Units Plan No 202 contained both class A units and class B units. This case centred around a long-standing and important legislated distinction in the maintenance obligations of the owners of these units. Namely, that the owners of class A units are not responsible for the maintenance of the exterior of their units (such as…
The owners corporation sought orders requiring Mr Perkins, the owner of unit 35, to refurbish his bathroom to prevent water egress into unit 34 (the unit below unit 35).
ACAT Senior Member Robinson distinguished the facts of this case from The Owners – Units Plan No 1917 v Koundouris [2016] ACTSC 96 on the basis that…
This case involved an owners corporation suing a builder to recover losses and expenses arising from building defects.
In that case, it was observed that the bathrooms of various units were not common property and therefore the only way in which the installation of waterproofing in the bathrooms of these units could be the responsibility of…
Local ACT Builder Banyan Constructions Pty Ltd, was put into liquidation on 20 January 2020. This is likely to have significant repercussions for the owners of residential units built by Banyan Constructions in the last 5 years.
Cracking up – a Four Corners report that highlights the issues of faced in strata and other high rise buildings featuring our own Christopher Kerin.
On 22 May 2019, Christopher Kerin appeared before the ACT Parliamentary Inquiry Into Building Quality in the ACT and detailed the challenges facing apartment owners in the ACT as well as what needs to change to provide more consumer protection to apartment owners. Watch Christopher’s
In February 2019 the NSW Government released their response to the Shergold Weir Building Confidence Report. This was followed by the NSW Government’s Building Stronger Foundations Discussion Paper in June 2019. The public was invited to provide the NSW Government with their submissions in relation to this discussion paper. Kerin Benson Lawyers has now provided…
On 28 February 2019 His Honour Judge Woodward delivered his judgement which is the first major decision in Australia regarding the liability of building industry entities involved in the design and construction of a building with combustible cladding. The subject of the judgement was a fire which took place in November 2014 at the Lacrosse…
NSW Government – building standards update The newly re-elected Berejiklian Government has announced its plan in response to the Building Confidence Report commissioned by the Building Ministers’ Forum in August 2017. The independent expert review by Professor Peter Shergold AC and Bronwyn Weir examined building regulatory systems around Australia and found there are national problems…
Christopher Kerin was quoted in the Australian Financial Review in relation to the off-the-plan apartment building frenzy. To read the full article click here.
The Owners Corporation Network (OCN) is calling on all residential owners facing potential financial imposts due to flammable cladding to contact the OCN on eo@ocn.org.au ASAP, to be part of a Flammable Cladding Action Group. The OCN has seen the benefits of strata owners pooling resources to resolve shared challenges. In addition, OCN is holding…
Deakin and Griffith Universities are undertaking a research project on building defects. One part of the project involves interviewing stakeholders (including committee members) about their experiences and opinions dealing with building defects. All participant information will be re-identified to provide anonymity. If you are interested and available, the researchers can interview you via teleconference at…