› Breach of statutory warranties — sections 8 and 9 Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Vic)
Building and Construction
› Defective Work
› Subsequent owner's claim for cost of rectification
Building and Construction
› Damages
› Measure of loss — cost of rectification — actual costs versus estimated costs
Building and Construction
› Mitigation of Loss
› Builder's right to rectify — whether owner unreasonably refused access
Quick Take
1Following [name withheld] Pty Ltd v The Owners – Strata Plan No 89074 [2025] NSWCA 235, there is no requirement that an owner provide a builder with an opportunity to rectify defects; the builder bears both the legal and evidential onus of establishing that the owner acted unreasonably in failing to mitigate loss, and on the facts the builder failed to discharge that onus.
2Where an expert does not attend to give evidence or be cross-examined, the Tribunal may still have regard to the expert's report but will give it reduced weight, particularly where the opposing expert attended and was tested; actual costs incurred by owners were preferred over estimated costs where the actual expenditure was reasonable.
3Statutory warranties implied by section 8 of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Vic) run with the land under section 9 to benefit subsequent purchasers, who may claim directly against the builder.
