Law defective on defect claims

It’s all gone quiet on the strata law reform front but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening.  Strata laws are one thing but the most significant legislation for new apartment buyers is the Home Building Act.

And, sadly,  there’s a Get Out Of Jail Free card for dodgy developers included in the new building legislation that will be enacted in December.

Basically, the new law will redefine major defects as anything that means the building is uninhabitable or literally falling down around you.  You’ll have six years to claim for these defects (provided you haven’t been killed by falling masonry in the meantime).

Anything else, like fire safety issues and bathroom seals, either of which can take years to emerge, will be considered minor defects, meaning owners corporations have only two years in which to make a claim.

As a result owners in new buildings are being advised by strata managers and lawyers alike to insist on a full defects survey the minute they take over the running of their buildings.

You don’t want to delay. You could be well into your two-year window before your block’s first AGM is even held.

Apparently the government is looking at the definition of defects in the regulations to accompany the new laws, to bring “clarity and certainty” to the home-building process. Just a smidgen of sanity would be a major step forward.

You have to feel sorry for the decent developers who are tarred with the same brush as chancers who specialise in cheap and cheerless slums of the future. The good guys were all set to sign up for a defects bond before strata law reforms were kicked to the kerb.

The Owners Corporation Network has been fighting the good fight on this and you’ll find them at ocn.org.au

And defects  will be just one of the issues at Flat Chat Live – our version of Q&A  – which takes place in Sydney on Saturday, October 25.  Click on the Strata Community Australia NSW website nsw.stratacommunity.org.au and you’ll find out all about it under events.

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