Hambleton Nominees Pty Ltd v McMillan

Hambleton Nominees Pty Ltd sought special leave to appeal from a decision of the court below. The dispute concerned the retrospective approval of building work. The applicant argued that the case raised an important issue regarding the application and grant of building approvals under Queensland legislation, which had implications for all such applications to local authorities in the state.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether a local authority could lawfully grant retrospective approval for building work that had already been constructed without prior approval. This question required the Court to consider the interpretation of the *Building Act 1975* (Qld) and the Standard Building By-laws enacted as a schedule to that Act, particularly provisions relating to the process for obtaining building approvals and the powers of local authorities in administering these by-laws.

The applicant contended that the *Building Act* and its by-laws established a complete code for building approvals, and that section 30A of the Act prohibited the carrying out of building work requiring approval unless that approval was obtained beforehand. The applicant's submission was that the court below had taken a view of the contract that was no different from the position that would arise under a common form of contract, and that the statutory provisions were critical to determining the correct interpretation of the contractual obligations. The Court was therefore required to determine whether the statutory framework permitted retrospective approval of non-compliant building work.