The Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld) (Act) provides key requirements and time limitations for dealing with or rectifying defective domestic building work. The recent decision of MacFarlane v Queensland Building and Construction Commission [2019] QCAT 408 (MacFarlane) illustrates the impact of failing to comply with the time frames as they apply to defective building work. [Read more…]
Litigation & Disputes
Directions to rectify defective domestic building work
July 14, 2020 by
Under the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Act) the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) is empowered to issue to a builder a notice to rectify defective domestic building work. If a notice is issued to a builder to rectify defective domestic building work, that event is listed on the builder’s licence history. If the builder fails to comply with the notice, the QBCC may take disciplinary action against the builder and the home owner may be able to make a claim upon the QBCC Home Warranty Insurance scheme. [Read more…]
s115A Copyright Act – infringement outside Australia
July 9, 2020 by
Section 115A of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) came into effect on 27 June 2015 and was amended on 11 December 2018 pursuant to the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Act 2018 (no. 157, 2018) (Online Infringement Act). The effect of the amendments as described in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill were to amend the threshold test from ‘primary purpose’ to ‘primary effect’, add a rebuttable presumption that an alleged ‘online location’ is located outside Australia, to extend the scope to online search engines (Deindexing Orders) and allow the Court to make “more responsive” orders in terms of injunctive relief. [Read more…]
QBCC Home Warranty Insurance claim exclusions
July 6, 2020 by
Part 5 of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Act) establishes a statutory insurance scheme, the purpose of which is in certain situations to provide basic assistance to consumers of residential construction work for loss associated with work that is defective or incomplete. [Read more…]
Interpreting release clauses in settlement agreements
June 25, 2020 by
Using a settlement agreement to extinguish a legal claim is common practice among most lawyers involved in litigation. These agreements have the benefit of providing certainty to parties and avoiding the costs and risks associated with litigation. However, the decision in IBM Australia Ltd v State of Queensland [2015] QSC 342 (IBM v Queensland) is a reminder that lawyers need to exercise caution when drafting settlement agreements, and in particular compromise terms such as release clauses. [Read more…]
QBCC Home Warranty Insurance Claims – part 3
June 24, 2020 by
Part 5 of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Act) establishes a statutory insurance scheme, the purpose of which is in certain situations to provide basic assistance to consumers of residential construction work for loss associated with work that is defective or incomplete.
As part of the building process, the builder pays a premium to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) to insure the residential construction work, the amount of the premium being included as part of the contract price and paid to the QBCC before the residential construction work commences. However, many consumers of residential construction work are uncertain about the exclusions under the QBCC Home Warranty Insurance scheme. [Read more…]
Negligence claims in domestic building disputes
May 21, 2020 by
An earlier article by Dundas Lawyers Gold Coast Pty Ltd looked at the need for domestic building contracts to confirm with the provisions of either section 13 or 14 (as the case may be) of Schedule 1B to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act (Qld) 1991 (QBCC Act) in order for a party to be able to enforce the contract. In summary, if a domestic building contract does not comply with the requirements of the QBCC Act, it is not enforceable.
While non-compliance more commonly creates difficulties for a builder trying to recover money claimed for building work performed, homeowners can also encounter difficulties when confronted with incomplete or defective building work performed under a non-compliant contract, as illustrated in the case of Cerda v Jacob [2020] QCATA 57 (Cerda). [Read more…]
Terminating a domestic building contract
May 13, 2020 by
Entering into a domestic building work contract is like getting married – if both parties do not act in good faith the ensuing divorce can be very messy. While Part 5 of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Act) establishes a statutory insurance scheme, the purpose of which is in certain situations to provide assistance to consumers of domestic building work, earlier articles by Dundas Lawyers have illustrated the pitfalls associated with trying to get out of a domestic building work marriage. [Read more…]
Claiming delay due to COVID-19? Think again.
April 29, 2020 by
In the current pandemic parties to legal proceedings may be tempted to apply for an adjournment or further time, citing COVID-19 as the reason for the delay. Certainly the Federal Court of Australia has been quick to respond to the pandemic by changing its procedures and has even conducted entire trials using Microsoft Teams. This article discusses the circumstances where COVID-19 has been used as justification for a delay in proceeding and the Court’s view on granting stays for this reason. [Read more…]
Evidence from the Wayback Machine
April 29, 2020 by
The utility of evidence relating to the existence of websites on the internet and their contents sourced from the Wayback Machine is increasingly being considered by Australian Courts. The question is whether or not the Courts will accept reports from the Wayback Machine in practice and if so what will they allow? [Read more…]
