Sydney County Council v Dell'Oro [1974] HCA 47

High Court of Australia Barwick C.J. McTiernan, Stephen, Mason and Jacobs JJ. Sydney County Council v Dell'Oro [1974] HCA 47

ORDER Appeal allowed with costs. Order of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (Court of Appeal Division) set aside and in lieu thereof order that the appeal to that Court be allowed with costs, that the verdict and judgment entered for the respondent be set aside, and that verdict and judgment be entered for the appellants.

Cur. adv. vult.

The following written judgments were delivered:—

Nov. 4 Barwick C.J.

An electrical contractor — though himself unlicensed as an electrician — had worked on a consumer's electrical circuits in a city building in Sydney. Having completed his work, he had served the requisite notice on the Sydney County Council to inspect the work. An officer of that Council on the day in question attended the premises and inspected the work, one item of which was found faulty. Part of the work had rendered certain meters surplus to requirements and had caused the need to alter the County Council's supply to other meters. The removal of the surplus meters and the changes in connexion to other meters was work exclusive to the County Council's officer. To carry out this work it was necessary to remove a cover from a box on the wall of a small room in the basement of the building where the meters and the consumer's board were located. This room was usually locked but open this day to enable both the contractor and the Council employee to do their respective work. Within the box the links carrying the incoming supply were housed. Because they were uninsulated and carried electricity at a high voltage, the cover of the box was usually locked and sealed so that no unauthorized person could gain access to the links. The Council's officer, however, needed to effect a connexion from them to the meters. For this purpose he had identified the neutral link — a fact known to the contractor.