The High Court of Australia has refused special leave to appeal the Victorian Court of Appeal decision of Yuanda Vic Pty Ltd v Façade Designs International Pty Ltd [2021] VSCA 44 (Yuanda).
The refusal leaves in place the Yuanda decision, confirming that claimants are not entitled to seek summary judgement where the payment claim under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic) (SOP Act) contains an excluded amount.Claimants can no longer include excluded amounts within payment claims and count on a judge ‘severing’ those excluded amounts in any proceeding. To preserve rights associated with fast track relief under the SOP Act, claimants must ensure that their payment claims are valid, and not infected by any excluded amounts. Conversely, respondents who fail to initially provide a payment schedule are increasingly likely to face more section 18(2) notices under the SOP Act, requiring a payment schedule within 2 business days. To access our note on the the Court of Appeal decision in Yuanda please click hereFurther information / assistance regarding the issues raised in this article is available from the authors, Bill Papastergiadis – Partner, Nathan Cutts – Partner, Phillip Vassiliadis – Senior Associate or your usual contact at Moray & Agnew.
The content of this publication is intended to provide a summary and commentary only. It is not intended to be comprehensive nor does it constitute legal advice, and has been prepared based on applicable legislation at the date of publication. You should seek legal advice on specific circumstances before taking any action.
