Our goal is to make building your home a straight-forward, smooth and stress-free process. If a dispute occurs, we'll aim to resolve it diligently, with your best interests in mind, to get your home building project back on track.
Home Building Dispute Lawyers NSW
We assist home owners right across NSW by offering a wide range of home building dispute services. We’ll put risk management strategies in place to limit the chance of home building disputes occurring and if they do occur, we’ll aim to resolve them diligently, with your best interests in mind, to get your home building project back on track.
We can assist you with:
- a dispute with your architect
- a dispute with your builder or sub-contractor
- a dispute with your swimming pool builder
- entering into a contract to build or renovate
- claiming your Home Owners Warranty Insurance
- conveyancing and property law
Related Article > Builder Dispute Resolution Process
Building or Renovating Contracts
If you are building a new home or renovating an existing home you will need to enter into a contract with the builder or sub-contractor to have the work completed. You will want the work completed on time, within an agreed upon budget, free of defects and in accordance with the architect’s plans. By involving us early, we can assure the terms of the contract will reflect exactly what you want, so you don’t get surprised later on.
To do this, we’ll negotiate the terms of the contract, on your behalf, with the builder or sub-contractor. This is important because most building projects involve the builder supplying you with a copy of their “standard” contract, which has been professionally drafted by them to suit their best interests, not yours. If you’ve never seen a building contract before, it would be very difficult to know what to look for… which is where we come in. Even if the builder proposes using a standard contract such as the HIA Contract or Office of Fair Trading Contract, these are just templates which can be altered to reflect their best interests without you knowing.
The bottom line is that these projects are not small and you have a huge amount of money at stake, so it makes sense to play it safe and mitigate as much risk as possible.
We’ve been helping home owners with their contracts since 1969, so we know exactly what to look for.
Contact our Building & Construction Team today to discuss your contract in more detail.
Disputes With Architects
Disputes with architects are quite common when building a new home or extending an existing home. These disputes typically relate to fees, defective designs or negligence.
Disputes over fees are by far the most common. If you have a dispute with your architect over payment of fees and the architect has served you with an invoice that you disagree with, you should get in touch with our team immediately.
Disputes over defective designs or negligence by the architect usually involve us lodging a claim against the architect on your behalf. We will negotiate a reasonable settlement with the architect and if that fails, we can act for you in legal proceedings against them.
For any home building architect dispute enquiries, please contact our team to discuss your matter in more detail.
If you’re in a home building dispute with an architect, read this: Builder Dispute Resolution Process
Disputes With Builders & Sub-Contractors
We understand that things don’t always go as planned when you are building a home, but rest assured there are steps you can take to mitigate risk and protect yourself against any builder disputes.
If a home building dispute does arise with a builder or sub-contractor you should not take any action, such as attempting to terminate the contract or stopping the builder from gaining access to your site, until you discuss your options with an experienced professional.
To resolve disputes, we perform a number of duties that include, but are not limited to:
- Reviewing your circumstances and providing you with timely advice.
- Engaging an external building expert on your behalf to inspect the home (or fault) and prepare a report. We’ll then make a “Calderbank Offer” or an “Offer on Compromise” on your behalf, based on the findings in the expert’s report.
- Attempting to negotiate a fair and reasonable settlement. If negotiations fail, we’ll commence proceedings on your behalf in the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal.
- Confirming you are covered by Home Owners Warranty Insurance. In this situation, the builder should have issued you an insurance certificate pursuant to Section 92 of the Home Building Act, which covers you for incomplete and defective work on your home. We’ll obtain a copy of the insurance contract, review the terms and provide you with advice on the best way to proceed. Following this, we’ll notify the insurer of your claim.
- We will give you correct and proper guidance throughout the entire dispute process.
For any builder or sub-contractor dispute enquiries, please contact our team to discuss your matter in more detail.
If you’re in a home building dispute with a builder or sub-contractor, read this: Builder Dispute Resolution Process
Disputes With Swimming Pool Builders
Building or installing a swimming pool, either inside or outside your home, can often be a daunting and complicated process because pools have to be built to a very high standard (and in accordance with Government guidelines) if they are to function properly and have a long life. With these types of projects, there are plenty of things that can go wrong and, sadly, they often do!
Disputes with swimming pool builders usually occur at the end of the project, after the pool has been built. The dispute is almost always in relation to the quality of work, payment or the time it took to install. If you are ever in this situation, we can help you.
For any swimming pool builder dispute enquiries, please contact our team to discuss your matter in more detail.
If you’re in a home building dispute with a swimming pool builder, read this: Builder Dispute Resolution Process
Claiming on Home Owners Warranty Insurance
As a home owner, you might want to claim your home owners warranty insurance for any number of reasons. The most common reasons involve the builder being no longer able to continue with your project because he/she has become insolvent, disappeared or died. It is important to be aware that strict time limits apply.
According to the Act, if you are claiming for loss arising from the non-completion of the project, you have to claim within 12 months of the builder has failing to commence or finish the project. Furthermore, a contract of insurance must also provide you with cover for loss arising from structural defects, within the meaning of regulations, for a period of 6 years after the date of completion. The contract also covers you for any other type of loss for a period of 2 years after the date of completion.
If you are still within the time limits, get in touch with our team to discuss your home owners warranty insurance claim in more detail.
We can also assist in relation to rejected or disputed insurance claims. Generally, appeals against a decision of a Home Warranty Insurer must be made within 45 days of the written notification by the insurer that the claim has been rejected. Therefore, it is essential that you contact our team to discuss your circumstances at the earliest possible opportunity.
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