A claim has landed, or the money has stopped. We act for your side of it.
Greenline Legal acts for builders, contractors and developers in New South Wales — defending defect and statutory warranty claims, recovering progress payments, and taking councils to the Land and Environment Court when a development is refused.
Residential building work in New South Wales is regulated principally by the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW). It is consumer-focused legislation, written to protect homeowners. That is the starting position of almost every claim made against a builder, and it is why the defences available to you are worth knowing before you respond to anything.
We act for the builder, the contractor and the developer. We do not act for homeowners or owners corporations bringing claims, which means we are not conflicted out of your matter and we are not learning your opponent's arguments on someone else's file.
Where we act
When the Act applies — and when it does not
Not every job is residential building work. The Act carries an exclusionary definition, and work that falls inside it is outside the Act's reach altogether. A floor installation in a unit, for instance, is not residential building work if it is not associated with any other work — so the statutory warranty regime does not attach to it.
The statutory limit matters too: obligations bite where the reasonable market cost of the labour and materials exceeds the prescribed threshold. Whether a particular contract crosses it is a question of fact, and it is frequently the first thing worth testing.
Statutory warranties apply whether or not your contract mentions them. They are implied into every contract for residential building work by force of the Act. Leaving them out of the written contract is itself a breach — it does not remove the warranty.
Defending a defect claim
There are many occasions where a builder can defend a defect claim, and in our experience most fall into one of three categories:
- the alleged defect falls outside the agreed scope of work;
- the work is not defective — it complies with the contract, the plans and the applicable standard; or
- the claim was brought outside the statutory time limit.
Quantum is a separate argument from liability, and it is often the more productive one. What a homeowner says it will cost to rectify is not automatically what you are liable to pay. The measure of loss is a legal question with its own tests, and a rectification quote is evidence of a price, not proof of a loss.
Land and Environment Court
Where a council refuses a development application, imposes conditions that make a project unviable, or simply fails to determine the application within time, the decision can be challenged in the Land and Environment Court. We act for builders and developers in those appeals. This is planning and development work rather than building-defect work, and it runs on a different statutory footing and a different timetable — but the client is usually the same person.
What it costs
We quote per matter rather than from a rate card, because what is involved genuinely differs. You get the figure in writing before work starts, with disbursements — filing fees, expert reports and searches — and GST identified separately from our professional fees. If the scope changes, you get an updated figure before that work is done.
Questions builders ask us.
The owner says our work is defective. Where do we stand?
That turns on whether the defect is major or minor, when the work reached completion, and what the contract and the statutory warranties under the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) require. There are claim windows, and there are defences available to a builder — scope, compliance, and timing. We act for builders, contractors and developers in these matters.
Do the statutory warranties apply if they are not in our contract?
Yes. They are implied into every contract for residential building work by the Act. Omitting them from the written contract is itself a breach of the Act; it does not remove the warranty or shorten the period.
Is all of our work “residential building work”?
Not necessarily. The Act carries an exclusionary definition and some work sits outside it — a floor installation in a unit, for example, if it is not associated with any other work. Whether a particular job is caught is worth testing early, because if it is not, the statutory warranty regime does not attach to it at all.
The homeowner has a quote for the rectification. Do we have to pay it?
Not automatically. Liability and quantum are separate questions. A rectification quote is evidence of what someone would charge, not proof of the loss the law says is recoverable, and the measure of loss has its own tests. It is worth getting advice before accepting a figure.
Council refused our development application. What are the options?
A refusal, a deemed refusal where the application is not determined in time, or conditions that make the project unviable can each be challenged in the Land and Environment Court. There are time limits, and the merits of an appeal depend heavily on the planning instruments that applied to the application.
Tell us what's happened.
Tell us what has been served on you and when. You'll get a straight answer about where you stand, what the matter is likely to involve, and what it will cost.
Information on this site is general in nature and is not legal advice, and may have been overtaken by a change in the law. Contacting us does not create a solicitor–client relationship.