Home Building Act 1989

If a contract of insurance required by section 92 is not in force, in the name of the person who contracted to do the work, in relation to any residential building work done under a contract (the uninsured work), the contractor who did the work—

is not entitled to damages, or to enforce any other remedy in respect of a breach of the contract committed by any other party to the contract, in relation to that work, and

is not entitled to recover money in respect of that work under any other right of action (including a quantum meruit).

Despite section 92(2) and subsection (1), if a court or tribunal considers it just and equitable, the contractor, despite the absence of the required contract of insurance, is entitled to recover money in respect of that work on a quantum meruit basis.

A contractor who applies to a court or tribunal for a remedy under this section, or who is awarded money under this section, is not guilty of an offence under section 92(2) by virtue only of that fact.

Without limiting the factors that a court or tribunal may consider in deciding what is just and equitable under subsection (1A)—

in relation to any contract—the court or tribunal may have regard to the impact on the resale price of the property if no contract of insurance is provided, and

in relation only to a contract entered into before 30 July 1999—the court or tribunal is not to be limited by the fact that the required contract of insurance was not obtained until after the date of the contract.

However, the contractor remains liable for damages and subject to any other remedy in respect of any breach of the contract committed by the contractor.

Residential building work that is uninsured work at the time the work is done ceases to be uninsured work for the purposes of this section if the required contract of insurance for the work is subsequently obtained.

If a person commenced residential building work before 30 July 1999 and entered into a contract of insurance that complies with this Act in relation to that work after the contract for the residential building work was entered into, that contract of insurance is, for the purposes of this section or any previous version of this section, taken to have been in force in relation to the residential building work done under the contract for the residential building work whether that work was done before or after the contract of insurance was entered into.