Tag Archives: Society of Construction Law

A New Security Lock for South Australia

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Schubert - Stephan Knoll

Stephan Knoll MP

Stephan Knoll’s Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment (Authorised Nominating Authorities) Amendment Bill got both its First and Second Readings in South Australian House of Assembly a few days ago. If passed, it will provide for South Australia to follow Queensland’s lead in abolishing the for-profit ANA system, instead providing that all appointments of adjudicators by made by the Commissioner for Small Business, as recommended last year by the Moss Review.

It is welcome that Stephan Knoll has paid attention to the Society of Construction Law Australia’s Report on the topic (in which I had a considerable had, as chairman of the Australian Legislative Reform Subcommittee). My colleagues at SoCLA (and I) put a lot of work into that Report, and it is gratifying to see politicians taking notice.

The present legislation could certainly do with some improvement; it is to be hoped that Continue reading →

Plenty of Room for Improvement in Security of Payment in New South Wales

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socla logoSoCLA has submitted its response to the NSW discussion paper on last year’s admendments.

Those amendments have not gone done well in the courts:

  • McDougall J in Kitchen Xchange v Formacon Building Services [2014] NSWSC 1602 said that the  amendment to s 13(2)(c) – removing the requirement for payment claims to identify themselves as such – was “unwise”.
  • In BRB Modular Pty Ltd v AWX Constructions Pty Ltd & Ors [2015] QSC 218 the Supreme Court of Queensland had to consider a contractual provision to the same effect as the new NSW statutory requirement for supporting statements. It found that, on balance, such a requirement ran so counter to the objects of the legislation (those objects being the same in Queensland and NSW) as to fall foul of the anti-avoidance provisions.
  • These ill-considered experiments also fail to take into account the observation of Justice Peter Vickery that[2]:

We now have the luxury of more than a decade of experience derived from the “hard knocks” of litigation and the practice of adjudication. This is an excellent foundation to build upon. Most of the problems, both practical and legal, one way or another have been exposed. It is surely now time to capture the best from all jurisdictions and consolidate them into a coherent national framework.

SoCLA’s response (the drafting of which I led)  likewise urges that Continue reading →

The Young

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CareersThis is a bit scary. I have been asked to be part of a panel: we are supposed to talk about our careers in the construction industry.

Not being able to imagine that Young Constructors would have any interest at all in my career, I agreed on the basis that I would tell some war stories about stuff that I have seen. But do I tell stories about when I was young? That might sound like an old soldier talking about battles from a long-forgotten era. Or more recent stories? What relevance would the observations of an old soldier have to the young?

Or should I talk about Continue reading →

Party time!

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SoCLA Xmas 2013The Society of Construction Law Australia is holding Christmas parties all over the country; in Adelaide, there is going to be a garden party on 12th December at my house.

How do you get to join in the fun? Members of SoCLA get to come – no charge. So, if you are not a member already, this would be a very good time to join.

In London, the Society of Construction Law used to get Michael Stimpson and others to bring along a banjo or guitar for this sort of event, and that added a fair bit to the jollity of proceedings. I wonder if anything similar might be going to happen here?