In recent years in New South Wales, con­struc­tion reform has dras­ti­cal­ly impact­ed exist­ing stra­ta build­ings uncov­er­ing many unin­tend­ed con­se­quences for exist­ing stra­ta schemes and the reme­di­al con­struc­tion indus­try. Since the intro­duc­tion of the Design and Build­ing Prac­ti­tion­ers Act 2020 (NSW), the Swaab Con­struc­tion and Stra­ta Law Team have been inte­gral­ly involved in the ongo­ing reform and its impact on the stra­ta reme­di­al con­struc­tion indus­try. We have a unique ground­ing in all areas of con­struc­tion and stra­ta law to assist you.

Our spe­cialised team can pro­vide you with tar­get­ed advice for your reme­di­al project with full con­sid­er­a­tion of the Design and Build­ing Prac­ti­tion­ers Act 2020 (DBP Act) and accom­pa­ny­ing regulations.

Project doc­u­ments

  • suites of tem­plate con­tracts adapt­ed specif­i­cal­ly for ongo­ing use with­in your busi­ness, includ­ing build­ing con­tracts, super­in­ten­den­cy con­tracts, design and con­sul­tan­cy
    agree­ments ear­ly works agreements
  • ear­ly works agreements
  • let­ters of intent/​conditional accep­tance of tender
  • busi­ness and employ­ment con­tracts for design prac­ti­tion­ers, super­in­ten­dents and build­ing practitioners
  • devel­op­ment approval or con­struc­tion devel­op­ment cer­tifi­cate or exempt devel­op­ment advice

Before project commencement

  • pre­pare ten­der ready and final con­tracts for your res­i­den­tial or com­mer­cial stra­ta build­ing works
  • amend Aus­tralian Stan­dard Gen­er­al Con­di­tions e.g. AS4000, AS4905, AS4902, AS4906, AS4122), with accom­pa­ny­ing for­mal instru­ment of agreement
  • bespoke build­ing contracts
  • con­sul­tan­cy, design and/​or super­in­ten­dent agreements
  • deeds to vary an exist­ing contract
  • DBP Act:
    • does the reme­di­al build­ing works need to com­ply with the DBP Act
    • pre­pare spe­cial con­di­tions to com­ply with the DBP Act
    • con­di­tions to ensure prepa­ra­tion of reg­u­lat­ed designs by a reg­is­tered design practitioner
    • tips for own­ers cor­po­ra­tions, build­ing prac­ti­tion­ers, and/​or design prac­ti­tion­ers on process­es, oblig­a­tions and man­age­ment of the processes
    • exempt devel­op­ment or devel­op­ment approval plan­ning advice
    • con­sid­er­ing if reme­di­al works are emer­gency reme­di­al build­ing works

Dur­ing the project

Dur­ing the course of your project, we will be on hand to:

  • assist you with inter­pre­ta­tion of con­tract terms
  • par­tic­i­pate in dis­pute res­o­lu­tion to pro­duce non-liti­gious solu­tions (out of court solutions)
  • pre­pare any nec­es­sary vari­a­tions of con­tract or addi­tion­al
    agree­ments
  • assist in Build­ing and Con­struc­tion Indus­try Secu­ri­ty of Pay­ment Act 1999 (SOPA) claims and nav­i­gate pay­ment claims
  • ter­mi­na­tion of contracts
  • advise as to any vari­a­tions aris­ing and sat­is­fy­ing vari­a­tion
    require­ments under the DBP Act

After project completion

After build­ing works are complete:

  • tra­vers­ing final pay­ment claims
  • man­ag­ing defects dur­ing the defects lia­bil­i­ty period
  • con­tract claims in case of a dispute
  • com­mon law claims in cas­es of negligence
  • statu­to­ry breach­es and claims:
    • DBP Act claims for breach of duty of care (aris­ing from orig­i­nal con­struc­tion of your build­ing and/​or reme­di­al con­struc­tion) and eco­nom­ic loss aris­ing from defects
    • Home Build­ing Act 1989 claims (aris­ing from orig­i­nal con­struc­tion of your build­ing and/​or reme­di­al con­struc­tion) includ­ing for defects in your building
    • SOPA claims
  • deal­ing with any Build­ing Works Rec­ti­fi­ca­tion Orders issued on you or your prop­er­ty by the Build­ing Com­mis­sion NSW
  • nav­i­gat­ing insol­ven­cy of your builder or developer:
    • home build­ing com­pen­sa­tion fund insur­ance claims
    • nav­i­gat­ing claims dur­ing the exter­nal admin­is­tra­tion and/​or liq­ui­da­tion process

Use­ful Links

Get in touch

If you have any queries about a legal issue or wish to talk to someone about a legal matter please get in touch and we'll contact you promptly.

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