A project home builder's duty of care to the homeowner includes an obligation to inspect the work of subcontractors with awareness of applicable Australian Standards, particularly those relating to structural timber joints. A specialist subcontractor that further subcontracts installation work retains a duty to inspect that work and cannot discharge it by an unchecked assumption that the head contractor will inspect. The contractual obligations assumed by a builder inform the scope and content of its tortious duty of care. In apportioning liability between a builder, subcontractor, and installer, the entity that actually performed the negligent work bears substantially greater responsibility than those whose negligence consisted of failure to inspect.
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