News and Insights

Application to extend a caveat lodged by a builder over the owner's land for $45k unpaid under a building contract refused with no serious question to be tried and no balance of convenience

Court of Appeal upholds overturning of an adjudication determination issued in favour of the Builder on the basis that it was interim only and unsupported by the facts found by the primary judge

Incorporation of Mudaraba style profit and loss sharing financial structure rejected as fundamentally inconsistent with conventional interest bearing loan agreement

Court of Appeal dismissed Owners' argument for a stay and enforcement of a dispute resolution clause where discretion would not have been exercised to order a stay

Application of High Court nuisance test applied to a levee constructed on a cotton farm upheld on the basis that loss and damage caused to the adjoining property was not conveniently done

Variation of interim suppression orders, and orders requiring disclosure of the arbitration expert reports, made in favour of parties outside an arbitration.

Partial order made for access to "third party documents" subject to a privilege claim, as well as costs

Tenant of a commercial property required to indemnify the lessor for $15m in loss and damage after a fire, caused by an "aqua lens" igniting materials stored outside, destroyed the property and an adjoining property

A caveat was ordered to be withdrawn because the sensible construction of the deed purporting to give an interest in property was that the rights only arose on expiry of the term of the advance.

Adjudication determination impacted by jurisdictional error severed after finding that the adjudicator failed to consider the terms of the Contract relating to liquidated damages

Claim for security under a construction contract as a statutory debt under s 15(2) of SOPA upheld in circumstances where payment claims under the contract had been sent to, and responded by, the Principal's Representative's company

A director of the developer who was involved in repair work was not supervising, coordinating, project managing or otherwise having substantive control over the carrying out of building work and therefore did not owe a duty of care under s 37 of the

In Rawcorp Pty Ltd v MDP No 15 Pty Ltd, the Court refused an injunction restraining recourse to contractual security, holding that the security provisions operated as a risk allocation mechanism and that s 67J of the QBCC Act did not apply to claims

NSW Supreme Court dismisses a bid to set aside a $9.2m adjudication award, finding that an adjudicator's errors in interpreting a payment claim for encashed security were within jurisdiction and did not invalidate the determination under SOPA.

Queensland Supreme Court grants a 49% shareholder leave to sue on the company's behalf after the majority shareholder allegedly misappropriated funds and terminated his employment.

ACT Court of Appeal confirms the rule against double recovery applies where damages claims against a builder and certifier partially overlap.

In Ramoo v Grow Trade Finance Pty Ltd [2026] FCA 286, Charlesworth J held that a trade finance provider had validly appointed Receivers over the real and personal property of a guarantor on the proper construction of a Trade Finance Facility Agreement.

In Owners Corporation 1 Plan No. PS 640567Y v Shangri‑La Construction Pty Ltd [2026] VSC 117, Delany J dismissed a third party claim by the managing director of Shangri-La on the basis that no claim was made or notified during the insurance period, and any liability did not arise from the performance of professional services.

In Cherrie Civil Engineering Pty Ltd v Jonishan Pty Ltd [2026] NSWSC 178, Rees J dismissed Cherrie's application to quash an adjudication determination issued in favour of Jonishan, finding that this was not one of the "rare cases" where an adjudicator fell into jurisdictional error by failing to consider a party's submissions.

In Acciona Infrastructure Australia Pty Ltd v Zurich Insurance plc UK Branch [2026] NSWSC 185, Peden J rejected both parties' separate challenges to two referee reports on a material damage insurance claim.

In The Owners – Strata Plan No 87231 v 3A Composites GmbH (No 10) [2026] FCA 351, Anderson J dismissed strata owners' claims against an ACP manufacturer and distributor, finding no breach of consumer guarantees, no misleading conduct, and causation not established.

In Lee v Big Dipper Constructions Pty Ltd [2026] NSWDC 43, Weber SC DCJ dismissed an owner's breach of contract claim, finding he had "set up" the builder's breach by denying site access and could not take advantage of his own wrong.

In Built Pty Ltd v Victorian Correctional Infrastructure Partnership Pty Ltd [2026] VSC 76, Nichols J refused to make declarations sought by Built concerning the meaning of "linked claims" and "linked disputes" under its subcontract, or that the clause was void under SOPA.

In Area Ten Pty Limited v SmartChannel Pty Limited [2026] NSWDC 37, Acting Judge Coleman SC upheld Area Ten's claim for unpaid fees under an SEO agreement, rejecting SmartChannel's purported termination and cross-claim.

In Darren Ryan Sacks v Bouwen Projects Pty Ltd [2025] NSWDC 539, Habib SC DCJ upheld Sacks' claim for damages for defects in the construction of his Dover Heights home, rejecting the builder's arguments on verbal variation, unreasonable rectification, and failure to mitigate.

In Kaloriziko Pty Ltd v Calibre Construction Group Pty Ltd (No 2) [2025] NSWCA 259, the Court of Appeal reduced the judgment against Kaloriziko by $3.24m, upholding its challenges on variations, practical completion date, and deed of release credits.

In The Owners – Strata Plan No 97938 v Golden Rain Development Pty Ltd [2026] NSWSC 37, Griffiths AJ granted a $29m freezing order against Golden Rain, finding a real risk that any defects judgment would go unsatisfied given the developer's negative equity and recent conversion of unsecured related-party loans to secured debt.

In Platform Constructions Pty Ltd v Fourth Dimension Au Pty Ltd [2025] QCA 264, the Court of Appeal declared an adjudication decision void after finding the claimant failed to provide the respondent with a complete copy of its submissions as required under the BIF Act.