Kristen Shorer

Pavle Levkovic, partner and member of the firm’s Construction Group, and articling student Kristen Shorer recently commented on the Ontario Superior Court decision in Westport Insurance v. BDA Inc., 2024 ONSC 5450. The case explores whether a surety, Westport Insurance, could assert a priority claim over funds awarded in a construction adjudication.

Prompt payment legislation, where it has been enacted in Canada, requires invoices to be paid according to strict timelines. If the payer does not comply, the payee can initiate adjudication.

Prompt payment is a fundamental goal of adjudication processes under the Construction Act and crucial to ensuring that the flow of money on construction projects is protected.[1] This goal is frustrated where determinations are not meaningfully complied with. In a recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice case, High Tech Power Inc. v. BDA Inc., Mills J.