VIC: Claimant Applies for Adjudication Certificate

To enforce the adjudication determination, the claimant must apply for and obtain an adjudication certificate.

The adjudication certificate allows a claimant to formally advise the court that an adjudication determination has been made, the relevant date for payment and the amount due to be paid under the determination.

The "relevant date" for payment of the adjudicated amount is 5 business days after the date on which the adjudicator's determination is served on the respondent, or such later date as the adjudicator determines.

The amount due includes:

• The amount determined by the adjudicator;
• The respondent's share, if any, of adjudication fees paid by the claimant, including the adjudication certificate fee; and
• Interest, if any, on the unpaid progress payment from the due date of payment to the date of the adjudication certificate.

Once the relevant date has elapsed, application can be made to Adjudicate Today for the issue of the adjudication certificate.

The claimant files this certificate in a court of appropriate jurisdiction together with an affidavit of debt upon which the court should enter judgment. The affidavit of debt is to swear that the whole or a part of the adjudicated amount (including interest and adjudication fees) has not been paid at the time the certificate is filed. Filing the certificate together with the affidavit of debt and receiving judgment for the debt can take less than 20 minutes. The judgement debt is then enforceable in the same way as any court judgement in Victoria.

Issue of the adjudication certificate is the culmination of the adjudication process. Once issued the role of Adjudicate Today is concluded.

Click: Download Adjudication Certificate Form *Note: This form is interactive. This means it can be EITHER filled out on screen and printed OR downloaded and printed for manual completion.

Adjudicate Today prepares and issues the adjudication certificate. The certificate is an important legal document and is checked and rechecked by staff and management of Adjudicate Today before it is issued. It is a tedious and lengthy process to issue a second "original" certificate unless the first has been returned. Therefore every care needs to be taken to preserve the certificate prior to filing in the court.

The fee for the issue of an adjudication certificate is based on the adjudicated amount, as follows:

Adjudicated Amount	Fee $
Up to $15,000	$110
$15 001 to $40 000	$330
$40 001 to $750 000	$550
over $750 000	$825

The following notes will assist in the completion of the form. Section 1

• The request must be lodged with the ANA (Adjudicate Today) which nominated the adjudicator.
• The request cannot be made before the expiration of the later of 5 business days after the adjudicator's determination was served on the respondent or the date (determined by the adjudicator) as the date on which the progress payment became payable.
• The request cannot be made unless the whole or part of the adjudicated amount (including adjudication fees and interest) remains unpaid at the date of the request.
• The request must be accompanied by the fee charged by Adjudicate Today for issue of the adjudication certificate.
• Completion of sections 2 and 3 of the form is optional.

Section 2 (optional)

• Interest will not be included in the adjudication certificate unless the claimant completes section 2.
• Interest must be calculated at the rate determined by the adjudicator in the adjudication decision. Interest is simple interest unless the adjudicator has decided otherwise.
• In calculating interest, the first day is the day after the due date of payment.
• Interest should be calculated only on unpaid amounts.
• Don't calculate interest on adjudication fees.

Section 3 (optional)

• If the claimant has paid the respondent's share (or part of the respondent's share) of the adjudication fees, the claimant may complete section 3.

Declaration

• The claimant must complete the declaration at the foot of the application form.
• If the claimant is a company then an officer duly authorised by the company should complete the application form.
• The application can be made by post, fax or email.

In order to secure court judgement for the adjudicated amount, the claimant must file the adjudication certificate (with an affidavit of debt) in any court of competent jurisdiction.

• Magistrates' Court not exceeding $100,000
• County Court for unlimited amounts
• Supreme Court in excess of $200,000.

Please move to the next step on the Victoria flowchart" being "Court Registrar enters Judgement of Adjudication Certificate. Enforcement of Court Decision. Payment Process under the Act complete".