Villani v Delstrat Pty Ltd

Villani & Anor v Delstrat Pty Ltd & Anor involved a dispute between the applicants, Mr and Mrs Robert and Carleen Villani, and the respondents, Delstrat Pty Ltd and Adrian Goold, over a contract for the construction of a house. The applicants sought to set aside an arbitration award made by the Arbitrator, Adrian Goold, and appeal on the grounds that the Arbitrator had failed to determine issues as to the respective monetary liabilities of the parties and had erred in not awarding costs. The Arbitrator's award had been set aside and remitted by McKechnie J in an earlier proceeding, Villani & Anor v Delstrat Pty Ltd & Anor [2002] WASC 112. Templeman J dismissed the application to set aside the award and appeal, finding that the Arbitrator had not committed any manifest errors of law on the face of the award. Templeman J held that the Arbitrator was not bound to accept that the HIA contract was "a mere formality" and was entitled to construe the contract in the light of the preceding oral agreement. The court held that the principle in Government of Kelantan v Duff Development Co Ltd [1923] AC 395 applied, and the Arbitrator's decision on construction could not be set aside merely because the court would have come to a different conclusion. The court also found that there was no error in the Arbitrator's calculation of the GST liabilities of the parties and that the award of costs did not manifest error.