W Cook Builders Pty Ltd (in Liq) v Matthew Lumbers

The case of W Cook Builders Pty Ltd (in Liq) v Matthew Lumbers was before the court to determine whether W Cook Builders Pty Ltd (the appellant) could recover against Matthew Lumbers (the respondent) on a quantum meruit basis in restitution based on unjust enrichment. The respondent land owners had contracted with the respondent building company, W Cook & Sons Pty Ltd, for the construction of a house. However, the appellant building company, which was related to the respondent building company, carried out the construction work. The appellant incurred expenses in constructing the house but was unlicensed and therefore precluded from recovering in contract by s 39 Builders Licensing Act 1986 (SA). The trial judge found that there was no assignment of the contract by W Cook & Sons Pty Ltd to W Cook Builders Pty Ltd. The legal issues the court was required to decide included whether there was an assignment of the benefit of the contract from W Cook & Sons Pty Ltd to W Cook Builders Pty Ltd, whether s 39 of the Builders Licensing Act precluded recovery in contract by W Cook Builders Pty Ltd, and whether W Cook Builders Pty Ltd could recover against the respondent land owners on a quantum meruit basis in restitution based on unjust enrichment. The court held that there was no injustice to the Lumbers to require them to remunerate W Cook & Sons Pty Ltd. There was no suggestion that delay, failure to insure, or the effect of W Cook Builders Pty Ltd not having been licensed had affected the position. There had been no evidence that there had been a diminution in the value of the benefit by W Cook Builders Pty Ltd having undertaken the work, rather than W Cook & Sons Pty Ltd having performed its obligations under the contract. However, W Cook Builders Pty Ltd had established that the Lumbers had been unjustly enriched by their provision of services. The provision of building services, and the coordination and payment of subcontractors, provided the Lumbers with an incontrovertible benefit, which they accepted and retained. It would be unconscionable for the Lumbers to retain that benefit without making restitution to W Cook Builders Pty Ltd. The court allowed the appeal and ordered the respondents to pay W Cook Builders Pty Ltd the sum of $261,715. The parties would be heard on the question of interest and costs.