Australia, July 28 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on June 27:

1. These reasons concern the costs of these two related proceedings in which I delivered judgment on 10 June 2025: Geoghegan v Wood [2025] NSWSC 586.

2. The parties have agreed on the terms of the orders to be made to give effect to that judgment and to the settlement of the claims as between Ms Geoghegan and Mr Wood immediately prior to the commencement of the final hearing.

3. The outstanding disputes relate to the costs of the proceedings.

4. These reasons assume familiarity with my earlier reasons for judgment. Terms used in those reasons have the same meaning in these reasons. In addition, I will refer to the proceedings commenced by Ms Geoghegan against Mr Wood and the engineers as the main proceedings, and the proceedings commenced by Mr Wood against Ms Geoghegan as the builder's proceedings.

Costs of the main proceedings as between Ms Geoghegan and the engineers

5. It is common ground that judgment should be entered for Ms Geoghegan as against the engineers in the main proceedings in the sum of $457,685.46 to give effect to my earlier reasons for judgment.

6. It is also common ground that there should be an order that the engineers pay Ms Geoghegan's costs of her claim against them in the main proceedings on the ordinary basis, as agreed or assessed.

Costs of the main proceedings as between Ms Geoghegan and Mr Wood

7. As Ms Geoghegan submits, the settlement of the main proceedings as between herself and Mr Wood reflects a measure of success in relation to her claims against him for non-structural defects only. The non-structural defects are all of the "Builders Defects" as defined in paragraph C18 of Ms Geoghegan's List Statement, excluding those relating to the first floor bracing and ground floor bracing which I refer to as the structural defects. At all times from the filing of her List Statement on 17 March 2023 until the morning of the first day of the hearing, Ms Geoghegan sued Mr Wood and the engineers in respect of the structural defects. On the morning of the first day of the hearing, Ms Geoghegan abandoned her claim that Mr Wood had caused or contributed to the structural defects and informed the Court that she had settled her claim against Mr Wood for non-structural defects on terms that judgment be entered against him in the sum of $75,000 and that he deliver to her a specified quantity of certain bricks.

8. Ms Geoghegan seeks an order that Mr Wood pay her costs of her claim against him for the non-structural defects in the main proceedings. Ms Geoghegan submits that this order will give effect to r 42.1 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) (UCPR), which provides that costs are to follow the event unless it appears to the Court that some other order should be made.

9. Mr Wood submits that there should be no costs order in favour of Ms Geoghegan in relation to her claims against him in the period up to and including 28 August 2023. I will return to that submission below.

10. In respect of the period from 29 August 2023 onwards, Mr Wood seeks an order that Ms Geoghegan pay his costs of the main proceedings on an indemnity basis, relying on what he submits was an offer of compromise made by letter dated 28 August 2023 in accordance with r 20.26 of the UCPR to settle the proceedings on the basis of judgment for Ms Geoghegan against Mr Wood in the sum of $120,000 in the main proceedings and judgment for Ms Geoghegan in the builder's proceedings.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/197a5aad0f3fd2c22f7627a5)

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