From today amendments to the Home Building Act come into force, including:

1. Only ‘major defects’ will carry a 6 year limitation period under the act, ‘any other defects’ (including water ingress) now carry a 2 year limitation.
2. Builders can now rely on a defence that they were following the directions of a third party professional acting for the home owner (such as an architect).
3. The date for practical completion of a strata building will now be deemed to be the date of the occupation certificate.

These changes significantly alter the balance of risk towards owners of residential property and strata plans.

From 1 March 2015 the following amendments are expected to come into force:

1. The party with the benefit of the warranties now has a positive obligation to mitigate their loss, make “reasonable efforts” to notify the builder within 6 months of discovering a defect and provide the builder with access to rectify the defect; and
2. The standard of work expected from a builder will change from carrying out work with “workmanlike skill” to completing work with “due care and skill”.  It is unclear if this will lower the standard of work required.

Please contact Simon Gallant for more information about this news item.