Proportionate liability
Decisions on apportionable claims, concurrent wrongdoers and non-delegable duties.
Other decisions
- Pafburn Pty Ltd v The Owners – Strata Plan No 84674 [2024] HCA 49
The High Court held, by four Justices to three, that a developer or head contractor alleged to have carried out construction work for a whole building cannot apportion its liability for breach of the duty in section 37(1) of the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) to those to whom it entrusted that work.
- Tesseract International Pty Ltd v Pascale Construction Pty Ltd [2024] HCA 24
The High Court, by five Justices to two, allowed an appeal and answered "Yes" to a question of law reserved under the Commercial Arbitration Act 2011 (SA) (the Arbitration Act): whether Part 3 of the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence and Apportionment of Liability) Act 2001 (SA) (the Law Reform Act) and/or Part VIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (the CCA) apply in the parties' domestic commercial arbitration in South Australia. All three majority judgments held that the provisions of those regimes limiting a defendant's liability apply in the arbitration. Edelman and Steward JJ dissented and would have dismissed the appeal.
- Tanah Merah Vic Pty Ltd v Owners Corporation No 1 of PS613436T [2021] VSCA 72
Refusing leave to appeal from VCAT on the apportionment grounds, the Victorian Court of Appeal held that owners' claims against the builder of the Lacrosse tower for breach of the warranties implied by the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Vic) were not apportionable claims under the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), because they did not arise from a failure to take reasonable care.