Monthly Archives: July 2014

Working on the Weekend

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socalwwgroupJust back from the Society of Construction Law working weekend in Victor Harbor.

The group mug shot looks strangely old fashioned – as if it was taken in the 1970’s. It was taken by Matthew Bell, who said he might in due course photoshop  himself into the photo somehow or the other. I wonder if he will give himself flared trousers and an Afghan coat?

Notwithstanding this impression, the weekend was excellent. This format – of a relatively small group with time to talk of important stuff in our business – is a welcome change from the big “set piece” events.

My own principal contribution was Continue reading →

One bad apple

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bad-appleHere is an interesting take on a jurisdictional point, from the Northern Territory.

Broadly, the view that the courts have typically taken on judicial reviews of adjudicators’ decisions is that if the decision is defective in any one respect, the whole decision is quashed. In other words, one bad apple ruins the whole barrel.

But what if the adjudication concerns more than one dispute? In the Northern Territory, section 34 allows adjudication of multiple disputes, subject to consent:

(3)     An appointed adjudicator may:

        (a)     with the Registrar’s consent, extend the time for making a determination under section 33(1); or

        (b)     with the consent of the parties, adjudicate simultaneously 2 or more payment disputes between the parties; or

        (c)     with the consent of all the parties concerned, adjudicate the payment dispute simultaneously with another payment dispute.

In M & P Builders v Norblast [2014] NTSC 25, Continue reading →