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Monthly Archives

January 2023

Double Trouble: Increase to Foreign Investment financial penalties DevelopmentProperty & Projects
31 January, 2023

Double Trouble: Increase to Foreign Investment financial penalties

  Starting 1 January 2023, penalties for breaching Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) regulations related to foreign acquisitions of residential land will be doubled, per the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth). This measure, further to the 2022 changes, has been introduced as part of the Labor Government’s 2022…
Victoria Caldwell
“You’ve Been Served” – Or Have You? Electronic Service Under SOPA Construction
30 January, 2023

“You’ve Been Served” – Or Have You? Electronic Service Under SOPA

  The increasing integration of technology into the construction industry has brought on a range of new methods of delivery of information which have substantially replaced traditional post. The legal process of ‘service’ is no exception and has been the subject of dramatic change to account for technologies such as…
Victoria Caldwell
Contractors Beware – NCAT Decision on Work Orders and The Application of Margins Construction
26 January, 2023

Contractors Beware – NCAT Decision on Work Orders and The Application of Margins

  Case Note: Patel v Southern Cross Joinery Pty Limited NSWCATCD 162 The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), unlike any other Court, can make costs orders and work orders. Contractors must behave professionally when carrying out construction works. Otherwise, Contractors may have costs ordered against them, rather than a…
Victoria Caldwell
What is the evidentiary threshold for combustible cladding? ConstructionProperty & Projects
23 January, 2023

What is the evidentiary threshold for combustible cladding?

  In our previous article published this October titled, “Governments react to combustible cladding following the Grenfell fire?”, we discussed NSW and UK government reactions to combustible cladding post-Grenfell. Here, we ask what evidence is required to determine whether the builder or developer is liable to replace retrospectively-banned cladding. Biowood…
Victoria Caldwell
New Licensing Regime for NSW and the Commercial Construction Sector ConstructionDevelopment
9 January, 2023

New Licensing Regime for NSW and the Commercial Construction Sector

  If you are carrying out commercial construction work or considering moving into the commercial construction sector on the basis of its (currently) relaxed licensing requirements, we recommend that you read this article. NSW is the only jurisdiction in Australia that does not require a building licence to carry out…
Victoria Caldwell
New NSW Government Commercial Principles ConstructionProperty & Projects
3 January, 2023

New NSW Government Commercial Principles

  On 1 September 2022, the NSW Government published its “Commercial principles on escalation risk for infrastructure projects” (Commercial Principles) to guide contractors and government agencies through the current inflationary environment. The Commercial Principles recognise cost escalation as a foreseeable risk that can be managed. These are intended as a…
Victoria Caldwell