Following the recent Supreme Court decision of Owners Corporation Strata Plan 72535 v Brookfield[1], builders and developers do not owe a common law duty of care to owners corporations, or it would appear other successors in title, in circumstances where there is an alleged breach of the statutory warranties implied by the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) (Act).
Further, the Court held that whether a particular contract is a contract to do ‘residential building work’ within the meaning of the Act will be determined by considering the subject matter of the contract at the time the contract was entered into and the subsequent use of the building does not affect this assessment. More…