Home Building Amendment Act: Sydney apartment owners say law changes are 'draconian'

Apartment owner Peter Davis has been locked in battles with hisbuilding's developers for years and warns new laws that come into force on Thursday will cause an "even worse hell for home owners than we've been through".

Mr Davis and his wife bought an apartment in a new block on Sydney's upper north shore seven years ago, only to pay tens of thousands in legal fees to fix construction defects that required replastering the pool, a new ventilation system, as well as fireproofing issues discovered only last year.

Legal changes are "draconian", Sydney home owners say. Photo: Louie Douvis

"We [the owners' corporation] have paid millions in legal fees and expert reports that would stand up in court. Under the new laws, we would have had to pay for the repairs ourselves. These new laws are completely inappropriate," Mr Davis said.

Advertisement

Owners of new apartments will now have only two rather than six years to get developers to foot the bill for building defects, once the Home Building Amendment Act takes effect.

A spokesman for Fair Trading NSW said the new laws, passed in September last year, were designed to strengthen the consumer protections and address issues in construction industry by changing the licensing system for tradespeople.

These will increase penalties for practitioners and companies with a track record of issues, as well as changing payment structures to ensure fewer major defects.

Home owners will be able to access the previous six-year warranty only in relation to flaws that put the building or property at risk of falling down or becoming uninhabitable.The definition for "major defect" is new in the act.

But the peakbody representing strata owners has described the new defect rules as "draconian" and told Fairfax Media the changes would have serious and far-reaching consequences because many issues take years to emerge.

See original here:
Home Building Amendment Act: Sydney apartment owners say law changes are 'draconian'