Krahe v Manfate Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCA 363

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Krahe v Manfate Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCA 363 Hearing dates: 07/12/2016 Date of orders: 16 December 2016 Decision date: 16 December 2016 Before: Gleeson JA [1]; Simpson JA [2]; McDougall J [3] Decision: Appeal dismissed with costs on the indemnity basis. Catchwords: BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION – contracts – oral contract – whether statement of a price was an estimate or a fixed quote – evidence of past dealings between parties suggestive of informal, trusting and flexible contractual relationships

APPEAL – whether primary judge erred in admitting evidence of prior dealings between the parties – whether primary judge erred in his assessment of the credibility of the appellants' evidence and the interpretation of their affidavit evidence – whether primary judge erred in his assessment of the evidence giving rise to the contract which led to a conclusion adverse to the appellants Legislation Cited: Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) Cases Cited: Applicant VEAL of 2002 v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (2005) 225 CLR 88 Fox v Percy (2003) 214 CLR 118 Goodrich Aerospace Pty Ltd v Arsic (2006) 66 NSWLR 186 Watson v Foxman (1995) 49 NSWLR 315 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Peter Krahe (First Appellant) Paula Joanne Krahe (Second Appellant) Manfate Pty Limited trading as Tom Murphy Builder (First Respondent) Representation: Counsel: P Reynolds / L Hulmes (Appellants) JA Steele / L Robb Vujcic (Respondent)