N and T Buildings Pty Ltd v Grozdanov; Grozdanov v N and T Buildings Pty Ltd

The case between N and T Buildings Pty Ltd and Nick Grozdanov and Olga Grozdanov was heard in the Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The dispute centred on whether N and T Buildings Pty Ltd were entitled to indemnity costs following the settlement of the proceedings. The Grozdanovs had previously made a Calderbank offer to settle the matter on terms favourable to N and T Buildings Pty Ltd, which was rejected. The tribunal had to determine if the offer was sufficiently advantageous to warrant an order for indemnity costs.

The central legal issue was whether the terms of the Calderbank offer were compelling enough to justify an order for indemnity costs. The tribunal considered the nature and extent of the offer, the stage at which it was made, and whether it was a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute. It also assessed whether the rejection of the offer was reasonable in the circumstances.

The tribunal found that the Calderbank offer was not sufficiently advantageous to warrant an order for indemnity costs. It concluded that the terms of the offer, while favourable, were not so compelling as to make the rejection unreasonable. Consequently, N and T Buildings Pty Ltd were not entitled to indemnity costs. The tribunal directed that each party bear their own costs in one proceeding and ordered N and T Buildings Pty Ltd to pay the Grozdanovs’ costs in the other proceeding on a party/party basis.

The final orders included dispensing with a hearing on costs, directing each party to pay their own costs in one proceeding, and ordering N and T Buildings Pty Ltd to pay the Grozdanovs’ costs in the other proceeding within 14 days of agreement or assessment.