Emailing a payment claim to the address on a business card did not serve it

What happened

Source: the judgment on NSW Caselaw. Numbers in [brackets] are the judgment’s paragraphs.

1. A builder, SK Homes, had hired a crane from Frankies Cranes for a site at Toongabbie. SK Homes owed Frankies Cranes about $100,000 [8], [10].
2. June 2023 — Mr Kumar’s company exchanges contracts for the land. The company becomes the registered owner in October 2023 [9].
3. Frankies Cranes’ director says that Mr Kumar agreed to pay $1,700 a week for the crane and that, when asked for his email address and full name, Mr Kumar handed over his “Elante Homes” business card [7], [10]. Mr Kumar says he agreed only that the crane could stay on site until it was needed elsewhere [11].
4. October 2024 — Mr Kumar’s company sells the land [14].
5. 14 April 2025 — a friend of the director emails Mr Kumar a payment claim for $142,120, for crane hire from 15 May 2023 to 28 October 2024 [30], [31].
6. 15 May 2025 — the same person emails Mr Kumar a notice under s 17(2) of the Act [30].
7. 18 June 2025 — an adjudicator decides that $142,120 is payable. The adjudication certificate is then registered as a judgment in the District Court [1], [36].
8. Mr Kumar never received the payment claim. He first found the s 17(2) notice in August 2025 [32]. The court sets the adjudicator’s decision aside as void, and orders Frankies Cranes to pay the costs [33], [36].

The rule

An adjudicator has power to decide a claim only if the payment claim (s 13(1)) and the s 17(2) notice were served. Service of both is a precondition to the adjudicator’s jurisdiction [20].

The Act allows a document to be served “by email to an email address specified by the person for the service of documents of that kind” (s 31(1)(d)) [21]. A person can specify an address expressly. A court can also infer that a person specified an address from what the person did, such as using the address for documents under the Act [24].

The court held that handing over a business card, without more, did not specify the email address on it for service of documents under the Act [28].

Because Mr Kumar had not specified an address, Frankies Cranes had to prove that Mr Kumar actually received the documents. A document that actually comes to a person’s attention is served, whatever method is used [22], [29]. Mr Kumar’s evidence that he did not receive the documents was not challenged [32], [33]. Because the documents were not served, the time limits in ss 14, 15 and 17 could not be followed, and the adjudication application was premature and of no effect [34].

Separately, the court found that Mr Kumar made no construction contract with Frankies Cranes. That finding alone meant the adjudicator had no jurisdiction [12], [18].

What it means for you

If you serve claims by email: an email address on a business card is not enough on its own. Ask the other side to confirm, in so many words, that you may use the address for documents under the Act. The court repeated the advice McHugh JA gave in the Court of Appeal to do exactly that [25]. Without that confirmation, you must prove the email was actually received. Frankies Cranes could not prove it, and its adjudication was set aside.

If you serve claims in person or by post: serving a document by hand or by post does not depend on the other side naming an address. Keep a record of when and where you handed over or posted each document.

If you receive claims by email: in this case, handing someone a business card did not make the email address on it an address for service. On this decision, a claim you never received was never served on you. If you find out about such a claim, say so in writing as soon as you find out.