On 10 December 2019, the Building and Construction Legislation Amendment Act 2019 amended the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004 (COLA) among other things to allow for rectification orders to be made in relation to directors of licensed corporations.
The amendments included new sections 39A and 39B. Section 39A allows the Registrar to make a rectification order…
Benjamin John Davies and Prue Davies (the applicants) signed an ACT Home Building Contract on 2 March 2014 with Capital Homes Pty Ltd (the respondent) to build a home at Coombs, ACT. On 7 March 2015, the applicants notified the respondent of defects in an area described in the floor plan as the “alfresco” area.…
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…
Cracking up – a Four Corners report that highlights the issues of faced in strata and other high rise buildings featuring our own Christopher Kerin.
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…
On 6 February 2019, Christopher Kerin was interviewed by WIN News Canberra in relation to the building defects in the ACT. The full interview is provided below.
On 28 January 2019, Christopher Kerin was quoted in the Canberra Times in relation to defects in high-rise apartments. To read the full article click here.
On 3 December 2018, the Canberra Times published an article on owners’ legal action over defects with particular focus on Elara apartments as the owners prepare for Federal Court action against the builders’ insurance fund, which could end years of legal wrangling and building disputes over the controversial Bruce development To read the full article,…