Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 - SECT 21

Adjudication responses

21. Adjudication responses



(1) Subject to subsection (2A), the respondent may lodge with the adjudicator
a response to the claimant's adjudication application (the adjudication
response) at any time within-

   (a)  5 business days after receiving a copy of the application; or

   (b)  2 business days after receiving notice of an adjudicator's acceptance
        of the application-

whichever time expires later.

(2) The adjudication response-

   (a)  must be in writing; and

   (b)  must identify the adjudication application to which it relates; and

   (c)  must include the name and address of any relevant principal of the
        respondent and any other person who the respondent knows has a
        financial or contractual interest in the matters that are the subject
        of the adjudication application; and

   (ca) must identify any amount of the payment claim that the respondent
        alleges is an excluded amount; and

   (d)  may contain any submissions relevant to the response that the
        respondent chooses to include.





(2A) The respondent may lodge an adjudication response only if the respondent
has provided a payment schedule to the claimant within the time specified in
section 15(4) or 18(2)(b).

(2B) If the adjudication response includes any reasons for withholding payment
that were not included in the payment schedule, the adjudicator must serve a
notice on the claimant-

   (a)  setting out those reasons; and

   (b)  stating that the claimant has 2 business days after being served with
        the notice to lodge a response to those reasons with the adjudicator.

(3) A copy of the adjudication response must be served on the claimant.

(4) In this section relevant principal in relation to the respondent, means
any person with whom the respondent has entered into a contract (that is not a
construction contract exempted from this Act under section 7(2)(b) or
7(2)(ba)) for the provision by the respondent of construction work or goods
and services if the construction work carried out or the goods and services
supplied by the claimant to or for the respondent under the construction
contract are, or are part of or incidental to, the construction work or goods
and services that the first-mentioned person engaged the respondent to carry
out or supply.