requirement drives the commercial decision more often than the legal merits do.
- Advice on whether an identified error is jurisdictional, or simply an error the adjudicator was entitled to make
- Applications to set aside a decision, in whole or in part
- Defending decisions against review, including on urgent timetables
- Urgent applications where enforcement is imminent and payment would be difficult to recover
When adjudication is the wrong tool
We will tell you when it is. Adjudication is a poor fit where the real dispute is a final account with substantial defects and delay claims running in both directions, where the respondent is insolvent or close to it and a judgment will not be paid, or where the outcome you need is relief an adjudicator cannot give.
In those situations we advise on the alternatives, including subcontractors’ charges, court proceedings, arbitration under the contract, or insolvency process. The point is to choose the remedy that produces money or leverage, not the one that produces a document.
Why Boyle Litigation
- Litigation only. We do not draft construction contracts or administer projects. Every matter we take on is a dispute.
- Our Managing Partner is one of 33 Queensland Law Society Accredited Specialists in Commercial Litigation, from more than 14,000 practising solicitors in the state.
- Direct access. The lawyer who assesses your position is the lawyer who runs the matter.
- Built for short windows. Adjudication timetables do not accommodate delay, and neither do we.
- Commercial from the first call. What the claim is worth, what it will cost, and whether it is worth running.
Frequently asked questions
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What is adjudication under the BIF Act?
Adjudication is a statutory process under the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld) that allows a party owed money for construction work to have the claim decided by an independent adjudicator within a short statutory timetable. The decision determines how much is payable under the payment claim and when. It is binding on an interim basis and can be enforced as a judgment debt, but it does not finally determine the parties’ rights under the contract.
How long do I have to apply for adjudication in Queensland?
The window depends on what the respondent did. Where a payment schedule was given for less than the claimed amount, the period is generally 30 business days after the schedule is received. Where a scheduled amount was not paid by the due date, it is generally 20 business days after that due date. Where no payment schedule was given at all, a notice of intention to apply is generally required first, and the application window runs from the due date for payment. Every one of these periods is counted in business days and none of them can be extended. Take advice as soon as a payment dispute arises.
Can I include new reasons in my adjudication response?
For a standard payment claim, no. A respondent cannot include in the adjudication response reasons for withholding payment that were not included in the payment schedule. For a complex payment claim, additional reasons may be raised, and the claimant is then entitled to reply. This is the single most important reason to have a payment schedule reviewed before it is sent.
What is a complex payment claim?
A payment claim for more than $750,000 excluding GST is a complex payment claim. Complex claims attract longer response periods, allow additional reasons to be raised in the response, and give the claimant a right of reply. The distinction affects both the timetable and the strategy on either side.
Is an adjudication decision final?
No. An adjudication decision resolves what is payable now. It does not finally determine the parties’ contractual rights. Either party can commence court or arbitration proceedings to have the underlying dispute determined on its merits, and amounts paid under an adjudication decision are taken into account in that final reckoning.
How do I enforce an adjudication decision if the other side does not pay?
A claimant can request an adjudication certificate and file it in a court of competent jurisdiction, where it can be enforced as a judgment debt. Depending on the circumstances, statutory options including suspension of work may also be available. Enforcement should follow immediately, because delay gives a respondent time to move funds or to enter an insolvency process.
Can an adjudication decision be set aside?
Only on narrow grounds. There is no appeal on the merits, and an adjudicator is entitled to be wrong about the facts or the contract. A decision may be challenged in the Supreme Court where there is jurisdictional error or a substantial denial of natural justice, and part of a decision can sometimes be severed rather than the whole decision set aside. A respondent seeking to restrain enforcement will usually have to pay the adjudicated amount into court as security, which is a significant commercial consideration.
Do you act for respondents as well as claimants?
Yes. We act for principals, developers and head contractors responding to payment claims and adjudication applications, as often as we act for claimants pursuing them. Respondent work frequently begins earlier, at the payment schedule stage, which is where the outcome is usually determined.