Consumer Building Guide NSW – Insurance

Check that the builder or tradesperson (or the vendor, if buying a home from a ‘spec’ builder or developer) has the following types of insurance and that the certificates are current.

Home warranty insurance allows consumers to make a claim for a  loss  (either financial or damage) caused by the contractor’s defective or incomplete work in the event of the contractor’s insolvency, death or disappearance. Home warranty insurance policies issued from 19 May 2009 onwards enable homeowners to be able to make a claim under the policy where the licence of a contractor they are using is suspended because the contractor failed to comply with the money (compensation) order in favour of the homeowner made by a Court or the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal. If the builder or tradesperson does not have home warranty insurance where the contracted work is valued over $20,000 (including the cost of any materials supplied by the contractor), they are committing an offence under the Home Building Act 1989. ‘Spec’ builders/developers Home warranty insurance is also obligatory for speculative (‘spec’) builders and developers who on-sell residential building work which they carried out or had built on their behalf. It is an offence for such ‘spec’ builders and developers to enter into a contract for the sale of the property without attaching a  certificate of home warranty insurance to the contract.  Without home warranty insurance, a purchaser may rescind the contract for sale before settlement. Owner-builders are also required to obtain home warranty insurance and attach a certificate of home warranty insurance to the contract for the sale of an owner-builder project that occurs within  6 years of completion of the owner-builder work. Multi-storey buildings The home warranty insurance provisions do not apply to the construction of new multi-storey residential buildings. A multi-storey building means a building that has a rise in storeys of more than three and that consists of two or more separate dwellings. The rise in storeys has the same meaning as it has in the Building Code of Australia. ‘Storey’ does not include a space within a building if the space includes accommodation only intended for vehicles.

So, if you are planning to buy a unit that is part of a multi-storey residential building the developer is not required to attach a copy of a home warranty insurance certificate to the contract for sale.

Councils’ Compliance with the home warranty insurance provisions of the Home Building Act 1989 is a standard condition attached by councils to the development consent for residential building work. If the conditions of the development consent are not complied with, the council or a  Private Certifier may be unable to issue a final occupation or building certificate. This may adversely impact your ability to sell and/or legally occupy your residence.

Other insurances You should ensure the builder and any professional involved in your building work have other relevant insurances including contract works insurance:  public liability insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and professional indemnity insurance.

Reference- NSW Fair Trading viewed 15/2/12, image source google

Como Building P/L, Michael Como provides in SYDNEY, an NSW Building Regulations Consultancy service that comprises, Interpretation of NSW legislation relevant to the construction of Class 1 and 10; Issuing: Complying Development Certificates (CDC), Construction Certificates (CC) [after a local council has approved a development], Occupation certificates (OC), Compliance Certificates, NCC Building Code Australia Reports. Engagement for the certification work is on a contract basis.

Also, a pre-purchase property inspection or building inspection by Michael Como may empower you with knowledge about the condition of a property currently or before you buy it and help you avoid future problems and unexpected costs. However, this service can only be conducted if the insurer is on-side, and currently, they are not and as a result, we do not conduct it.

Michael Como is Your Custom Home Builder in Sydney with over 46 years of construction experience, a Master Craftsman sharing innovative Restoration/renovation Ideas. Licensed since 1988. At this stage, I will only carry out building work at a contracted agreed hourly rate.

Let your imagination soar as you enjoy Building Green Homes or Straw houses or Hemp Homes or Heritage Style Restoration or Bathroom renovations or UHR or Digital twin or Sealing…. Etc.

Paste the following URLs in your search engine:

https://privateBuildingCertifiersSydney.com/  

como-private-building-certifiers