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 […]
HOME DETENTION FOR BUILDER Another contractor is cooling his heels after being found guilty of failing to obtain the mandatory cover under the Home Compensation Fund Insurance Scheme. Not only did the contractor fail to obtain the insurance in breach of the Home Building Act 1989 but he went further and represented to the homeowners […]
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 […]
