Mark has lectured and written extensively about building and construction law.
Mark has acted in a wide variety of building and construction disputes in relation to both commercial and domestic building projects, as well as engineering projects, throughout his career. He has lectured and written extensively about this area of law. He is also a qualified and registered adjudicator in Queensland under the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017, being called regularly to advise in relation to the Act generally and its application to individual claims for payment.
He is also a qualified and registered adjudicator in:
- the Northern Territory under the Constructions Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004;
- New South Wales under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999;
- Victoria under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009.
and is accredited with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors – Dispute Resolution Service, as a Senior Adjudicator in those jurisdictions.
As a result of this experience, in addition to acting for parties in their disputes, both before the courts and in arbitrations, Mark is also asked to advise often, at the outset of the projects, in relation to proposed contracts and to assist in the drafting of their terms.
He also has assisted clients over many years in disputes involving first the Queensland Building Services Authority and, more latterly, the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.
Specifically, Mark’s experience includes:
- disputes over claims for payment including claims for variations to the works undertaken;
- assisting in preparation of payment claims for eventual submission to adjudication under the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017;
- advising of the validity of decisions made by adjudicators under that Act and, where necessary, challenging their validity;
- claims involving delayed completion of building works including claims for delay, disruption and acceleration costs, claims for extensions of time, and claims for liquidated damages for late completion;
- disputes involving the validity and application of show cause and default notices issued under building and construction contracts;
- subcontractor’s charges claimed under the Subcontractor’s Charges Act 1974;
- directions to rectify defective or omitted work issued by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission;
- builder’s licensing matters, including those involving financial compliance;
- classification of persons as “permitted individuals” under the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 in the wake of a builder’s insolvency;
- claims against the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991, statutory insurance fund, maintained by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission, in relation to incomplete or defective domestic building work.
Recently Mark has acted for:
- a head contractor in an arbitration against a major subcontractor in which an award to the head contractor of several hundred thousand dollars was made;
- the subcontractors, of a head contractor which had failed financially, in obtaining distribution to them of moneys held by the Supreme Court of Queensland pursuant to the Subcontractors’ Charges Act 1974;
- a major contractor in relation to a claim, conducted in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, for payment in respect of industrial engineering works;
- a subcontractor, in pursuing successfully a head contractor, for payment through adjudication under the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 by advising upon the content of the adjudication application and preparing the accompanying submissions to the adjudicator in support of the subcontractor’s claim;
- a major head contractor, in an arbitration against a subcontractor, for the recovery of liquidated damages of over $1.5 million against which allegations of delay and disruption, acts of prevention, and entitlements to extensions of time were raised;
- a subcontractor, of a head contractor which had failed financially, in obtaining payment out of the Supreme Court of Queensland pursuant to the Subcontractor’s Charges Act 1974, involving coordination, and agreeing the proportionate payouts, of other subcontractor claimants, to the fund;
- a residential property developer and builder, in relation to a suspension of its building licence by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission for financial non-compliance with the terms of its licence;
- home owners, in a review before the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal of a decision by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission, to reject a claim on the statutory insurance fund administered by the Commission under the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991;
- a farming company, in proceedings before the District Court of Queensland, involving the design, construction, and subsequent performance of an irrigation system upon each of two commercial farms;
- the developer of a major industrial development, in an action before the Supreme Court of Queensland for negligence and misleading conduct, brought against a firm of engineers for in excess of $10 million;
- a major contractor, in an action before the Supreme Court of Queensland against a number of its subcontractors and consultants, for the recovery of the cost of remedying defective and incomplete work in the construction of multi high rise mixed commercial, retail, and residential development, in which total damages sought are in excess of $2.7 million;
- a contractor, in an action in the Supreme Court of Queensland against a developer for the recovery of in excess of $1.9 million, and defending a counterclaim by that developer of over $2.1 million;
- the body corporate of a high rise residential complex, in litigation before the Supreme Court of Queensland, for over $1 million, against the builder of the complex in respect of a defective facade;
- a commercial property investment and development company, in an action for in excess of $750,000.00 before the Supreme Court of Queensland, against its builder in respect of defective glass;
- the Queensland Building and Construction Commission, in proceedings before the District Court of Queensland, in litigation to recover against a builder $400,000.00, paid by the Commission to home owners under the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 statutory insurance scheme;
- purchasers of acreage property who were competing for title against other purchasers over an asserted “first right of refusal”;
- a roofing company pursuing outstanding payment over a housing development in Victoria.