Construction contracts and resolving disputes

This section has information for people who need a construction contract dispute resolved.

The Northern Territory (NT) Government has a special disputes scheme run by the Construction Contracts Registrar.

Get the question-and-answer guide about resolving construction disputes in the NT.

Resolving construction disputes in the NT DOCX (205.6 KB)
Resolving construction disputes in the NT PDF (434.2 KB)

Contracts covered by the dispute scheme

The dispute scheme covers written and verbal contracts for all of the following types of construction work:

• the supply of materials and services - eg: professional services including architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, and project management
• residential construction works
• building works
• civil works including roads, railways, canals, pipelines and pavements
• retaining walls
• reclaiming land
• installing and removing equipment
• preparatory works.

Types of construction disputes

A construction dispute may result from any of the following:

• a disagreement about a payment claim
• a payment claim is not paid in full when due
• retention monies are not paid when due
• a security deposit is not returned when due.

Other building disputes

For information about other building disputes such as problems with residential building contracts, professional misconduct and illegal building work, read about building complaints and disputes. You can also find out how to complain about and resolve building disputes.

This page has information to help people who have entered into an unwritten construction contract, a contract with missing provisions, or a contract with prohibited provisions.

If a contract is missing provisions

The Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act applies standard terms to your contract if it is not in writing, or if provisions are missing. Read more on the Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act.

The implied conditions cover all of the following:

• variations to the contract
• the contractor's entitlement to be paid
• the contractor's entitlement to receive progress payments or payment
• how payment claims are made
• how and when the recipient of the payment claim must respond to the claim
• interest on overdue payments
• ownership of goods supplied by the contractor to the building site
• what happens to unfixed goods supplied to the site that have not been paid for if the principal or head contractor becomes insolvent
• retention monies.

Exceptions to a contract

In some instances, the law overrides the provisions that appear in a contract.

You must by law make payments when they are due, even if your contract states that you are contractually dependent on another party paying you first.

If your contract says payment can be more than 50 days from the claim date, the law overrides the contract terms and you must actually pay invoices or payment claims within 28 days of receiving them.

Under Northern Territory law, you can apply to have a registered adjudicator resolve your construction contract dispute.

If your dispute is worth less than $30,000 monetary units, you can apply to the Community Justice Centre to appoint someone to adjudicate the dispute.

Find out how to calculate the value of monetary units.

Before you apply

You have 65 working days from the date that the payment dispute arose to apply.

If you apply through the Community Justice Centre for an adjudicator for a dispute worth less than $30,000 monetary units, the adjudicator may be a person with alternative dispute resolution training rather than a registered adjudicator.

An adjudicator will:

• not run mediation or conciliation between the parties
• make a decision based on the evidence presented by both parties in their application and response.

Find a registered adjudicator.

Read how to become an adjudicator.

Apply for a small claim

To make a claim for less than $30,000 monetary units, follow these steps:

Step 1. Fill in an application for adjudication DOCX (67.3 KB).

You must include:

• the full details of the dispute, why are you owned the unpaid amount of your payment claim.
• all documents and materials to support your application

Step 2. Pay the application fee of $500 including GST.

Your application then follows the same process outlined for applying to a registered adjudicator below, with the same time limits and outcomes applied.

Step 3. Submit your application by email, mail or in person.

Email
cjc@nt.gov.au

Postal
PO Box 41964
Casuarina NT 0801
(you must call prior to posting)

In person
Building 2B1
13-17 Scaturchio Street
Casuarina NT 0810

For more information, call the Community Justice Centre on 1800 000 473 or read more about the Community Justice Centre and mediation.

Responding to an application

If you're not the party that initiated the application, you have 15 working days to respond once you've been served the application for adjudication.

Your response must be in writing and include all of the following:

• your name and contact details
• the applicant’s name and contact details
• the name and contact details of the appointed adjudicator or prescribed appointer (the Director of the Community Justice Centre)
• names and contact details for each party to the contract
• details of the construction contract and payment claims that have led to the dispute
• details of any notice of dispute given by you to the applicant in response toa payment claim
• any other documents or information you want to rely on in support of your response
• challenges to any statements or claims made by the applicant that you believe are inaccurate
• a clear statement about why you have not paid the amount claimed, or why you are disputing the amount
• details of your actions in relation to your rights and obligations under the contract.

You must give copies of your response to all of the following:

• the adjudicator, or the Director the Community Justice Centre if no adjudicator has been appointed
• the applicant
• any other party named in the application.

The adjudication process

The adjudicator has 10 working days to make a decision from:

• the date that they were served with a response, or if no response was served
• the expiry of the 15 working day deadline for service of a response.

To ensure procedural fairness, the adjudicator can:

• add 5 more working days to the decision-making process
• apply to the Construction Contracts Registrar for an extension of time. 

The adjudicator's determination must include:

• names of the parties in dispute
• the amount to be paid or security to be returned to a party
• dates of when the amounts are to be paid or returned
• reasons for the decision.

The Construction Contracts Registrar keeps an anonymous public record of all decisions made by adjudicators. See the list of construction dispute determinations.

If your application is successful

You can file a signed copy of the adjudicator’s determination in the registry of the Local Court or Supreme Court.

The copy must be certified by the Construction Contracts Registrar as a genuine copy of the determination made by the registered adjudicator.

The determination can then be enforced as if it were a judgement of the court.

Read more about types of courts and their roles to find out about filing a copy of your determination.

If your application is dismissed

The adjudicator may dismiss your application without making a decision on its merits if:

• the dispute is not about a construction contract
• you failed to make your application within the 65 day time limit
• the dispute has already been resolved by a court or other arbitrator.

If the adjudicator fails to dismiss or determine your application within the allowed time, the application is deemed to be dismissed. You can reapply within 28 days to have a dismissed matter determined.

If your adjudicator has a conflict of interest

If you believe your adjudicator has a conflict of interest you can apply to have them disqualified.

Contact the Construction Contracts Registrar before the adjudicator delivers a determination about the dispute.

You can also approach your adjudicator directly about your concerns. They may choose to self-disqualify.

If an adjudicator is disqualified, the party that applied to have the dispute adjudicated can reapply.

The time lost through the disqualification is not counted in the 65 working day limit for submitting a second application.

If money is not paid after a decision

If an adjudicator determines that money must be paid to a contractor and it is not paid when required, the contractor can legally stop providing their work or services.

The contractor must first serve a notice on the other party, giving at least three days' notice, telling them that their services or obligations will be suspended.

You can apply for registration as an adjudicator in the Northern Territory (NT) to resolve construction contract disputes. You can also apply to have your interstate registration recognised in the NT.

This page lists adjudicators who are registered to help resolve construction contract disputes.

This register is maintained by the Northern Territory Construction Contracts Registrar.

This page lists appointers registered with the Northern Territory Construction Contracts Registrar.

Appointers select adjudicators to make determinations about construction contract disputes.

This page has information for people who want to look up a ruling in a construction dispute, apply to become an adjudicator, or make a complaint if they believe the adjudicator in their case has a conflict of interest.

You should contact the Northern Territory Construction Contracts Registrar if you want access to records of construction dispute determinations or find out about adjudicators.

To find a judicial ruling on a construction dispute, read construction dispute determinations.

Contact the registrar

Ms Erin McAuley
Construction Contracts Registrar
GPO Box 1722 
Darwin NT 0801

Phone: 08 8935 7764
Fax: 08 8924 7200
agdpolicyconstruction.contracts@nt.gov.au