Pub­li­ca­tions

17 Dec 2025

Aqua­land North Syd­ney Laven­der Devel­op­ment Pty Ltd v The Own­ers — Stra­ta Plan No 102091 [2025] NSW­CA 143

A recent NSW Court of Appeal deci­sion gives Own­ers Cor­po­ra­tions greater con­fi­dence in defect lit­i­ga­tion, ensur­ing devel­op­ers using SPV struc­tures can­not eas­i­ly avoid liability.An impor­tant deci­sion hand­ed by the NSW Court of Appeal in July has giv­en Own­ers Cor­po­ra­tions engag­ing in defect lit­i­ga­tion against devel­op­ers util­is­ing a typ­i­cal spe­cial pur­pose vehi­cle cor­po­rate…

17 Dec 2025

Know Your Con­struc­tion Con­tract — A Cau­tion­ary ​‘Time Bar’ Tale from West­con­nex M5 Motor­way Tun­nel Project Sydney

The NSW Court of Appeal has con­firmed that Own­ers Cor­po­ra­tions can seek freez­ing orders to stop devel­op­ers using SPV struc­tures from divest­ing assets, strength­en­ing recov­ery prospects in defect litigation.Con­struc­tion con­tracts often include detailed pro­vi­sions set­ting out pre­scribed regimes for the pro­vi­sion of claims. Such regimes pro­vide for the form and detail…

17 Dec 2025

One Devel­op­ment, Two Tow­ers and Two Occu­pa­tion Cer­tifi­cates (one Inter­im and one Final). When Does the Home Build­ing Act Statu­to­ry War­ran­ty Peri­od Commence?

The NSW Supreme Court has clar­i­fied when statu­to­ry war­ran­ty peri­ods start for staged devel­op­ments under the Home Build­ing Act 1989 (NSW). In The Own­ers – Stra­ta Plan No 93543 v Zhang (No 3) [2025] NSWSC 571, the Court exam­ined com­ple­tion dates for sep­a­rate build­ings, impact­ing lim­i­ta­tion peri­ods for defect claims.Most pro­ceed­ings brought…

17 Dec 2025

Stra­ta Schemes Leg­is­la­tion Amend­ment (Mis­cel­la­neous) Bill 2025 — Round 4 Pro­posed Changes

The pro­posed NSW stra­ta reform Bill intro­duced into Par­lia­ment on 19 Novem­ber 2025 aims to clar­i­fy exist­ing pro­vi­sions, boost con­sumer pro­tec­tions, and reduce reg­u­la­to­ry bur­dens. Key changes include exemp­tions for two-lot schemes, stricter rules on stra­ta man­ag­er terms and com­mis­sions, manda­to­ry com­mit­tee train­ing, and tight­ened rules on bonds, fees, and…

5 Nov 2025

Stra­ta Law Changes — Effec­tive 27 Octo­ber 2025

What do the lat­est NSW stra­ta law changes mean for own­ers and com­mit­tees? On 27 Octo­ber 2025, the next stage of reforms under the Stra­ta Schemes Leg­is­la­tion Amend­ment Act 2025 came into effect, intro­duc­ing stronger com­pli­ance pow­ers for NSW Fair Trad­ing, fair­er finan­cial hard­ship arrange­ments for levy pay­ments, and new…

4 July 2025

10 Tips For Stra­ta Reme­di­al Con­struc­tion Contracts

Are you won­der­ing why your stra­ta work to repair or main­tain your stra­ta build­ing is over bud­get, rid­dled with delays, plagued with costs over­runs and vari­a­tions at every turn?It is impor­tant to con­sid­er and fol­low these steps:Before ten­der­ing for the work to be done, have your build­ing con­tract, con­sul­tan­cy agree­ment and/​or sep­a­rate…