Lapcevic v Collier

In *Lapcevic v Collier*, the Supreme Court of New South Wales considered an appeal concerning a claim for damages arising from a workplace injury. The appellant, Mr Lapcevic, was injured when a ceiling collapsed in a commercial premises leased by his employer from the respondent, Mr Collier. Mr Lapcevic had sued Mr Collier in negligence, alleging that the collapse was due to a dangerous defect in the premises which Mr Collier had a duty to maintain.

The primary legal issues before the Court were whether the respondent owed a duty of care to the appellant, and if so, whether that duty had been breached. Specifically, the Court had to determine the nature and extent of the respondent's obligations under the commercial lease concerning the maintenance of the premises, and whether these obligations gave rise to a non-delegable duty of care to prevent foreseeable harm to persons lawfully on the premises, such as the appellant. The Court also considered whether the primary judge's reasons for judgment were inadequate.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that the primary judge had not erred in law. It held that while a landlord may owe a duty of care to a tenant or their employees in certain circumstances, particularly where the landlord retains control over the part of the premises where the injury occurs or where there is a non-delegable duty to maintain the premises in a safe condition, the evidence in this case did not establish such a duty or breach. The Court found that the lease did not impose a sufficiently extensive maintenance obligation on the landlord to create a non-delegable duty in respect of the ceiling, and that the defect was not of a kind that the landlord could reasonably have been expected to discover or prevent. The Court also found the primary judge's reasons to be adequate.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.