1Where a defendant seeks summary judgment on the basis that a negligence claim for latent building defects is statute-barred, the court must be satisfied not only that the claim has no real prospect of success but also that there is no need for a trial; where the facts underlying the impugned claim substantially overlap with claims that will proceed to trial, the second limb of UCPR r 293(2) may independently warrant refusal of summary judgment.
2Following Hunt Leather Pty Ltd v Transport for NSW (2025) 100 ALJR 89, a plaintiff in private nuisance need only plead and prove substantial interference with the ordinary use of land; 'fault' in the sense of adoption or continuation of a nuisance is properly a matter of defence or justification, not an element of the plaintiff's cause of action.
3Whether a cause of action for negligent economic loss arising from a latent building defect accrues when external symptoms of damage become discoverable, or only when the underlying defect itself becomes known or manifest, remains a question on which appellate authority is not fully settled and which is unsuitable for summary determination.
