Harris v Evans Built Pty Ltd
[2025] QSC 104 · Treston J
The plaintiff, a concreting foreman, was injured in August 2019 when a trench collapsed on him at a construction site at Rothwell. He sued the head contractor and his employer, but a key document, a signed subcontract between the head contractor and a third company, Assured Concreting Services Pty Ltd, was not handed over until July 2024, well after the three-year limitation period had run out. The plaintiff applied to add Assured as a third defendant and to extend the limitation period so he could pursue it. The court had to decide whether the late-disclosed contract was a new and important fact the plaintiff could not reasonably have known sooner. The judge found it was. The plaintiff and his solicitors had acted reasonably, and the earlier failure to disclose the signed contract meant he could not have brought the claim in time. The court granted leave to join Assured and extended the limitation period. This is a procedural ruling only, so no damages were decided.
Incident & injury
Trench collapsed on the plaintiff at a construction worksite
- Body regions
- Multiple regions / generalised
- Incident date
- 23 August 2019
- Location
- Rothwell construction site
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 20 May 2025
- Claim type
- Hybrid (WCRA + PIPA)
- Proceeding
- Interlocutory
- Plaintiff outcome
- Successful
- Occupation
- Site foreman / foreman concreter Technician / Trade Worker
Outcome
The plaintiff was granted leave to join Assured Concreting Services Pty Ltd as a third defendant and obtained an extension of the limitation period under s 31(2) of the LAA. The court found that disclosure of the signed subcontract on 2 July 2024 constituted a material fact of a decisive character not previously within the plaintiff's means of knowledge.
Key issues
Harris v Evans Built Pty Ltd [2025] QSC 104
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Learn more about labour hire and hybrid work injury claims in Queensland.