Valleve Holdings Pty Ltd v Shepperd - [2025] TASSC 28

[2025] TASSC 28

COURT:	SUPREME COURT OF TASMANIA
CITATION:	Valleve Holdings Pty Ltd v Shepperd [2025] TASSC 28
PARTIES:	VALLEVE HOLDINGS PTY LTD (ACN 630 658 105) AS TRUSTEE FOR THE MIDAS FAMILY TRUST (TRADING AS SISTERHOOD HOBART)
v
SHEPPERD, Matthew
SHEPPERD, Philip
FILE NO:	2747/2022
DELIVERED ON:	23 May 2025
DELIVERED AT:	Hobart
HEARING DATE/S:	12, 19 February 2025
JUDGMENT OF:	Shanahan CJ
CATCHWORDS:

Torts – Negligence – Duty of care: existence – Factors determining existence of duty – Generally – Single issue of whether duty of care existed in negligence claim against defendant plumbers to recover losses arising from faulty plumbing work on plaintiff's leased premises – Whether loss arising from faulty plumbing work was properly characterised as pure economic loss or property damage – Whether duty of care owed by subcontractor to principal novel – Loss properly characterised as property damage – Duty of care owed by subcontractor to principal not novel – Reasonable foreseeability sufficient to establish existence of duty of care – Plaintiff's claim allowed.

Aust Dig Torts [1143]

LEGISLATION CITED: Australian Standard 3500.2 Building Act 2016 (Tas)

Civil Liability Act 2002 (Tas)
Code of Practice for Retail Tenancies (Tas)
Fair Trading (Code of Practice for Retail Tenancies) Regulations 1988 (Tas)
National Construction Code

Water and Sewerage Industry Act 2008 (Tas)

CASES CITED:
Anns v Merton London Borough Council [1978] AC 728
Brocklands Pty Ltd v Tasmanian Networks Pty Ltd [2019] TASSC 26
Brookfield Multiplex Ltd v Owners Corporation Strata Plan 61288 & Anor [2014] 254 CLR 185
Brown v Hewson [2015] NSWCA 393
Burnie Port Authority v General Jones Pty Ltd (1994) 179 CLR 520
Bryan v Maloney (1995) 182 CLR 609
Caltex Oil (Australia) Pty Ltd v The Dredge 'Willemstad' (1976) HCA 65, 136 CLR 529
Caltex Refineries (Qld) Pty Ltd v Stavar (2009) 75 NSWLR 649
CJD Equipment v A & C Constructions [2009] NSWSC 1362 (10 December 2009)
De Pasquale Bros Pty Ltd v Cavanagh Biggs & Partners Pty Ltd (1999) Aust Tort Reports 81
D'Orta Ekenaike v Victoria Legal Aid (2005) 223 CLR 1
Dutton v Bognor Regis Urban District Council [1972] 1 QB 373
Farah Constructions Pty Ltd v Say-dee Pty Ltd (2007) 230 CLR 89
Gunston v Lawley [2008] 20 VR 33, VSC 97
Jaensch v Coffey (1984) 155 CLR 549
Johnson Tiles Pty Ltd v Esso Australia Pty Ltd [2003] VSC 27
Leigh and Sillavan Ltd v Aliakmon Shipping Co Ltd [1986] AC 785
Makawe Pty Ltd v Randwick City Council [2009] NSWCA 412
Mallonland Pty Ltd v Advanta Seeds Pty Ltd [2024] HCA 25, 98 ALJR 956
R G & T J Anderson Pty Ltd v Chamberlain John Deere Pty Ltd (1988) 15 NSWLR 363
RAA-GIO Insurance Ltd v O'Halloran and Others; Australian Kitchen Industries Pty Ltd v O'Halloran [2007]
SASC 245
Rail Corporation of NSW v Fluor Australia Pty Ltd [2008] NSWSC 1348
Rail Corporation of NSW v Fluor Australia Pty Ltd & Anor [2009] NSWCA 344
Sullivan v…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2025] TASSC 28
Decision Date: 23 May 2025

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Valleve Holdings Pty Ltd was the plaintiff, bringing a claim against Shepperd, the defendant, who were plumbers engaged in a dispute over negligent plumbing work. The case was heard in a relevant Australian court, where the central issue was the existence of a duty of care owed by the defendant plumbers to the plaintiff in relation to losses stemming from faulty plumbing work on the plaintiff's leased premises. The court was tasked with determining whether the losses should be classified as pure economic loss or property damage and whether the concept of a duty of care owed by a subcontractor to a principal was novel.

The court examined whether the loss resulting from the faulty plumbing work was better characterised as pure economic loss or property damage, a distinction that is critical in negligence law. It also assessed whether the proposition of a duty of care owed by a subcontractor to the principal contractor was a new legal principle. The court found that the loss should be categorised as property damage and that the idea of a duty of care owed by a subcontractor to a principal was not novel. The court concluded that the reasonable foreseeability of harm was sufficient to establish the existence of a duty of care.

The reasoning of the court led to the determination that the plaintiff's claim was valid. The court held that the plumbers owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, and this duty was breached, resulting in property damage. The court allowed the plaintiff's claim, recognising the established principle that reasonable foreseeability is a sufficient basis for establishing a duty of care in this context. The final orders of the court would likely reflect the allowance of the plaintiff's claim, awarding damages for the property damage caused by the negligent plumbing work.

Orders