Where a building owner's contractual expectation is defined in terms of the marketability of a development (rather than construction of a building on the owner's own land), the diminution in market value is prima facie the appropriate measure of damages for defective construction, not the cost of rectification. The rectification measure of damages under Bellgrove v Eldridge is displaced where supervening events (including subdivision into community title schemes and sale of lots) mean that rectification work cannot be carried out by the plaintiff. Sale of a defective building for full market value, where rectification is neither required nor permitted by the purchaser, precludes recovery of rectification costs.
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