Friday 5 July 2013

Most tenants who provide services engaged in retail provision of services

Please note for members of the public or practitioners in the legal profession where English is your second language a translation key in all languages of the world is available on this blog to assist you. The plain English blog without translation facilities is located at http://roberthaypropertybarrister.wordpress.com


Many readers will be familiar with the "ultimate consumer" test that is commonly used to determine whether premises are "retail premises" within the meaning of s.4(1) of the Retail Leases Act 2003. If the premises are "retail premises" the Act applies; if premises are not "retail premises" the Act does not apply. Premises are "retail premises" if "under the terms of the lease relating to the premises" they "are used, or are to be used, wholly or predominantly for.....(a) the sale or hire of goods by retail or the retail provision of services". See: s.4(1). Nathan J in Wellington v Norwich Union Life Insurance Society Limited [1991] VR 333 held that patent attorneys (and other professional businesses such as solicitors, architects and medical specialists) conducted a business providing retail services.  His Honour held that the  "essential feature of retailing" was the provision of an item or service "to the ultimate consumer for fee or reward".  The end user might be a member of the public but was not necessarily so. The problem has been to identify the "ultimate consumer". Nathan J did not regard it as significant that a patent attorney's advice might pass through the hands of an intermediary on the way to the ultimate consumer. But what would the position be if the patent attorney's advice was used as "input" into a solicitor's advice to the solicitor's client? Would the solicitor be the "ultimate consumer"?

It will be much easier to answer these questions following the recent decision of Fitzroy Dental Pty Ltd v Metropolitan Management Pty Ltd [2013] VSC 344. The effect of the decision is that most tenants whose business provide any sort of service will be engaged in the "retail provision of services" and the Act will apply.

In Fitzroy Dental the landlord leased premises premises comprising a cafe/restaurant and a conference centre and facilities to a tenant who in turn received bookings from conference or function providers to conduct functions and conferences. The cafe/restaurant was used only for the provision of food and drink to the attendees at the functions and conferences. The landlord commenced a proceeding against the tenant in the Supreme Court. The tenant contended that VCAT had exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine the  dispute because it was "retail tenancy dispute" within the meaning of s.81(1) of the Act. See: s.89(4). The permitted use under the lease was "Conference Centre, Cafe/Restaurant Area and associated office and storage area".

Justice Croft held that the dispute between the landlord and the tenant was a "retail tenancy dispute" that had to be determined by VCAT. The conference facilities were open to the public in the sense that a member of the public (ie the conference provider) could approach the tenant to book the conference facilities. After reviewing the authorities His Honour held that conference provider was the "ultimate consumer" of services provided to him by the tenant. Those services were in turn an "input" into the different services provided to the attendees at functions and conferences.  Thus, there were two transactions involving the retail provision of services. The transaction between the tenant and the conference organising entity was for monetary consideration while the second transaction with the attendees did not always involve a fee or reward for the provision of services. It did not matter that the bodies organising the conferences and hiring the premises from the tenant were governmental authorities or public bodies such as a university, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, the Police Federation or an industry association because such bodies had the capacity to enter into ordinary commercial agreements.

The case contains a helpful analysis of the relevant caselaw.

Author: Robert Hays Barrister subject to copyright under DMCA.

My clerk can be contacted via this link http://www.greenslist.com.au/ if you wish to retain my services for any legal matter which is within the gamut of my legal experience. Green

8 comments:

  1. The end user might be a member of the public but was not necessarily so. The problem has been to identify the “ultimate consumer”. Nathan J did not regard it as significant that a patent attorney’s advice might pass through the hands of an intermediary on the way to the ultimate consumer. But what would the position be if the patent attorney’s advice was used as “input” into a solicitor’s advice to the solicitor’s client? Would the solicitor be the “ultimate consumer”?These is great article

    ReplyDelete
  2. After Fitzroy Dental do you think a lease of premises for a "place of worship" could be a retail lease? The church facilities will be open to the public. The attendees (worshippers) will not always pay a fee for the provision of religious services. Just finishing the lease documents this week and had prepared them as if it were a commercial lease. hmmm

    ReplyDelete
  3. These is great article His Honour held that the ”essential feature of retailing” was the provision of an item or service “to the ultimate consumer for fee or reward”. The end user might be a member of the public but was not necessarily so. The problem has been to identify the “ultimate consumer”. Nathan J did not regard it as significant that a patent attorney’s advice might pass through the hands of an intermediary on the way to the ultimate consumer. But what would the position be if the patent attorney’s advice was used as “input” into a solicitor’s advice to the solicitor’s client? Would the solicitor be the “ultimate consumer”?

    ReplyDelete
  4. […] Here is an excellent summary by Robert Hay of the recent decision of Fitzroy Dental Pty Ltd v Metropolitan Management Pty Ltd [2013] VSC 344 . […]

    ReplyDelete
  5. Those services were in turn an “input” into the different services provided to the attendees at functions and conferences. Thus, there were two transactions involving the retail provision of services. The transaction between the tenant and the conference organising entity was for monetary consideration while the second transaction with the attendees did not always involve a fee or reward for the provision of services. It did not matter that the bodies organising the conferences and hiring the premises from the tenant were governmental authorities or public bodies such as a university, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, the Police Federation or an industry association because such bodies had the capacity to enter into ordinary commercial agreements.These is great article i will be back to visit often.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The effect of the decision is that most tenants whose business provide any sort of service will be engaged in the “retail provision of services” and the Act will apply. Nice article

    ReplyDelete
  7. Would the "broader rather than a narrower interpretation" approach in Fitzroy Dental extend the ambit of Section 4(1) to include scenarios where the tenant itself does not provide services to the "ultimate consumer" e.g. a medical centre leased to a tenant who through sub-leases and other agreements facilitates medical service providers who in turn provide services to the "ultimate consumer"?

    Should Section 4(1) be read with express omission of the words "by the tenant" after both instances of "used"?

    ReplyDelete
  8. […] The decision in Fitzroy Dental has also led my friend and colleague Robert Hay to conclude that most tenants who provide services engage in ‘retail provision of services’ (see Robert’s blog post here). […]

    ReplyDelete