Following the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 Review Report, tabled in the New South Wales Parliament in May 2004, the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 has now been reviewed by the Department of Commerce.

The review has involved extensive formal and informal consultation with a wide variety of participants in the construction industry.

The review has confirmed that the security of payment scheme is generally working well, and is achieving its desired objective of supporting fairer payment behaviour in the construction industry.

Notwithstanding, stakeholders and the review team have identified areas where the operation of the scheme could be further improved. These include:

• the need for more robust regulation of the adjudication system;
• the need to ensure that the Act cannot be used to undermine parties' agreed contractual arrangements;
• the need for mechanisms to lessen the impact of incorrect adjudication determinations; and
• the capacity of the Act to deal with complex claims.