Lake Maintenance (NSW) Pty Limited v Todd Hadley Pty Limited

Lake Maintenance (NSW) Pty Limited commenced proceedings against Todd Hadley Pty Limited in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, seeking damages for professional negligence and breaches of statutory duty. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant had provided negligent advice and breached statutory obligations in relation to a commercial property maintenance contract. The defendant raised a defence of limitation, asserting that the plaintiff's cause of action accrued on a specific date, and that the proceedings were therefore time-barred.

The court was required to determine whether the cause of action arose on the date claimed by the defendant, or at a later date, and whether the plaintiff's claim was statute-barred. The court also had to consider the appropriate principles to be applied in determining the limitation defence, and whether the loss claimed by the plaintiff was contingent. The parties could not agree on the facts or the principles to be applied, and there was a dispute as to the length and costs of any hearing of the separate questions.

The court held that the cause of action arose on the later date claimed by the plaintiff, and that the proceedings were therefore not statute-barred. The court found that the appropriate principles to be applied were those set out in the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), and that the loss claimed by the plaintiff was not contingent. The court also found that the dispute as to the length and costs of any hearing of the separate questions was not a sufficient reason to refuse to determine the questions separately. The court therefore determined the separate questions in favour of the plaintiff, and ordered that the matter proceed to trial on the merits.

The court made orders for the separate determination of the questions, and for the defendant to pay the plaintiff's costs of the application. The court also made orders for the provision of further particulars, and for the setting down of a case management conference to determine the timetable for the trial.