The recent NSW Supreme Court decision in ACN 057 690 034 (Owner) v Mick Wykrota (Builder) saw the Builder in hot water after they failed to produce an occupation certificate. Background In November 2010, the parties entered into a contract for alterations and additions to the Owner’s residence situated on the Hume Highway in Lansvale
Amendments to the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2018 (NSW) (‘the Act’) passed! So what will change? What’s happened? On 21 November 2018, the NSW Government passed the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Amendment Bill 2018 (‘the Amendment Act’). The SOP Act ensures that contractors, subcontractors or any other persons
In the recent NSW Supreme Court (the ‘Court’) case Cincotta v Russo [2019] NSWSC 272 the question of agency when executing contracts was back in the spotlight. What happened In January 2014, Mr and Mrs Cincotta (Owners) engaged Mr Russo (Russo) for $610,000 of additions and alterations to their property in Concord West (Property). The
The Manns (‘the Owners’) entered into a domestic building contract with Paterson Constructions Ltd Pty (‘the Builder’) for the construction of two double-storey townhouses for the sum of $916,779.00 (including GST). The Builder completed the construction of the first unit approximately four months after the date of practical completion. The owners sought to terminate the
Change is the only constant in life, and that’s certainly the case on construction projects. Generally, under a construction contract the principal will have the ability to order a variation to the scope of works. However, variations aren’t limited to increasing or adjusting the scope of works. In the event the principal wants to reduce
Opinion by Hamish Geddes What happened (if you weren’t aware) For developer Australia Avenue (Ecove) and Icon Constructions (Icon), Christmas was certainly not a welcome end to what was one of the busiest years in the Australian construction industry. On 24 December 2018, what appeared to be a large crack in the internal plasterboard lining
Under the building bond and inspection scheme (the Scheme) developers need to lodge a building bond that is equal to 2% of the contract price for any residential development that is greater than 4 storeys high. The bond will need to be lodged with the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation (the Secretary). For more
With the construction shutdown period around the corner, businesses must ensure they have proper procedures for the holidays. Claims made over the Christmas period require prompt response times and a failure to respond to claims under the security of payment legislation or the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) may have serious and detrimental effects on a
All contractors doing construction work or providing goods or services as part of construction work are entitled to make a progress claim under the security of payment legislation. The security of payment legislation aims to give fair and timely remuneration for construction work, this means that it requires prompt response times. Generally, under the security
The Queensland Government has announced the next stage of reforms to the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act (Qld) 2017 (BIF Act) will commence on 17 December this year. What are the changes? These ‘Chapter 3’ changes will significantly change the previous regime under the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld) (BCIPA).