Lenz v Trustees of the Catholic Church & Anor

[2005] NSWCA 446

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Negligence
2. › Duty of care
3. › Volunteer workers on building site
4. › Whether adequate warning discharged duty of care
5. › Whether breach of common law duty established
1. Construction Safety
2. › Construction Safety Regulations 1950 (NSW)
3. › Regulation 73
4. › Person who directly or by servants or agents carries out construction work
5. › Volunteer building project
6. › Whether building owner carried out construction work through coordinator as agent
7. › Whether licensed builder was person carrying out construction work
8. › Whether volunteer roofer was sole person carrying out construction work
1. Construction Safety
2. › Construction Safety Regulations 1950 (NSW)
3. › Regulation 74
4. › Person in charge of construction work
5. › Whether licensed builder was person in charge
6. › Whether absence of contractual arrangements affected identification of person in charge
1. Construction Safety
2. › Construction Safety Regulations 1950 (NSW)
3. › Regulations 73 and 74
4. › Breach and causation
5. › Whether absence of scaffolding and safety equipment constituted breach
6. › Whether breach materially contributed to injury
7. › Whether plaintiff was sole cause of accident

Quick Take

Construction Safety Regulations 73 and 74 apply to volunteer building projects with no exception for non-commercial ventures. A building owner who organises construction through a volunteer coordinator carries out construction work 'directly or by agents' under reg 73. A volunteer worker attending a site for the first time to survey the work is not the person carrying out the construction work or in charge of it for the purposes of the Regulations. The absence of contractual arrangements does not relieve the building owner or the person functioning as builder from statutory safety obligations.