Effective client communication for residential builders: templates and routines that prevent disputes
Most disputes start with a gap in communication, not a defect. Here are the routines and templates that keep clients informed and protect your position.
11 min read
Topic
Disputes
Articles and news about Disputes for Australian builders.
Effective client communication for residential builders: templates and routines that prevent disputes
Most disputes start with a gap in communication, not a defect. Here are the routines and templates that keep clients informed and protect your position.
11 min read
Client selection: red flags to check before you sign a building contract
Vetting a client before you sign is cheaper than managing a dispute after practical completion. These are the red flags that should make you pause, price differently or walk away.
11 min read
What happens when a complaint is made against you in NSW
A complaint about defects and a complaint about your conduct can arrive from the same household and travel down two very different tracks. One is about fixing the work. The other is about whether you keep your licence.
11 min read
Site administration: the records that protect a builder when a job turns
Most builders do not lose disputes because they were wrong. They lose because they cannot prove they were right. Site administration is the discipline of creating that proof while the work is happening.
11 min read
Major or minor defect? Getting the classification right in NSW
The statutory warranties apply to every residential build, but the consequences of a breach turn on whether the defect is major or minor. The definition is narrow, and it decides who pays, how fast, and for how long.
12 min read
Security of payment adjudication in NSW: how the process and timeframes actually run
Adjudication under the Security of Payment Act is a fast statutory process, not a slow dispute resolution chat. The timeframes are short and unforgiving, and the side that misses one usually loses the argument before the merits are even considered.
13 min read
Suspending work on an NSW residential job the right way
Suspending work is a contractual remedy, not a reaction. Get the notice right and you stop the clock without breaching the contract; get it wrong and you hand the other side a claim.
12 min read
HBCF eligibility and premiums: how an insurer assesses a builder
Eligibility for the Home Building Compensation Fund is not a form you fill in once. It is an underwriting decision about your business, and it is reviewed against the work you are actually taking on.
11 min read
When a homeowner refuses to pay: options for NSW builders
A homeowner withholding payment is a cashflow problem before it is a legal one. The order you escalate in decides how much of the debt you actually recover.
11 min read
Delays and extensions of time on NSW building contracts: running the notice and evidence process
Most delay claims are not lost on the merits. They are lost because the notice went in late, or went in without evidence that ties the delay to the critical path. Here is how to run the process so the claim survives scrutiny.
13 min read
Back charges and subcontractor disputes: doing it so it sticks
A back charge is only as strong as the clause you agreed and the evidence you kept. Here is how to run the process so it survives a payment dispute.
11 min read
Avoiding building disputes in NSW before they start
Most building disputes are set up long before anyone raises their voice. The contract, the variation trail and the site records you keep in the first weeks decide how the argument ends.
10 min read