Building Disputes

To protect the interests of consumers the New South Wales Parliament has passed legislation to regulate contracts between consumers and builders for the performance of home building work. The Home Building Act deals with four main issues:

• Contracts


• Licensing


• Insurance


• Disputes

RESIDENTIAL BUILDING CONTRACTS 

The Home Building Act is designed to protect consumers by providing for a scheme of :

• Minimum requirements for contracts, including statutory warranties or terms which will form part of any residential building contract.


• Compulsory licensing requirement


• Compulsory insurance requirements


• Dispute resolution mechanisms.

The Home Building Act applies to "a contract under which the holder of a licence undertakes to do, in person or by others, any residential building work".

The Act defines residential building work to mean any work involved in, or involved in coordinating or supervising any work involved in:

1. the construction of a dwelling, or


2. the making of alterations or additions to a dwelling, or


3. the repairing, renovation, decoration or protective treatment of a dwelling. It includes specialist work being done in connection with a dwelling and work concerned in installing a prescribed fixture or apparatus in a dwelling (or in adding to, altering or repairing any such installation). Specialist work means plumbing work, gasfitting work or electrical work and may include certain refrigeration and air-conditioning work.

It is also important to note that the Act defines "dwelling" to mean a building or portion of a building that is designed, constructed or adapted for use as a dwelling (such as a detached or semi-detached house, transportable house, terrace or town house, duplex, villa-home, strata or company title home unit or residential flat.) It includes any swimming pool or spa constructed for use in conjunction with a dwelling.

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