Acer Forester Pty Ltd v Complete Crane Hire (NT) Pty Ltd

The plaintiff, Acer Forester Pty Ltd, brought an action against the defendant, Complete Crane Hire (NT) Pty Ltd, due to an incident where a crane operated by the defendant collapsed and caused damage to the plaintiff's roof. The plaintiff claimed that the damage to the roof caused a delay in the completion of a contract and a lost opportunity to perform other work. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. The central legal issues were whether the damage to the plaintiff's roof caused a delay in the completion of the contract, and if so, whether this delay resulted in a lost opportunity to perform other work. Additionally, the court had to determine the appropriate measure of damages, if any, to which the plaintiff was entitled.

The court found that while the damage to the roof did cause a minor delay in the completion of the contract, there was no evidence that this delay was significant enough to result in a lost opportunity to perform other work. The plaintiff failed to provide adequate evidence to support their claim of lost commercial opportunity. The court held that for a claim of lost commercial opportunity to succeed, the plaintiff must demonstrate a direct causal link between the damage and the lost opportunity, as well as the extent of the lost opportunity. In this case, the plaintiff could not establish such a link. Therefore, the plaintiff's claim for lost commercial opportunity was dismissed.

The court concluded that the plaintiff was only entitled to compensation for the damage to the roof itself, which amounted to a relatively minor sum. The court awarded the plaintiff damages in the amount of $15,000 for the damage to the roof. The defendant's appeal was dismissed, and the plaintiff's claim for lost commercial opportunity was denied.