Perry v Assured Concreting Services Pty Ltd

In the case of Perry v Assured Concreting Services Pty Ltd, the applicant, Perry, suffered injuries at a worksite on 23 August 2019. He sought an extension of the limitation period to bring a claim for damages against Assured Concreting Services Pty Ltd, the first respondent, and others. The application came before the court to determine whether the extension should be granted, focusing on the applicant's knowledge of certain material facts and whether he took reasonable steps to uncover these facts within the original limitation period. The Queensland Court of Appeal was tasked with assessing the merits of the application under the provisions of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld).

The central legal issues revolved around the applicant's knowledge of the contractual relationships between the relevant parties, specifically whether he had such knowledge within the limitation period. Additionally, the court considered whether these contractual relationships constituted a material fact of a decisive character. Furthermore, the court examined whether Perry had taken all reasonable steps to ascertain these relationships before they were disclosed to him. These issues were pivotal in determining the appropriateness of extending the limitation period under section 31(2) of the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld).

The court found that Perry did not have knowledge of the material facts regarding the contractual relationships between the relevant parties within the limitation period. It was determined that these relationships constituted a material fact of a decisive character, which Perry was not aware of until after the limitation period had expired. Moreover, the court accepted that Perry had taken all reasonable steps to uncover these facts before they were disclosed to him. Given these findings, the court concluded that an extension of the limitation period was warranted. Consequently, the limitation period was extended until 17 June 2025, and the first respondent was ordered to pay the applicant's costs of the application on the standard basis.