NSW holiday home fall damages overturned

Neil Carpenter's fun golfing weekend went awry when he was injured after falling down three steps at a rented NSW holiday home.

But after successfully suing the owners, his $284,092 damages award has been overturned by judges who said the law didn't require handrails to be installed.

"Life is not required to be lived surrounded by cotton wool," said Justice Jeremy Kirk in the NSW Court of Appeal judgment on Thursday.

Damian James Russell and Vivianne Russell, owners of the short-stay holiday rental property at The Entrance, had challenged negligence findings made by a District Court judge in August 2021.

Justice Kirk, with Justices Anthony Meagher and Fabian Gleeson agreeing, upheld the challenge, set aside the decision and ordered Mr Carpenter to pay the owners' legal costs.

He and friends stayed at the Central Coast beach property as part of a golfing weekend.

"Shortly after the players' return there was a jocular presentation based on golfing results," Justice Kirk said.

"This occurred at the back of the property on a verandah set less than a metre above the surrounding ground.

"A set of helical stairs with three steps connected the verandah to the ground."

As Mr Carpenter was being awarded eight to ten golf balls for his success, he dropped one which bounced down the stairs.

Concerned it would roll under a gap beneath the adjoining gate, he took one step down in pursuit of it.

"As the ball of his right foot landed on the first step down, the respondent slipped on the edge," the judge said.

"This caused him to fall feet first such that he landed on his back and elbow, injuring himself."

The judge described as "revealing", a photo taken by Mr Carpenter the day after which included an "X" placed by him to show where he stepped and slipped.

It depicted an entirely unremarkable set of short outside steps.

"The argument that the law of negligence required these stairs to have a handrail on the outer side has an air of unreality," he said.

"It may well be that erecting a handrail would not have been terribly expensive, although there was no evidence on the point.

"But if a handrail was required for these steps to avoid a breach of duty, it would be required for countless other such short sets of helical steps in houses around the country."

As experts had agreed the stairs were made from a material that was safe and non-slippery even when wet, the judge found there was no proper basis for concluding that they were "mossy".

"The law does not require that resources be spent on risks such as those at issue here which are slight, inherent and obvious," he said.

The judge noted Mr Carpenter did not make use of a vertical pole next to the stairs, the fall happened quickly and he was holding golf balls.

"There is no basis for suggesting that the position would have been any different with a handrail.

"Put simply, having a handrail there would have made no difference."