Builder fined $150k after mother and baby injured in wall fall

A construction company has been fined $150,000 after a 30-tonne section of a concrete wall fell on to a house in Adelaide's inner south, injuring a mother and her baby.

According to a ruling handed down by the South Australian Employment Court, the concrete wall was not properly secured and fell onto the rear of a neighbouring property at Wayville on November 28, 2023, during severe weather.

It fell onto the back 60 centimetres of the home and most of its outdoor living area.

"Fatal injuries were a distinct possibility,"

the tribunal said.

The ruling said the principal contractor at the site, Smart Built Pty Ltd, was constructing a three-storey residential development which included 10-metre high precast concrete wall panels.

It said the panels had been supported by temporary "propping" but the company had requested its removal about two weeks earlier to allow for better access to parts of the construction site.

"No inspection of the precast panels or their permanent structural support was undertaken by any engineer prior to removal of the temporary propping," the ruling said.

The ruling noted that victim impact statements had described the "profound impact the offending" on the mother and her baby, who both suffered minor injuries.

The mother required stitches to her knee, while her baby "sustained superficial cuts only", but the court said those injuries could have been more serious.

"Other section[s] of the inadequately supported wall loomed over the rest of the … family's home," the ruling said.

The court said the cost of structural damage to the home amounted to $85,413.82 and a further $19,211 damage to its contents.

"The defendant [Smart Built Pty Ltd] paid $10,000 to the neighbours affected by the collapse to compensate them for the inconvenience of ongoing building works," the ruling said.

It said the defendant had helped with practical steps to facilitate repairs, which were being arranged through the family's insurer.

'Premature removal' of propping

The ruling said the removal of the propping meant the wall was not "connected to other significant structural elements".

"The design drawings clearly state … that the precast panels are to remain propped until the wall bracing is installed," the ruling stated.

"The proximate cause of the failure was the premature removal of the propping to the section of precast panelling that collapsed, prior to an appropriate lateral bracing system being installed."

The court said it accepted "the offending did not involve deliberate or reckless conduct" but that the "poorly controlled risk of harm … was of death or extremely serious injury to multiple people".

"I conclude the offending involved mid-range objective seriousness rather than a lower level," the ruling said.

"I accept the defendant's evidence of its subsequently changed safety systems … I also accept the defendant's current intention is to not use precast panels again."

The court imposed a conviction and fined Smart Built Pty Ltd $150,000.