The RICS DRS has been operating in Queensland since early 2005 as an Authorised Nominating Authority under the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act, the security of payment legislation that provides rapid solutions to construction disputes.
Adjudication in Queensland
The adjudication process, in relation to the Queensland building and construction industry, was introduced in October 2004. It is a dispute resolution process that grants claimants the statutory right to receive progress payments, and explicitly legislated within the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act, 2004. To be eligible for access to the adjudication dispute resolution process there are a number of criteria that must be satisfied.
Adjudication can only be chosen as a route if the claimant submits a valid payment claim to the entity, under the contract, that is liable to make payment (the respondent). Consequently, a claimant must have an eligible contract related to construction or the supply of related goods and services in order to utilise the adjudication process, whether or not it is written, oral, part-written or part-oral. A respondent must either provide payment, or provide what is known as a payment schedule, which details reasons, if any, for not providing full payment of the payment claim. If any of these scenarios is not completed, the claimant may have the option to apply for adjudication.
An adjudication will be decided by a registered adjudicator within strict time limits (10 business days), and a decision on whether the claimant is due payment will be issued. If the adjudication decided in favour of the claimant, they have the option of securing the outstanding payment by requesting an adjudication certificate, and securing a lawfully enforceable judgement debt against the respondent.
We also have provided a section of highly detailed information about the entire Queensland security of payment process in our BCIPA knowledge base which you can peruse at your leisure.
About the Queensland ANA
The RICS DRS has the statutory power to nominate adjudicators to construction disputes within Queensland.
To apply for adjudication, please review the required adjudication forms and tools or download one of our application forms after your peruse our fees structure.
We also provide training for both prospective adjudicators as well as education for the general public. This is complemented by specific publications on the Queensland legislation, such as the Annotated BCIPA Online.
We have a dedicated panel of adjudicators which consists of both RICS and non-RICS members from a variety of backgrounds relevant to the construction industry.
The adjudication branch of the RICS Dispute Resolution Service is regulated by the Building and Construction Industry Payments Agency, a sub-section of the Queensland Building Services Authority.
The costs relevant to Queensland adjudication are available on our fee structure page.