The Strata Building Bond Scheme, which was introduced by the Strata Management Act 2015 (the Act), provides that in situations where the Act applies (See New strata law and building …
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Separable Parts in Staged Development
2017 - articles & insights
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Are you Guaranteeing an Indemnity?
Introduction It is common for a contractor to provide an indemnity and/or a guarantee to a principal under a construction contract. However, contractors must know that the two are fundamentally …
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Deeming provisions doomed under the Building and Construction industry Security of Payment Act (1999) NSW (Act)
In All Seasons Air Pty Ltd v Regal Consulting Services Pty Ltd [2017] NSWCA 289, the Court of Appeal held that a payment claim served before a reference date will …
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Stamp Duty Relief for Australian-Based Foreign Developers
A bill has recently passed through both Houses of the NSW Parliament entitled the State Revenue Legislation Amendment (Surcharge) Bill 2017 (NSW) (Bill) which targets Australian-based developers that are foreign …
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Changes To Fire Safety Requirements In The 2016 National Construction Codes – Could This Affect Your Project?
Following the Lacrosse Apartments fire in Melbourne, the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) began to develop a comprehensive package of fire safety measures for high rise buildings which was …
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Changes to the Capital Gains Withholding Rules – What They Are and What They Mean To You
The Federal Government has reduced the threshold at which a vendor is required to provide a Foreign Resident Capital Gains Clearance Certificate (FRCGCC) to purchasers of real property. The new …
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Service by email: Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 NSW (SOP Act)
The Electronic Transactions Legislation Amendment (Government Transactions) Act 2017 (Act) passed into law in the last week of June 2017. It amended a number of Acts including the Strata Management …
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Deferral of Strata Building Bond Regime to 1 January 2018
The commencement of the strata building bond regime has been deferred from 1 July 2017 to 1 January 2018. This means that the regime will not apply if the construction …
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When It Comes To Delay, Don’t Wait And See – The 2nd Edition Of The SOCL Delay And Disruption Protocol
In February of this year, the Society of Construction Law (“SOCL”) published the 2nd Edition of the Delay and Disruption Protocol (“the Protocol”) – the first update to the …
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NSW Government to impose increased stamp duty and land tax surcharges on foreign persons (including foreign owned developers)
The NSW Budget Statement (released on 20 June 2017) has provided further details on how the increased stamp duty and land tax surcharges will affect foreign owned developers. To recap, …
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Proposed cap on foreign ownership in New Dwelling Exemption Certificates aimed at reducing pressure on housing affordability.
In the 2017-2018 Federal Budget the Government announced several changes aimed at reducing pressure on housing affordability, some of which affect foreign ownership of Australian residential property. The biggest change …
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Changes to NSW Retail Leasing Legislation to Commence on 1 July 2017
On 5 April 2017, the New South Wales Government signed and sealed a Commencement Proclamation which will bring into effect the Retail Leases Amendment (Review) Act 2017 (NSW) (Act) on …
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Is the Option Fee Treated as Consideration When Calculating GST Under the Margin Scheme?
In The Trustee for the Whitby Trust v Commissioner of taxation [2017] AATA 343 (20 March 2017), the AAT has held that an option fee paid by a developer …
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Building Approval Statistics: what they are and what they mean to you
These statistics on Building from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) published in February 2017 show some very interesting trends. The salient figures worth noting is that, at the time …
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You, Me and the Garnishee
The first question clients ask when obtaining a favourable judgment is “how will we enforce this judgment against the debtor?”. The quickest and most effective way to enforce a judgment …
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Creditors to be vigilant when using the statutory demand procedure to enforce an Adjudication Certificate
Introduction During the process of obtaining payment under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (SOP Act), a Contractor (or Subcontractor) may, after obtaining an adjudication …
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Adjudication determinations are not reviewable for non-jurisdictional errors of law
In our June 2016 issue of Construction, Property & Projects Insights (Issue 4), we discussed the first instance decision of Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd v Shade Systems Pty Ltd …
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Buyer’s Beware: Is the selling agent an agent for all purposes? – Tan v Russell [2016] VSC 93
Legal Issue A recent decision in the Victorian Supreme Court examined whether the Plaintiffs, Tan and Lo, validly exercised their cooling off rights to terminate a contract for sale in …
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High Court rules that a payment claim is invalid without a valid reference date
Introduction In our November 2016 Construction, Property & Projects Insights (Issue 5), we noted that the High Court was soon to release judgment in Southern Han Breakfast Point Pty Ltd …
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