Construction

Changes to Environmental Planning & Assessment Act - Interim Occupation Certificates

From 1 September 2019, developers will no longer be able to obtain interim occupation certificates for buildings in NSW. This will likely complicate staged developments, as interim occupation certificates allow use of partially completed buildings.

The Building Defect Bond Scheme - Not For the Bulk of this Construction Cycle

New strata laws will commence on 30 November 2016. As a part of the change to the strata laws, a building defect bond scheme is due to commence on 1 January 2018.

Under this scheme, developers will be required to lodge a 2% bond with the Secretary of the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation for the final contract price of the building.

All's Fair in Contracts and Law? Unfair Contract Protection For Small Business

Small Business Contracts that are standard form and which are entered into or varied after 12 November 2016 will be subject to new amendments under Australian Consumer Law.

Flame On? Concerning Aluminium Cladding Findings in VIC - Are Your Building Materials Compliant?

In A Nutshell

1. Following a significant fire in a 23 storey apartment building in Melbourne’s Docklands area on 25 November 2014 (the Lacross Apartments Fire), the rapid spread of which was attributable to a composite aluminium cladding on the building’s façade[1], the Victorian Building Authority has now completed an audit of some 170 high rise buildings in central Melbourne and surrounds with a finding that 51% of the audited buildings contained non-compliant cladding[2].

Land and Environment Court - Class 1 Residential Development Appeals Flowchart

Please see below a document setting out the basic steps, requirements and timeline for Class 1 Residential Development Appeals in the New South Wales Land & Environmental Court.

Difficulties Getting a Contractor's Licence or HOWI

The Home Building Act 1989 operates in many unexpected ways, for instance a lot of its focus is on managing insurance risk of Builders as opposed to managing quality of construction.

A glaring example of this is that if a licenced contractor is unable to obtain the home warranty insurance from the Home Building Compensation Fund it can perform residential building works of less than $20,000 or construct new residential buildings of four or more storeys of any value  (even tens of millions of dollars).

Insurance In Construction - Are You Really Covered?

Construction entails many risks to a builder by virtue of its occupation, control and/or ownership of the site. The risks include personal injury or death to persons and damage or destruction of property (including the contract works itself).

Alert - Home Building Act changes to Residential Building Contracts - effective from 1 March 2015

In a Nutshell

As a result of changes to the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) (“the Act”) residential building work contracts entered into from 1 March 2015 must be compliant with new requirements introduced from that date.

What Do Builders Need to Consider When Advertising?

Builders that perform residential building work need to ensure that appropriate systems are in place to ensure that their advertisements comply with legislative requirements for licensing and consumer protection.  Outlined below are some issues that should be considered by builders when advertising for residential building work.