Occupiers' Liability Act 1962: Duties of Occupiers to Visitors and Parties, Exams of Law

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Reprint as at 29 November 1962 Occupiers’ Liability Act 1962 Public Act 1962 No 31 Date of assent 28 November 1962 Commencement see section 1(2) Contents Page Title 2 1 Short Title and commencement 2 2 Interpretation 2 3 Application of next 2 succeeding sections 2 4 Extent of occupier’s ordinary duty 3 5 Effect of contract on occupier’s liability to third party 4 6 Contribution between landlord and tenant as joint tortfeasors 5 7 Occupier’s duty to contractual visitors 6 8 Landlord’s liability in virtue of obligation to repair 6 9 Act not to apply to certain contracts of hire or carriage, etc 8 10 Act to bind the Crown 8 An Act to amend the law relating to the liability of occupiers and others for injury or damage resulting to persons or goods Note Changes authorised by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 have been made in this reprint. A general outline of these changes is set out in the notes at the end of this reprint, together with other explanatory material about this reprint. This Act is administered by the Ministry of Justice. 1 s 1 Occupiers’ Liability Act 1962 Reprinted as at 29 November 1962 lawfully on any land or other property from dangers due to the state of the property or to things done or omitted to be done there 1 Short Title and commencement (1) This Act may be cited as the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1962. (2) This Act shall come into force on 1 January 1963. 2 Interpretation In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— premises includes land structure includes any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft. Compare: Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 s 1(3)(a) (UK) 3 Application of next 2 succeeding sections (1) The rules enacted by sections 4 and 5 shall have effect, in place of the rules of the common law, to regulate the duty which an occupier of premises owes to his visitors in his capacity as an occupier in respect of dangers due to the state of the premises or to things done or omitted to be done on them. (2) The rules so enacted shall regulate the nature of the duty im- posed by law in consequence of a person’s occupation or con- trol of premises and of any invitation or permission he gives, or is to be treated as giving, to another to enter or use the premises, but they shall not alter the rules of the common law as to the persons on whom a duty is so imposed or to whom it is owed; and accordingly for the purpose of the rules so en- acted the persons who are to be treated as an occupier and as his visitors are the same as the persons who would at common law be treated as an occupier and as his invitees or licensees. (3) Subject to the provisions of section 9, the rules so enacted in relation to an occupier of premises and his visitors shall also apply, in like manner and to the like extent as the principles applicable at common law to an occupier of premises and his invitees or licensees would apply, to regulate— (a) the obligations of a person occupying or having control over any fixed or movable structure; and (b) the obligations of a person occupying or having control over any premises or structure in respect of damage to 2 Reprinted as at 29 November 1962 Occupiers’ Liability Act 1962 s 6 (5) This section, so far as it prevents the common duty of care from being restricted or excluded, applies to contracts entered into and tenancies created before the date of the commencement of this Act, as well as to those entered into or created on or after that date; but, so far as it enlarges the duty owed by an occupier beyond the common duty of care, it shall have effect only in relation to obligations which are undertaken on or after that date or which are renewed by agreement (whether expressed or implied) on or after that date. Compare: Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 s 3 (UK) 6 Contribution between landlord and tenant as joint tortfeasors (1) Where a landlord is the occupier of any part of any premises that is used by a tenant, and damage is suffered by a visitor to that part of the premises as a result of the fault of the landlord and of the tenant, and the tenant would, if sued, have been liable to the visitor in respect of the damage, the landlord shall have the same right to recover contribution, under paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 17 of the LawReformAct 1936, from the tenant as if the tenant were a joint occupier of that part of the premises. (2) Where a tenant is the occupier of any part of any premises, and damage is suffered by a visitor to that part of the premises as a result of the fault of the tenant and of the landlord, and the landlord would, if sued, have been liable to the visitor in respect of the damage, the tenant shall have the same right to recover contribution, under paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 17 of the LawReformAct 1936, from the landlord as if the landlord were a joint occupier of that part of the premises. (3) For the purposes of this section— landlord includes both an immediate and a superior landlord tenant includes a person occupying premises under a statutory tenancy which does not in law amount to a tenancy, or under any contract conferring a right of occupation; and also includes a subtenant. 5 s 7 Occupiers’ Liability Act 1962 Reprinted as at 29 November 1962 7 Occupier’s duty to contractual visitors (1) Where persons enter or use, or bring or send goods to, any premises in exercise of a right conferred on them by contract with a person occupying or having control of the premises, the duty he owes them, in his capacity as occupier, in respect of dangers due to the state of the premises or to things done or omitted to be done on them shall be the common duty of care, except so far as a contrary intention is expressed in the contract; and the provisions of subsections (2) to (8) of section 4 shall apply accordingly. (2) In determining whether in any such case the occupier has dis- charged the common duty of care, so far as it is applicable, the existence and nature of the contract shall be included in the circumstances to which regard is to be had under section 4. (3) Subject to the provisions of section 9, this section shall apply to fixed and movable structures as it applies to premises. (4) This section does not apply to