C & E P/L v CMC Brisbane P/L (Administrators Appointed)

[2004] QCA 60

Queensland Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Contracts
2. › Building, engineering and related contracts
3. › Domestic building contracts
4. › Whether contract for construction of 10 separate houses was a regulated contract
5. › Domestic Building Contracts Act 2000 (Qld), ss 7, 8, 9, Sch 2
1. Statutes
2. › Interpretation
3. › Singular includes plural
4. › Whether contrary intention displaced interpretive presumption
5. › Whether Explanatory Notes could constitute contrary intention 'appearing in any Act'
6. › Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld), ss 4, 14B, 32C

Quick Take

A building contract for the construction of multiple detached dwellings is a 'regulated contract' under the Domestic Building Contracts Act 2000 (Qld), because the singular 'a detached dwelling' in s 8(1)(a) includes the plural by operation of s 32C of the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld), and nothing in the Act displaces that presumption. Subsequent purchasers of individually constructed dwellings built under a multi-dwelling contract are entitled to the benefit of the implied statutory warranties under Part 4 of the Act. Explanatory Notes to a Bill may not constitute a 'contrary intention appearing in any Act' for the purposes of s 4 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld).