The Office of Fair Trading sought submissions on the proposed Building and Development Certifiers Regulation 2019. The following is Bannermans submission, pointing out two key areas that need to be addressed.
NSW’s First Cladding Decision
The recent Tribunal decision in SP92888 v Taylor Construction Group and Frasers Putney [2019] NSWCAT has held that combustible external cladding installed on residential buildings is a major defect for the purposes of statutory warranties under the Home Building Act 1989 (the HBA) and will have significant ramifications on owners of residential buildings wishing to explore cladding as a defect.
A letter from Bannermans Laywers to the Minister regarding Building Defects in Leasehold Strata Title Properties
The list of Sydney properties on the combustible cladding register has been made public and the results are shocking. 341 properties are on the register in Sydney alone and many of these are high profile, residential, retail and public buildings. Even more shocking is that no mandatory assessment regime has been imposed and that fire safety orders have been made in only 7 cases.
Bannermans Lawyers’ construction team can provide tailored, commercial, effective legal advice to you in the management of building defect matters.
Protecting Your Asset
Often your home or investment property is one of your most important assets. Accordingly, you should consider consulting a legal practitioner who specialises in building and construction law for advice when determining the best course of action to take when:
The NSW Cladding Taskforce has already audited 185,000 buildings across NSW and has issued 33,000 safety letters to building owners and residents recommending certain actions. Out of 2,300 buildings inspected thus far, the Taskforce has identified 425 as high risk.
Following the Lacrosse Fire in Melbourne and the tragedy of the Grenfell fire in London, authorities in NSW have now taken action to start addressing the risks arising from flammable cladding.
Bannermans Lawyers have for some time been warning Owners to be wary of agreements offered by builders and developers to extend Home Building Act (“HBA”) warranties, to stave off legal proceedings for defective work (sometimes referred to as “standstill agreements”).
Background
Builders and developers of new multi-storey buildings (defined as two or more separate dwellings which exceed three storeys in height) are exempt from having to obtain insurance under the Home Building Compensation Fund (Home Owners Warranty Insurance) under the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW).
The statutory warranty period for “minor defects” under the Home Building Act 1989 (“HBA”) is only 2 years.
However, in a recent case, Hutching v Hope [2019] NSWCAP 59, the Tribunal’s Appeals Panel highlighted the distinction between the limitation periods for statutory warranties, and the limitation period for breach of contract – which is 6 years from the date the cause of action arises.
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