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

Detailed summary

A South Australian construction company has been fined $150,000 after a 30 tonne wall fell onto a neighbouring house and injured a mother and her baby.

A construction company has been fined after a 30-tonne concrete wall fell on a neighbouring property.

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.

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.

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