Gough & Gilmour Holdings Pty Ltd v Peter Campbell Earthmoving Pty Ltd

Gough & Gilmour Holdings Pty Ltd (the appellant) appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision of the primary judge concerning a contract for the maintenance and servicing of earthmoving machines. The dispute centred on whether the appellant had warranted that the machines would be available for a quantifiable minimum number of hours. The appellant also argued that the trial judge had failed to address pleaded defences and sought that the proceedings be remitted.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the contract contained a warranty regarding the minimum availability of the earthmoving machines. Furthermore, the Court had to consider whether the trial judge had adequately addressed all the defences raised by the appellant in the proceedings.

The Court of Appeal found that the primary judge had not made a finding on the pleaded defences. Consequently, the Court determined that it was necessary to remit the proceedings back to the primary judge to address these outstanding matters. The Court also made orders regarding the process for the parties to reach agreement on outstanding issues, including costs, or to file written submissions if agreement could not be reached.