u/-InAGalaxyFarFarAway

So a few months ago our builder ghosted us on a $23k invoice. I had no legal background but went down a rabbit hole on the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW), figured it out, lodged the payment claim, handled the entire adjudication process myself, and we got awarded the full amount. Builder paid up.

My boss was thrilled and started telling his subcontractor mates about it. Now one of those mates has his own non-payment problem and wants to pay me to do the same thing for him drafting and serving the payment claim, lodging with an ANAs, handling all the correspondence through to determination.

Here's where I'm second-guessing myself: does doing this for someone else for money cross into legal practice?

My instinct is no. Adjudication under the SOP Act feels more like a statutory/administrative process than a legal proceeding. There's no court, no pleadings, and the Act itself doesn't require you to be legally represented. Plenty of people self-represent. I wouldn't be advising him on his broader legal rights, drafting contracts, or appearing in court just navigating a very specific, process-driven statutory mechanism I've already done once.

But I'm genuinely not sure where the line is between "helping a mate with paperwork" and "practising law without a licence" especially once money changes hands.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation, or does anyone have a clear view on whether this falls under the Legal Profession Uniform Law? Would love some genuine insight before I commit to anything.