It has long been thought that the jurisdiction of the District Court extended to matters arising out of commercial transactions. A number of recent cases have thrown this view into doubt, raising practical, legal and logistic concerns. The jurisdiction of the District Court is limited by value and subject matter. The general grant of power […]
In the Owners—Strata Plan No 66375 v King [2018] NSWCA 170, the Court of Appeal considered a number of issues including the vexed question of liability for design defects. In allowing the Owners Corporation’s appeal against developers, the Court determined that both developers and builders will be liable for design defects in buildings where the relevant […]
Appeal Panel rules on controversy over statutory warranty limitation periods In Gregorio v Cheale [2018] NSWCATAP 118 the Appeal Panel revisited the issue of whether a seven year limitation period applied to statutory warranty claims where the contract was made before 1 February 2012 and confirmed that it does. The appeal concerned a defective works […]
High Court restricts NCAT’s powers – Burns v Corbett In Burns v Corbett [2018] HCA 15 the High Court unanimously held that NCAT does not have jurisdiction to hear matters between residents of different states, otherwise known as ‘diversity jurisdiction’ (see section 75 (iv) of the Constitution. In upholding the Court of Appeal decision the […]
THE PREFERRED OUTCOME PRINCIPLE Section 49MA Home Building Act 1989 Section 48MA of the Home Building Act 1989 says that rectification of defective residential work by the original builder is the ‘preferred outcome’ of the proceedings. In Clements v Murphy [2018] NSWCATAP 152 NCAT’s Appeal Panel considered whether this principle extended to incomplete work as […]
HSC check – is your building contractor insured? Whether your builder or contractor takes out a Home Building Compensation policy can be critical. Therefore Fair Trading’s recent launch of a brand new online search facility called “HBC Check” is very welcome to home-owners and industry participants alike. This tool supplements the existing suite of consumer […]
Changes to the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. Reforms to the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 are an attempt to protect buyers of new strata lots from defective building works by facilitating the early identification and rectification of defects, thus leading to an improvement in the standard of construction of NSW residential strata. Will reform fix […]
The Sydney affordable housing crisis. “Urban release”, “urban renewal” and “affordable housing” are popular buzz words encompassing a range of policies. These policies are designed to accommodate a growing population in affordable housing near infrastructure and are an attempt to free up existing housing stock. Whilst initially slow in coming to the Northern Beaches, the […]
In Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd v Shade Systems Pty Ltd & Anor [2018] HCA 4 and in Maxcon Constructions Pty Ltd v Vadasz [2018] HCA 5 the High Court had cause to consider whether challenges to decisions of adjudicators under the SoPA could include non-jurisdictional errors of law. The SoPA legislation was enacted to […]
Strata Owners Corporation obligations. Shum v The Owners Strata Plan No. 30621 [2017] NSWCATCD 68 In Shum v The Owners Strata Plan No. 30621 [2017] NSWCATCD 68, a lot owner was awarded in excess of $55,000 damages for breach of the Owners Corporation duty to repair and maintain common property. The 30 August 2017 decision […]
