COVID-19 Update
If your builder is late or increasing costs, you may consider terminating the building contract. There are several steps involved in doing so, and how many of these you will have to go through will depend on your situation. In this article, we will unpack your options for proceeding against builders.
Many at-risk apartment buildings in Victoria may have already received a Building Notice from their local council dictating that the cladding on their building is non-compliant with the building standards. in other words, the cladding is combustible. Some of these building notices may have progressed to Building Orders, and others may have audits and investigations … Read More
By Chloe Moorfoot, Partner and Malcolm Liu, Lawyer. Non-compliance with the Building Regulations 2018 (Regulations) for essential safety measures can result in serious consequences, including infringement notices, fines and prosecution. Additionally, the combustible cladding building inspections in Victoria are likely to expose buildings that are non-compliant with the essential safety measures. Therefore, is your building … Read More
By Malcolm Liu, Lawyer and Chloe Moorfoot, Partner On 16 September 2021, the Building Amendment (Registration and Other Matters) Bill 2021 (Bill) passed the third reading in the First House: Legislative Assembly. Hence, amongst other amendments, section 49A of the Bill proposes to amend section 134(2) of the Building Act 1993 (Act) by extending the … Read More
By Chloe Moorfoot, Partner and Malcolm Liu, Lawyer. Significantly, on 16 September 2021, the Victorian Government announced that construction workers across Victoria will need to show evidence to their employer that they have had a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by 11:59pm this Thursday 23 September 2021. Moreover, public health officials have become increasingly … Read More
By Chloe Moorfoot, Partner It is estimated there are thousands of buildings in Victoria affected by the (now) defective combustible cladding issues. As the combustible cladding rectification fund dries up, it is clear that local government municipalities will be soaked by a new wave of claims and responsibilities to bring about rectification. Background of the … Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the schedules for most construction projects in Victoria and Australia. As such, construction industry bodies (like the Master Builders Association) fear a surging wave of litigation will hit the construction sector as statutory demand and debt collection protections are lifted as the country recovers economically from the pandemic. Liquidated … Read More
Following assent to the Cladding Safety Victoria Act (Vic) 2020 (“Act”) on 4 November 2020, the Governor in Council signed off on the Cladding Safety Victoria Regulations (Vic) 2020 (“Regulations”) on 1 December 2020. This article will set out the particulars of the Regulations, predominately focusing on the rules relating to seeking funding from Cladding … Read More
The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic) (the Act) serves to act as an alternative to traditional litigation for the recovery of unpaid invoices and payments claims in the construction industry, with the benefit of being a quicker method of resolution. However, as a trade-off for such speed efficiency is the … Read More
Upon general contract principles, the express terms and construction of a contract that has already been signed may be amended where it can clearly be shown that the contract was drafted or entered into incorrectly on the basis that some of the terms of the contract are inconsistent with the actual intentions of the parties. … Read More
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