Residential Building Contracts - new documentation requirements

Mandatory disclosure and minimum requirements for residential building contracts are now law.

This will affect you if you are:

• a residential building contractor;
• a house-building company; or
• a developer offering house-and-land packages.

What has happened?

On 20 November, the Government used urgency to pass the Building Amendment Bill (No.4), now the Building Amendment Act 2013. This Act will be effective as soon as relevant regulations under it are drafted (likely to be early 2014). One of the key changes to building legislation that the Act has made is that there are new mandatory disclosure requirements and minimum contractual requirements for all residential building contracts.