Am I entitled to respond to an adjudication application?

The respondent can only lodge a submission with the adjudicator if the respondent has provided a payment schedule to the claimant within:

• the ten (10) business days allowed by the Act after being served the payment claim, or
• 5 business days allowed by the Act after being served a notice from the claimant of the intention to apply for adjudication as a result of the claimant not being paid by the due date of payment and not being provided with an initial payment schedule

The adjudicator cannot consider a submission made by the respondent after the latter of

• 5 business days after the respondent received a copy of the adjudication application, or
• 2 business days after the respondent received notice of the adjudicator’s acceptance of the application.

How do I respond to an adjudication application?

Respondents should note that an adjudication response:

• must be in writing
• must be addressed to the adjudicator and be received by the adjudicator within time
• must at the same time be served on the claimant
• must not include any reasons for withholding payment unless those reasons have been included in the payment schedule
• should include full details of reasons given in the payment schedule for refusing to pay or withholding payment of any amount (attach any document necessary to evidence or support those reasons such as expert reports and photograph’s evidencing defective work or statutory declarations from witnesses)
• may contain submissions relevant to the response (if documentation other than that provided in the adjudication application is referenced, then documents should be attached to the response), and
• may respond to issues raised in the adjudication application, such as arguments that the claimant is not entitled to claim amounts additional to those in the payment claim or to change the payment claim.