In the media
Master Builders Australia survey shows orders have
"fallen off a cliff"
A survey of builders and tradies around the country has
found new work could run out in the next few months if orders
don't pick up, with the home building sector is being hit
especially hard (17 April 2020).
More...
MBA: Survey Warns Of Crisis Facing Building Industry -
Impact of Covid-19
Survey finds Master Builders members across all sectors
having are losing forward pipelines of work. At risk is the
viability of nearly 400,000 building and construction businesses,
the jobs of 1.2 million Australians and the industry's capacity
to aid the economic recovery (17 April 2020).
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Sydney ranked as Australia's most expensive city to
build in
Sydney has again been deemed Australia's most
expensive city for construction, according to the International
Construction Costs 2020 report by design and consultancy
organisation, Arcadis. Brisbane (38), Melbourne (41) and Perth (50)
all came in within the top 50 most expensive cities for
construction (16 April 2020).
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HIA: Home Building Starts Rose in the December
Quarter
There was a small increase in the number of new homes that
commenced construction in the December quarter to bring the total
number of new homes that commenced construction in 2019 to 174,246
(15 April 2020).
More...
MBA: Australia's home builders are open for
business
Clients can have confidence that they can proceed with
residential building work and do the right thing to slow the spread
of Covid-19 (15 April 2020).
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ePlanning mandate a big win for homeowners
Homeowners in metropolitan Sydney, Newcastle, the Central
Coast and Illawarra will be able to lodge DAs online in the comfort
of their homes, and see a reduction in assessment times, with the
NSW Government mandating ePlanning across 42 councils from 1 July
2020 (17 April 2020).
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Fast-tracked planning system to support NSW
economy
The New South Wales Government will cut red tape and
fast-track planning processes through an acceleration program which
is likely to have important impacts on consent authorities and
proponents of development. The program's ambition is to keep
construction booming in NSW to support the state's economic
recovery (15 April 2020).
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Pathway forward for contributions reform
The NSW Government has outlined its plan to reform
developer levies and contributions to unlock new housing supply,
deliver vital community infrastructure and boost investment in NSW
(15 April 2020).
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Slashed licence fees a big win for businesses
Up to 200,000 licence holders operating across the trades
and construction sectors will not have to pay up to $50 million
worth of licence fees, thanks to the NSW Government (15 April
2020).
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Dodgy builders warned against exploiting coronavirus
construction push
NSW government says plans are in place to ensure no
"lessening of standards" in the sector while seeking to
push through development (15 April 2020).
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Extended construction hours to keep work going during
COVID-19
The New South Wales Government has introduced extended
operating hours for construction sites to support the industry
during the COVID-19 pandemic, with sites now able to operate on
weekends and public holidays (08 April 2020).
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Published - articles, papers, reports
Australian Bureau of Statistics
15 April 2020
Building Activity, Australia, Dec 2019 (cat no. 8752.0)
Practice and courts
ABCB: COVID-19: Supplying and installing bidet
products
The ACCC has issued an alert on its Product Safety
Australia website concerning the supply and installation of bidet
products (09 April 2020).
More...
NSW
Property Development industry welcomes extension of
operating hours on construction sites
April 2, 2020 - Decision of the NSW Minister for Planning, Hon Rob
Stokes MP, to extend the hours of operation for the construction
sector to include weekends and public holidays.
More...
Building Information Modelling (BIM) for WHS
management
What is the best practice and implications of using BIM in
WHS management? Timeline of project; Project completion: Mid 2021.
More...
Cases
Scuderi v Corfu Pools Pty Ltd
[2020] NSWCATAP 62
APPEALS - home building - swimming pool paving-work
done by both homeowners and builder – cause of defects
unclear – alleged errors of fact – decision claimed to
be against the weight of the evidence - new evidence – leave
to appeal refused
Robust Builders Pty Ltd v Bhardwaj
(No 2) [2020] NSWCATAP 61
COSTS- Costs of appeal from Consumer and Commercial
Division- costs order- refusal to order costs on indemnity
basis.
Hanson v Metricon Homes Pty Ltd
[2020] NSWSC 401
CIVIL LAW – building dispute – money owed
on contract – cross-claim – defence – shoddy
building work – proceedings before NCAT – procedural
fairness – where owners abandon cross-claim – failure
to deal with defence – unrepresented litigants – where
lawyer seeks leave to withdraw on day of hearing – hearing
did not start well – confusion over reason lawyer withdrew
– refusal of adjournment – "stage fright"
– late service of joint expert report – contradictory
case management orders – whether owners denied opportunity to
challenge joint expert – internal appeal – whether
Appeal Panel erred in failing to find denial of procedural
fairness
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