For buildings over 3 floors high, I was told there is no longer any building warranty on these. Is this true? What is the rationale behind this - particularly with the poor workmanship on new apartment buildings these days.
Hi Giraffez I think you may be referring to home warranty insurance which is not applicable for high rise residential over three stories with two or more separate dwellings? Home warranty insurance is taken out by the builder (on behalf of the owner) to allow the owner to be compensated for defective or incomplete building work if the builder becomes insolvent, dies or disappears. The statutory warranties (which differ depending on which state the building is in) still apply. In NSW the statutory warranty timeframes are 2 years for minor defects and 6 years for major defects.
Thanks, after settlement, I have been advised don't that i have three months to report any internal defects. I don't understand, why the restriction on three months then?
Defects liability period is different from the warranty period eg. Poor paintwork doesn't magically appear at the r year mark but is obvious at day 1 but a leaking balcony may not fail for years.
I cant say with authority for any other states, but in NSW the warranties are implied in every contract to do residential building work and the terms of the warranties are detailed in the NSW Home Building Act.
