21Adjudication responses

21 Adjudication responses S. 21(1) amended by No. 42/2006 s. 21(1)(a). (1) Subject to subsection (2A), the respondent may lodge with the adjudicator a response to the claimant's adjudication application (the ***adjudication response***) at any time within— (a) 5 business days after receiving a copy of the application; or (b) 2 business days after receiving notice of an adjudicator's acceptance of the application— whichever time expires later. (2) The adjudication response— (a) must be in writing; and (b) must identify the adjudication application to which it relates; and S. 21(2)(c) substituted by No. 42/2006 s. 21(1)(b). (c) must include the name and address of any relevant principal of the respondent and any other person who the respondent knows has a financial or contractual interest in the matters that are the subject of the adjudication application; and S. 21(2)(ca) inserted by No. 42/2006 s. 21(1)(b). (ca) must identify any amount of the payment claim that the respondent alleges is an excluded amount; and (d) may contain any submissions relevant to the response that the respondent chooses to include. S. 21(2A) inserted by No. 42/2006 s. 21(2). (2A) The respondent may lodge an adjudication response only if the respondent has provided a payment schedule to the claimant within the time specified in section 15(4) or 18(2)(b). S. 21(2B) inserted by No. 42/2006 s. 21(2). (2B) If the adjudication response includes any reasons for withholding payment that were not included in the payment schedule, the adjudicator must serve a notice on the claimant— (a) setting out those reasons; and (b) stating that the claimant has 2 business days after being served with the notice to lodge a response to those reasons with the adjudicator. (3) A copy of the adjudication response must be served on the claimant. S. 21(4) amended by No. 42/2006 s. 21(3). (4) In this section ***relevant principal*** in relation to the respondent, means any person with whom the respondent has entered into a contract (that is not a construction contract exempted from this Act under section 7(2)(b) or 7(2)(ba)) for the provision by the respondent of construction work or goods and services if the construction work carried out or the goods and services supplied by the claimant to or for the respondent under the construction contract are, or are part of or incidental to, the construction work or goods and services that the first-mentioned person engaged the respondent to carry out or supply.