Igloo Homes Pty Ltd v Sammut Constructions Pty Ltd

Igloo Homes Pty Ltd (Igloo) and Sammut Constructions Pty Ltd (Sammut) were the parties involved in a dispute that came before the New South Wales Court of Appeal. The core of the disagreement concerned the interpretation and potential rectification of a written contract between the parties.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether the intention of an agent could be attributed to a principal in the context of contract formation, and secondly, whether the written contract accurately reflected the parties' common intention at the time of its execution, such that rectification was warranted due to a mutual mistake.

The Court applied the principle that for an agent's intention to be attributed to a principal, the agent must have been acting with the principal's authority. Regarding rectification, the Court reiterated that the relevant intention is that which existed at the moment the written contract was entered into. It held that convincing proof, rather than mere suspicion, of a common intention at that specific time must be established. Furthermore, the Court affirmed the principle from *Devries v Australian National Railways Commission* (1993) 177 CLR 472, which governs the approach an appellate court should take when overturning a trial judge's finding of fact based on an assessment of witness credibility.

The appeal was dismissed, and the parties were ordered to bear the costs of the appeal.