1Where an owner takes possession of residential building works without the builder's prior written consent, the works are deemed under the contract to have reached practical completion without any defects or omissions, relieving the builder of notice obligations and entitling it to the final progress claim.
2Water damage caused by water wicking up through foundations from an underground water source unknown at the time of contract and during construction constituted a latent condition for which the builder was not responsible, where the scope of works did not require sub-footing drainage and the true cause was not discoverable by reasonable diligence during the build.
3General conditions of a standard-form building contract are incorporated where the contract schedule extensively references them and the parties signed beneath a warning not to sign without having received them, regardless of the owner's subjective claim not to have received a copy.
