A.L. Builders Pty Ltd v Fatseas

A.L. Builders Pty Ltd sought to appeal a decision of the Supreme Court of Victoria, which had dismissed their claim against Fatseas for recovery of a building debt. The primary dispute was whether the builder was entitled to payment for additional works performed under a domestic building contract, and whether the builder had discharged the onus of proving the existence of the contract and the additional works.

The court was required to determine whether the builder had satisfied the criteria set out in section 55(4) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 2000, which mandates that a builder must provide written particulars of any additional works performed under a domestic building contract. The court also needed to consider the appropriate test for overturning a finding of fact made by the trial judge.

The court held that the builder had not discharged the onus of proving the existence of the contract and the additional works, as required by section 55(4). The court found that the evidence provided by the builder was insufficient to meet the statutory requirement and that the trial judge's findings were not perverse. The court held that the appropriate test for overturning a finding of fact was that the appellate court should only interfere if the primary judge's finding was clearly erroneous or if there was no evidence to support the finding. In this case, the court found that neither of these tests was satisfied, and therefore, the primary judge's findings should stand.

The court refused leave to appeal, upholding the decision of the Supreme Court of Victoria.