LATEST NEWS
Effective 1st February 2012
Changes to NSW Builders Warranty
Threshold for mandatory home warranty insurance
Commencing 1 February 2012, all residential building work worth more than $20,000 must be covered by mandatory home warranty insurance. The current threshold is $12,000. The new threshold will also apply to the sale of a home by an owner builder.
New small job contracts category
Residential building contracts must be in writing and include a number of requirements.
Commencing 1 February 2012, a new category of written contracts for ‘small jobs’ worth between $1,001 and $5,000 will come into effect. A small job contract must be in writing, dated and signed on behalf of both of the parties and contain the following information:
- the names of the parties, including the name and number of the holder of the contractor licence
- a description of the work (including any plans and specifications for the work)
- the contract price, if known.
Additional home warranty insurance benefits for homeowners
Under the existing law, if a homeowner makes a home warranty insurance claim, they must pay the first $500 of that claim. After 1 February 2012, homeowners will only be required to pay the first $250 of any claim.
In addition, all home warranty insurance policies issued after 1 February 2012 will receive a minimum cover of $340,000, regardless of the value of the work.
Definition of ‘related’ corporations to a builder or developer
Under the existing law, an insurance policy may prevent a builder, developer or a ‘related’ corporation to a builder or developer from being a beneficiary of the home warranty insurance policy for that work.
The definition of a ‘related’ corporation in the existing law is quite narrow and doesn’t include corporations that most people would consider as being ‘related’. Accordingly the new law provides a wider definition of what it means to be a ‘related’ corporation.
1st July 2010
Dial Before You Dig
One 1 July 2010 New South Wales became the first Australian jurisdiction to enshrine Dial Before You Dig in Law. Read more about this HERE.
3rd JUNE 2010
Changes to NSW
Builders Warranty
The NSW Government has announced changes to the NSW Home Warranty Scheme effective from 1st July 2010.
The NSW Self Insurance Corporation will take over as the single insurer for the Home Warranty Insurance Fund in NSW which has been established by the NSW Government.
Calliden Insurance Limited & QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited will operate as insurance agents of the NSW Self Insurance Corporation.
We have very good working relationships with both of these companies and will continue to deal with both Calliden and QBE for Home Warranty Insurance in NSW.
If you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact either Martin White or Steven Marsi at our office.
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