October November 2011 Edition

Inspecta Homes Newsletter

Welcome to the October / November edition of Inspecta Homes Newsletter. Inspecta Homes specialise in Combined Building and Pest Inspections on both residential and commercial properties, Building Defect Reports, Dilapidation Reports, Insurance Assessments and Owner Builder Warranty Inspections.

If you are buying or selling or just need advice, contact us today or order online 24 hours a day at www.inspectahomes.com.au.

Changes to the Home Building Act

On the 19th October 2011, the New South Wales Parliament passed several amendments to current legislation to make changes to the home building Act 1989, including changes to home warranty insurance, statutory warranty and contract requirements. These changes may affect our clients requiring Owner Builder Warranty Reports or Builders Warranty Reports, so we have included in this newsletter a brief discussion on some of these changes.

The complete package of changes to the Home Building Act will be in place by 1st February 2012 and one of the amendments listed in the reforms includes the lifting of the threshold for obtaining compulsory Home Warranty Insurance from $12,000 to $20,000. That is, from 1st February 2012 you will be required to obtain Home Warranty Insurance for all building or construction works carried out over $20,000, instead of the current $12,000.

Further, under the current legislation a home owner, or future purchaser has the right to enforce warranties for up to 7 years after the building work has been completed, however as of 1st February this will be 6 years for structural defects and 2 years for non structural defects, aligning the claim periods for Statutory warranties and home warranty insurances. Changes to the act also place a 10 year limit from the date of completion for all insurance claims to be lodged. The term “completed” has also now been clearly defined for all parties, as it does play an important role in the determination of the start of the time periods for statutory warranty and home warranty insurance.

The department of fair trading website at www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au has a complete list and explanation of all the changes passed under the Home Building Amendment Act 2011.

Defect Discussion – Low Pitched Roofing

The primary job of most roofs is to keep out the weather, in particular, rain and water. The large area of a roof repels a lot of water, which must be directed in some suitable way, so that it does not cause damage or inconvenience, and low pitched roof areas are particularly vulnerable to leak problems.

In areas of low pitch, the water runoff is not as rapid and during the onset of heavy rain and will often result in water overflowing between the roof tiles, corrugated iron or other roofing material, and into the ceiling space below and consequently internal finishes. As such, the current building standards specify that the minimum pitch of a concrete tile or terracotta tile roof be no less than 15 degrees and a corrugated iron roof be no less than 5 degrees. Corrugated iron roofing is designed for much lower pitches than tiles, thus it is commonly used for skillion roofing. Retrospective standards did permit a lower pitched roof under some design circumstances, however these were subject to manufacturer’s certification.

Incorrect roof pitch can be a significant defect in a property, and rectification works can be expensive. In some cases this may involve replacing low pitched roofing with metal roofing products designed for lower pitches or replacing the roof trusses to increase the pitch of the roof.

If you would like any further information please contact us.