Rahab is an executive working for a large pharmaceutical company which has recently transferred her to an overseas branch to manage the roll out of a global vaccine. She decides to leave the apartment where she lives and to put her household goods in storage. She contacts a company known as KingStore Pty Ltd, which specialises in the storage of goods. The company agrees to store Rahab’s goods for the period she will be away. Before signing the contract of storage, Rahab asks about the condition of the building in which her goods will be stored. She has heard about recent floods in the state and just wants to be sure that her goods will be safe. The company manager replies: “Our building is in excellent condition. We built it only two years ago and we used the best building materials. Your goods are safe with us.” Rahab decides to enter into a written contract with the company and stores her goods with them. The contract which she signs does not, however, say anything about the condition of the building, nor does it make any reference to the other statements made to Rahab by the company manager concerning the quality of the building materials. Some months later, the company telephones Rahab at her new place of work and advises her that her goods have been badly damaged due to recent heavy rainfall which caused water to enter the building in which Rahab’s goods have been stored, and to damage them. The reason for the entry of the water into the building is that the building was badly built and poor building materials were used. As a result, the building’s foundations sank when the heavy rainfall fell, thereby causing a large gap between the bottom of the doors to the building and the floor of the building where the goods were stored. Rahab now wants to sue the KingStore Pty Ltd for the loss she has incurred as a result of the damage to her goods.

REQUIRED: With reference to relevant legal principles use the IRAC legal problem-solving approach to advise Rahab of her legal position at common law against the storage company and discuss what remedies would flow from them. Give full reasons and use any relevant case law. Do not consider any statutory rights.