The Owners - Strata Plan No 87231 v 3A Composites GmbH (No 5)

The Owners of Strata Plan No 87231 brought a representative proceeding against 3A Composites GmbH in the Federal Court. The dispute centres around the construction of sections 74D of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and section 54 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and whether certain questions about the quality and fitness of goods should be included in the common questions to be determined at the initial trial.

The court was required to decide whether the questions proposed by the Owners were suitable to be considered as common questions in the representative proceeding. Specifically, the court had to determine if the questions posed by the Owners were comprehensive enough to cover all relevant circumstances and considerations under sections 74D and 54, and if they could be answered objectively without considering individual circumstances of each consumer. The Owners argued that their proposed questions were necessary to prove the absence of any specific circumstances that could alter the outcome of the statutory tests.

The court found that the questions proposed by the Owners were not suitable to be considered common questions at the initial trial for two reasons. Firstly, the questions were incomplete as they did not address all relevant circumstances or considerations specified in sections 74D and 54. Secondly, the court held that the statutory tests in sections 74D and 54 are objective but must be applied with regard to the specific circumstances of each consumer and supply, making it inappropriate to answer these questions at the common issues stage without individual assessments.

The court ordered that within two weeks of the date of the judgment, the parties should provide the Court with draft orders reflecting the findings made in the judgment.