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The High Court also disagreed with the District Court Judge that the Act should not apply in the circumstances. Justice Davison noted that the de nition of ‘construction work’ in the CCA clearly included ‘restora- tion and renewal work’.
Where District Court erred
Regarding discretion to refuse summary judgment, the Court acknowledged that the test on appeal was showing that the Judge: ● hadactedonawrongprinciple,or
● had taken an irrelevant matter into account, or
● had failed to take a relevant matter into account, or
● wasplainlywrong.
Justice Davison found the Judge had been plainly wrong about CCA’s application. The Judge’s view that the CCA did not apply to residential renovations involving home- owners was contrary to the clear legislative intention of the CCA. Furthermore, Floorman had properly explained to Mr McRae the steps he had to take to respond to its claim.
Finally, there was no restriction on Floorman recovering the debt in a Court.
The CCA does not refer to any threshold amount for Court proceedings. Therefore, the Judge was wrong to decline summary judgment principally on the basis that there was a disproportionate amount of recovery costs added to the original claim sum.
Purpose of the Construction Contracts Act
Justice Davison said, ‘The legislative purpose of the CCA is to ensure that construction contractors who have performed work are not frustrated in recovering payment for the work by the raising of genuine or tactical grounds of dispute.
‘The CCA provides that where a payment claim is issued, and no steps are taken by the party from whom payment is sought, the amount claimed is recoverable as a debt. That is what happened here ...’
Floorman was entitled to judgment of $6,872.50 inclusive of GST and its actual legal costs of recovery as provided by the CCA.
Note This article is not intended as legal advice. For further information, contact your legal advisor or the Harkness Henry Building and Construction team on (07) 838 2399 or email [email protected].
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