contracts entered into before the commencement of this Act. Compare: Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 s 5(1), (2), (4) (UK) 8 Landlord’s liability in virtue of obligation to repair (1) Where premises are occupied by any person under a tenancy which puts on the landlord an obligation to that person for the maintenance or repair of the premises, the landlord shall owe to all persons who or whose goods may from time to time be lawfully on the premises the same duty, in respect of dangers arising from any default by him in carrying out that obligation, as if he were an occupier of the premises and those persons or their goods were there by his invitation or permission but without any contract. (2) Where premises are occupied under a subtenancy, subsection (1) shall apply to any landlord of the premises (whether the immediate or a superior landlord) on whom an obligation to the occupier for the maintenance or repair of the premises is put by the subtenancy, and for that purpose any obligation to the occupier which the subtenancy puts on a mesne landlord of the premises, or is treated by virtue of this provision as putting on a mesne landlord, shall be treated as put by it also on any 6 Reprinted as at 29 November 1962 Occupiers’ Liability Act 1962 s 8 landlord on whom the mesne landlord’s tenancy puts the like obligation towards the mesne landlord. (3) For the purposes of this section, where premises comprised in a tenancy (whether occupied under that tenancy or under a subtenancy) are put to a use not permitted by the tenancy, and the landlord of whom they are held under the tenancy is not debarred by his acquiescence or otherwise from object- ing or from enforcing his objection, then no person or goods whose presence on the premises is due solely to that use of the premises shall be deemed to be lawfully on the premises as regards that landlord or any superior landlord of the premises, whether or not they are lawfully there as regards an inferior landlord. (4) For the purposes of this section, a landlord shall not be deemed to have made default in carrying out any obligation to the oc- cupier of the premises unless his default is such as to be ac- tionable at the suit of the occupier or, in the case of a superior landlord whose actual obligation is to an inferior landlord, his default in carrying out that obligation is actionable at the suit of the inferior landlord. (5) This section shall not put a landlord of premises under a greater duty than the occupier to persons who or whose goods are lawfully on the premises by reason only of the exercise of a right of way. (6) Nothing in this section shall relieve a landlord of any duty which he is under apart from this section. (7) For the purposes of this section, obligations imposed by any enactment in virtue of a tenancy shall be treated as imposed by the tenancy; and tenancy includes a statutory tenancy which does not in law amount to a tenancy, and includes also any contract conferring a right of occupation; and landlord shall be construed accordingly. (8) This section applies to tenancies created before the com- mencement of this Act, as well as to those created after its commencement. Compare: Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 s 4 (UK) 7 Notes Occupiers’ Liability Act 1962 Reprinted as at 29 November 1962 provisions that are repealed or revoked are omitted. For a detailed list of the editorial conventions, see http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/editorial-conventions/ or Part 8 of the Tables of New Zealand Acts and Ordinances and Statutory Regulations and Deemed Regulations in Force. 4 Changes made under section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 Section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 authorises the making of editorial changes in a reprint as set out in sections 17D and 17E of that Act so that, to the extent permitted, the format and style of the reprinted enactment is consistent with current legislative drafting practice. Changes that would alter the effect of the legislation are not permitted. A new format of legislation was introduced on 1 January 2000. Changes to legislative drafting style have also beenmade since 1997, and are ongoing. To the extent permitted by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989, all legislation reprinted after 1 January 2000 is in the new format for legislation and reflects current drafting practice at the time of the reprint. In outline, the editorial changes made in reprints under the authority of section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 are set out below, and they have been applied, where relevant, in the preparation of this reprint: • omission of unnecessary referential words (such as “of this section” and “of this Act”) • typeface and type size (Times Roman, generally in 11.5 point) • layout of provisions, including: • indentation • position of section headings (eg, the number and heading now appear above the section) • format of definitions (eg, the defined term now appears in bold type, without quotation marks) • format of dates (eg, a date formerly expressed as “the 1st day of January 1999” is now expressed as “1 January 1999”) 10 Reprinted as at 29 November 1962 Occupiers’ Liability Act 1962 Notes • position of the date of assent (it now appears on the front page of each Act) • punctuation (eg, colons are not used after definitions) • Parts numbered with roman numerals are replaced with arabic numerals, and all cross-references are changed accordingly • case and appearance of letters and words, including: • format of headings (eg, headings where each word formerly appeared with an initial capital letter followed by small capital letters are amended so that the heading appears in bold, with only the first word (and any proper nouns) appearing with an initial capital letter) • small capital letters in section and subsection references are now capital letters • schedules are renumbered (eg, Schedule 1 replaces First Schedule), and all cross-references are changed accordingly • running heads (the information that appears at the top of each page) • format of two-column schedules of consequential amendments, and schedules of repeals (eg, they are rearranged into alphabetical order, rather than chronological). 5 List of amendments incorporated in this reprint (most recent first) 12 Wellington, New Zealand: Published under the authority of the New Zealand Government—2012 11