How do I search the QBCC adjudication decisions register for a builder?
In Queensland, the Adjudication Registry is the part of the QBCC that receives adjudication applications under the security of payment laws, appoints the adjudicator and publishes the decisions. The published decisions are searchable by claimant and respondent name, free, without an account. For a subcontractor that makes it two things at once: where you lodge your own application, and the fastest free check of whether a builder has recently been taken to adjudication by other trades.
What the registry does
Queensland runs adjudication through a government registry rather than private nominating authorities. You lodge the application with the registry, the registrar refers it to an adjudicator, and the decision comes back through the same channel. Your payment claim, the builder's payment schedule and the application windows all have to be right before you get there: the registry checks that an application is complete, not that it will succeed.
Once a decision is made it goes on the public register. Each one opens with a cover sheet: the claimant and respondent with their ABNs, the type of work and the project location, the date and amount of the payment claim, the amount in the payment schedule, the adjudicated amount, how the adjudicator's fees were split, and the decision date. The reasons follow, often 50 pages or more.
How to search it for a builder
The register lives at https://my.qbcc.qld.gov.au/myQBCC/s/adjudication-registry. The Decision Search tab searches by claimant or respondent; the Recent Decisions tab lists the latest decisions newest first, ten to a page, with a View Decision button on each. No login is needed. Enter the builder's legal entity name in the respondent field, exactly as it appears on your subcontract, not the trading name on the site sign. Try a shorter version as well: companies appear with and without punctuation, and a missing full stop can hide a result.
Then read three numbers on each cover sheet. The claimed amount against the scheduled amount shows how the builder answers claims: a payment schedule of nil against a six-figure claim is a pattern worth knowing about. The adjudicated amount shows who the umpire believed. The fee split is a quiet signal too, because adjudicators tend to load the fees onto the party whose position had less merit.
One decision is a dispute. Several in a year against the same respondent is a pattern. Put it beside the other free checks: an ASIC search of the entity, the court lists for winding-up applications, and two phone calls to trades already on the builder's jobs. The free Builder Check at /builder-check lines all of them up for one name.
What the register cannot tell you
It only records disputes that went the distance. Claims that were paid late, settled, or abandoned because the subcontractor could not afford the fight never appear. A clean search is not a clean record.
A decision is also not proof of payment. The register shows what the adjudicator decided was owed, not whether the builder then paid it. And a builder can lose on the merits or win on a technicality, so read far enough to see why the number came out the way it did. A claimant who lost for serving a claim before its reference date tells you about the claimant's paperwork, not the builder's conduct.
Queensland is the only state that publishes adjudication decisions with the parties named. The Northern Territory registrar publishes decisions with identifying details removed, Victoria's regulator may publish only non-identifying information, and NSW, WA, SA, Tasmania and the ACT publish statistics rather than decisions. Outside Queensland, search the builder's name on AustLII and the Supreme Court lists instead: an adjudication that was challenged or enforced appears there as a judgment with both parties named.
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Assess my payment dispute freeCommon questions
Is the QBCC adjudication registry free to search?
Yes. The published decisions can be searched by party name on the QBCC website without an account or a fee.
Will my name be published if I adjudicate?
Yes. Queensland decisions are published with the names of the claimant and the respondent. Most subcontractors decide that being known as someone who enforces payment is not a disadvantage.
Does an adjudication decision against a builder mean the builder will not pay me?
No. It means another party disputed a payment with them and an adjudicator decided the amount. Treat it as one input: read how the builder responded to the claim, then set your own habits accordingly: claim on every reference date, diarise the payment schedule deadline, and act on the first short payment rather than the third.
Does every state have a public adjudication registry like the QBCC?
No. Queensland is the only jurisdiction that publishes decisions with the claimant and respondent named and searchable. The NT publishes decisions with the parties removed, Victoria may publish non-identifying information only, and the other states publish adjudication statistics. For a builder outside Queensland, the court lists and AustLII are the public record to search.
Where do I lodge an adjudication application in Queensland?
With the QBCC Adjudication Registry, within the time the Act allows after the payment schedule or the due date for payment. The windows are short and strict, so work out your dates the day you serve the payment claim.
Adjudication, by state
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General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice. Statutory deadlines and details vary by state and change over time; verify them before relying on them. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.