Park & Anor v. Lasrado

[2005] QSC 211

SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CIVIL JURISDICTION

[2005] QSC 211

BYRNE J

No BS5435 of 2005

JOHN PARK AND LACHLAN MCINTOSH AS RECEIVERS AND MANAGERS OF PROPERTY AT AND SITUATED AT 276 SWANN ROAD, ST LUCIA IN THE STATE OF QUEENSLAND

Applicants

and

GREGORY SHIRAZ LASRADO

and

GREGBURY PTY LTD
ACN 089 193 028

and

DAVIDOFF ENTERPRISES PTY LTD
ACN 114 673 059

First Respondent

Second Respondent 

Third Respondent

BRISBANE

..DATE 22/07/2005

JUDGMENT

HIS HONOUR:  The applicants are the receivers of a house

property at St Lucia, appointed as such by the mortgagee.  The

mortgage was granted in late 2004, by which time one of the

respondents, Mr Lasrado, had installed a large chandelier in

the entrance hall of the house.  The question is whether that

chandelier is property secured by the mortgage of the land.

The receivers contend that on installation it became, and that

it remains, a fixture secured by the mortgage.

The chandelier is suspended from a dome in the ceiling of the

entrance hall.  A part of the top of the frame is connected to

a U-bolt, which has a removable pin.  A galvanised chain is

also connected to the U-bolt.  That chain in turn passes

through a pulley system located in an attic above the ceiling. 

The chain is independent of the ceiling frame and the plaster

sheeting and may easily be removed from the pulley system. 

So, the chandelier is not attached to the pulley system.

The pulley system enables the chandelier to be lowered for

cleaning and repair.  The ease with which the frame can be

detached from the chain, simply by removing the U-bolt pin,

would also facilitate removal of the chandelier for any

necessary offsite repair. 

In short, the U-bolt arrangement permits detachment of the

chandelier whenever that may be desired, without damaging

either the fabric of the ceiling or the chandelier. 

There is, I should add, an electricity supply, but all that is

needed to disconnect the electricity is to take out an

electrical plug.

On these facts, there is no affixation of the chandelier to

the house; and it is not in any sense part of the structure.

Rather, the chandelier retained its intrinsic property as an

essentially decorative chattel.

The contention that it is a fixture fails.

...

HIS HONOUR:  The orders will be as follows:  application

dismissed; further order that the first and third respondents

recover from the applicants their costs of and incidental to

the application, including reserved costs, to be assessed.

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