A manufacturer of a mass-produced product does not owe a duty of care in negligence to commercial end users for pure economic loss arising from hidden defects where the manufacturer has prominently disclaimed liability and the end users could have protected their interests through contractual terms with intermediate suppliers. The Australian Consumer Law's policy choice to differentiate between consumers and commercial users is a relevant consideration militating against common law recognition of such a duty. Vulnerability is not established where the end user has potential contractual remedies against the distributor and has not proved those remedies were excluded.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 3 later cases that cite this judgment.