Wright and Anor v Duke Building Pty Ltd and Anor

The appeal heard by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal involved the Wrights, the owners of a residential property, against Duke Building Pty Ltd, a building company, and its director, Mr Hughes. The Wrights had engaged Duke Building to undertake renovations and deck rebuilding on their home. The dispute centred on whether the complaint for rectification was outside the prescribed period, the validity of a Direction to Rectify issued by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC), and the presence of errors of law and mixed law and fact. The appeal was allowed, and the decision of the Tribunal was set aside, while the QBCC’s decision to issue a Direction to Rectify was confirmed.

The primary legal issues involved determining whether the complaint for rectification was lodged within the prescribed period and whether there were errors in the QBCC’s decision to issue a Direction to Rectify. Additionally, the court needed to consider whether the decision involved errors of law, mixed law and fact, and whether the appeal was properly before the Tribunal. The court was also required to assess the appropriateness of the exercise of discretion to issue a Direction to Rectify by the QBCC.

The court found that the complaint for rectification was indeed lodged outside the prescribed period, but the error was not so substantial as to undermine the entire decision. It was noted that the QBCC had exercised its discretion to issue a Direction to Rectify, and the decision involved errors of mixed law and fact. However, the errors did not affect the outcome of the decision. The court concluded that the appeal was properly before the Tribunal, and the leave to appeal was granted. The exercise of discretion to issue a Direction to Rectify was considered appropriate given the circumstances, and the QBCC’s decision was ultimately confirmed.

In light of the above findings, the court set aside the decision of the Tribunal and confirmed the decision of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission of 9 May 2014 to issue Direction to Rectify 40067 to the builder. The Tribunal’s decision was set aside as it was found to be in error, while the QBCC’s decision was upheld as being appropriate and correctly made.