John Churchill and Louise Churchill v Troy Paschini trading as the Labyrinth Garden

The applicants, John Churchill and Louise Churchill, filed a complaint against the respondent, Troy Paschini, who trades as the Labyrinth Garden, with the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South Wales. The dispute concerns the alleged breach of statutory warranties under the Home Building Act 1989, which arose from the construction of a residential property by the respondent for the applicants.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the respondent, by providing residential building services to the applicants, had breached statutory warranties under the Home Building Act 1989. The applicants argued that the respondent had failed to comply with the statutory warranties, resulting in defects in the construction of the residential property. The respondent, on the other hand, contended that the alleged defects were not significant enough to warrant a breach of the statutory warranties and that any issues were either minor or not within the respondent's control.

The tribunal found that the respondent had indeed breached the statutory warranties by failing to construct the residential property to a reasonable standard of quality and workmanship, as required by the Home Building Act 1989. The tribunal held that the respondent was liable for the defects and that the applicants were entitled to compensation for the breaches. Consequently, the tribunal ordered the respondent to pay the applicants damages in the sum of $70,785.00 by 31 August 2015. Furthermore, the tribunal set out a process for the parties to apply for costs, with deadlines for filing and serving written applications and evidence, as well as the option for the parties to consent to the determination of costs on the papers or to make submissions as to why such an order should not be made.