Building Defects

Introduction

The NSW Government recently made the Designers and Building Practitioners Regulation 2021 (“Regulation”) under the Designers and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (“Act”), assisting greatly in establishing how the Act will be phased in and work in practical terms.

It is extremely important for any prospective purchaser to undertake enquiries and due diligence prior to purchasing a property. Pre-purchase inspection reports are crucial to ascertain the condition of a property and can usually be commissioned at a low cost. It is frustrating for any purchaser to find out that the property they have just bought has defects present which were not noted in the pre-purchase inspection report.

A Major Management Issue of all Strata Owners

In 2012, a major study by the University of New South Wales found that 85% of strata owners had to address costly building defects. Since then the problem seems to have grown even worse, with some notorious major developments and a state-wide fire safety issue with external cladding materials.

A Response to Notoriously Defective Buildings

The Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) is the major legislative response to public concerns regarding defective buildings in New South Wales. Major developments at Mascot Towers and Opal Towers have received notorious media attention, and residential owners have been exposed to eye-watering rectification costs.

Bannermans Lawyers’ construction team can provide tailored, commercial, effective legal advice to you in the management of building defect matters.

In a recent case, Ippolito v Cesco [2020] NSWSC 561 (“Cesco”), the Supreme Court shed further light on this question.

When faced with defective residential building works and a builder unable to satisfy a claim, focus will obviously shift to home owner warranty insurance.

However, having been intended as a last resort measure, this is subject to some significant limitations: