About Us

Turnbull Bowles Lawyers is a specialist Sydney CBD legal practice providing practical and comprehensive legal

services to the Strata Industry and Building and Construction Sectors.

We are committed to providing our clients with excellence in legal services. Since our inception, we have established a

proven track record of successfully representing a wide range of Owners Corporations, Strata Managing Agents,

Community Associations, Builders, Developers, Sub-Contractors, and Individual Lot and Property Owners.

We are a division of Forbes Dowling Lawyers, a national legal practice that specialises in Commercial Litigation,

Insolvency, Debt Recovery and General Legal Services. Forbes Dowling Lawyers have branches in Sydney, Brisbane,

the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide and Affiliates throughout Australasia.

Building & Construction News

Changes to the Home Building Act 1989 Changes to the Home Building Act 1989 (“the Act”) were implemented and took effect in January 2015 and in March 2015. The key changes are particularised as follows: Contract Threshold Requirements

1. There has been a change in the threshold for obtaining a licence for building and general trade work and this has been raised from over $1,000.00 of work to over $5,000.00 (including labour and materials). However, specialist work including plumbing, electrical and air conditioning still requires a licence to be carried out by a contractor regardless of the cost of work involved.

2. The legislation now provides that stand-alone contracts for internal paintwork as well as work related to tennis courts, ponds and water features do not now require a licence to have this work carried out unless that specific work is carried out as part of other home building work.

Impact on Licence eligibility

1. The Act now provides that the ability of a contractor to apply for a licence has been tightened to stamp out ‘phoenixing’. This is a result of companies closing down and as a result leaving large unpaid debts, only to start up as a new company trading under a different name.

2. Specifically, any licence application made may be revoked or refused if there was a previous involvement by the applicant in a failed business or if there had been a history of excessive complaints or an applicant had been previously involved in a disciplinary matter.

3. As a result of Phoenix activities being carried out by companies, NSW Fair Trading is to be notified within 7 days if a licensed builder is ‘wound up’.

Building & Construction News continued……..

Owner-builders

1. Owner-builders are now required in their application to name all other owners of the land on an application for an owner-builder permit.

2. The Act precludes Owner-builders from obtaining a permit for a dual occupancy except in special circumstances.

3. The Act precludes Owner-builders from obtaining statutory insurance although contractors working for the owner-builder are still required to provide certificates for work exceeding $20,000.00.

4. The Act now provides that if the property is sold within the warranty period, the contract for sale must clearly

state that there is no statutory insurance on the property.

5. The threshold for requiring an owner-builder permit has increased to work valued over $10,000.00 and owner-builders must now provide evidence of having the necessary basic work health and safety training. The Act now requires that for work which exceeds $20,000.00 owner-builders will need to undertake an owner-builder course.

Disputes and Defects

1. In our November article we referred to the changes in the legislation with regard to the concept of “defect” and indicated that the legislation had been amended to major defect and other defect.

2. The legislation now provides that for disputes relating to defects, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Local, District and Supreme Courts need to consider rectification as the preferred outcome to resolve disputes. The Act now provides that builders who take steps to rectify defects are to be provided with access and access cannot be unreasonably refused to a property by the home owner or Owners Corporation.

3. NSW Fair Trading inspectors now have further powers in issuing rectification orders. Rectification orders can now provide for staged rectification of the work with deadlines being imposed for the work to be completed.

4. Licensees have a legal defence in proceedings for a breach of the statutory warranties if they reasonably relied on the written specialist advice of an independent professional engaged by the owner.

Contract Requirements

1. The threshold has been raised for more detailed contract requirements from $5,000.00 to $20,000.00.

2. The legislation still requires that home building work under $20,000.00 still requires a written ‘minor works’ contract.

3. The Act stipulates that a cap be placed on deposits for work exceeding $20,000.00 and this has now been increased from 5% to 10%. As a result of the changes, builders will only be able to request a maximum of 10% for a deposit for all projects, regardless of the value.

4. The amendments have introduced the requirement for a progress payment schedule for those contracts which exceed $20,000.00. The Act requires that authorised payments are allowed as well a termination clause.

5. The requirement for the compulsory “consumer building guide” (which is to be provided to consumers before entering a contract) has now been simplified to provide essential information on both parties’ rights and responsibilities.

If you have any questions regarding this article, please contact Ms Pierrette Khoury of Turnbull Bowles Lawyers on 8272 1999 or 8272 1984 pierrette@turnbullbowles.com.au www.turnbullbowles.com.au

Building & Construction Services

Our Lawyers can assist clients with the following:

Construction Contracts

Negotiating and drafting commercial and residential construction, project management, subcontracts, engineering and other construction related agreements;

Advice and Appeals pursuant to the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999;

Dispute resolution for issues arising during the course of construction projects.

Construction Disputes

Advising and acting for Owners Corporations, home owners, builders, developers and other parties regarding building defects claims;

Advising on proportionate liability issues;

Claims in negligence or for breach of contract against building professionals including Engineers, Architects, Principal Certifying Authorities and Construction and Design Contractors in residential building matters;

Recommending, managing and instructing experts to assess and report on building defects.

Strata & Community Title Law Services

We offer fixed fess for many services including drafting and registration of standard By-Laws with a 48 hour turnaround.

Our Lawyers can assist clients with the following:

Advice and representation in strata disputes and processes;

Drafting and registration of By-Laws;

Notices to Comply and Penalty Applications regarding breaches of By-Laws;

Advice and assistance regarding the interpretation, application and amendment of Strata Management Statements and Community Management Statements;

Attendance at Annual General Meetings, Extraordinary General Meetings and Executive Committee Meetings to provide advice, guidance and assistance;

Strata Subdivisions;

Easements;

Recovery action for unpaid strata levies;

General advice on Strata & Community title issues and Company Title issues;

Conversion from Company Title to Strata Title;

Building litigation;

Home Owner Warranty Insurance claims

General Services

Turnbull Bowles Lawyers is a division of Forbes Dowling Lawyers Pty Ltd and a subsidiary of a major Australian

Collections Firm, Australian Receivables Limited. Our clients enjoy the benefits of the much larger parent company’s

operating platform which includes sound governance, robust operating systems, high levels of compliance,

documented risk management procedures, superior security and quality management systems.

All these features combined provide clients with greater peace of mind and more compelling results. The group

provides a highly personalised, client specific and responsive service from talented, caring and successful practitioners

working with state of the art business systems and specialist knowledge in the areas of:

Commercial Litigation;

Business, Corporate & Commercial Law;

Property & Conveyancing;

Debt Recovery (with experts in the area of Strata and Local Government Rates Recovery);

Insolvency and Corporate Restructuring;

Building & Construction Law.

With branches and affiliates throughout Australasia, Turnbull Bowles Lawyers provides clients with a commercial and

pragmatic solution to any legal issue.