Smec Australia Pty Ltd v Valentine Falls Estate Pty Ltd

[2011] WASCA 138

Western Australia Court of Appeal

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Summary judgment
3. › Application by defendant
4. › Refusal of application
5. › Appeal against interlocutory decision
6. › Whether leave to appeal should be granted
7. › Whether substantial injustice if leave refused
8. › Rules of the Supreme Court 1971 (WA), O 16
9. › Supreme Court Act 1935 (WA), s 60(1)(f)
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Summary judgment
3. › Application by defendant
4. › Proper construction of contract as basis for summary judgment
5. › Whether construction of exclusion clause appropriate for determination on summary judgment application
6. › Whether arguable claim established
1. Contract
2. › Construction
3. › Exclusion clauses
4. › Meaning of 'consequential loss'
5. › Whether term has fixed meaning
6. › Role of surrounding circumstances in construction
7. › Whether construction question should be left for trial

Quick Take

The term 'consequential loss' in a contractual exclusion clause is not a term of art and has no fixed meaning; its construction in a particular contract is ordinarily a matter to be left for trial rather than determined on a summary judgment application. The meaning given to the term in Environmental Systems Pty Ltd v Peerless Holdings Pty Ltd is not necessarily determinative of its meaning in other contracts.