Morrison v Moss (No. 4) [2020] NSWDC 243

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Morrison v Moss (No. 4) [2020] NSWDC 243 Hearing dates: On the papers Date of orders: 27 May 2020 Decision date: 27 May 2020 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Abadee DCJ Decision: See paragraphs 19-20 Catchwords: COSTS – building and construction dispute – builder claim for non-payment – owner claim for defective works – operation of set-off – whether owner practically successful overall – whether conduct of builder warrants order for indemnity costs Cases Cited: Morrison v Moss & Anor [2019] NSWDC 746 Morrison v Moss (No.3) [2020] NSWDC 136 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Mr J Morrison (Plaintiff) Mr A Moss (Defendant) Ms E Moss (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr T Bland for the Plaintiff Defendants appeared in person

Solicitors: Osborn Law for the Plaintiff File Number(s): 2018/121395 Publication restriction: Nil

Judgment

BACKGROUND 1. In this case, concerning construction works carried out at Lake Macquarie; over distinct periods between August 2013 and September 2016, I published reasons for judgment on 12 December 2019 [1] . One of the orders was for referral of the question of rectification costs to a referee. On 23 April 2020 [2] , I published my reasons for the almost entire adoption of the referee's report. This, then, leaves the Court to make orders for the disposition of the proceeding, including the order for costs. On the issue of costs, I indicated my preliminary view that costs of the referral process (including the application for adoption) should be subsumed within the general order of costs for proceedings. No party subsequently took issue with this view. 2. With the exception of the issue of costs, the parties have substantially agreed on dispositive orders. I will deal with those orders after addressing the question of costs.