Home Building Act

If your home is damaged by your neighbour's builder, I believe that the NSW Home Building Act 1989 No 147 makes provisions to help. Section 43C of the Home Building Act reads:

48C Notification of building dispute
Any person may notify the Director-General, in such manner as the Director-General may approve, that the person has a dispute with the holder of a contractor licence with respect to residential building work or specialist work done by the contractor or the supply of a kit home by the contractor.

Definitions:
"Director-General" means Lyn Baker, Commissioner for Fair Trading, Department of Commerce; and "the holder of a contractor licence" is your neighbour's licenced builder.

The only problem is that, despite the law, Fair Trading will refuse to help you with any building dispute if you do not have a contract with the builder; as would be the case if it was your neighbour's builder. In short, despite the spirit of the law as I read it in plain English, it appears that the Director-General has not approved any manner for lodging the dispute.

This means,

• No mediation
• No investigation of dispute
• No rectification orders
• No application for determination of a building claim
• No finding of improper conduct against the builder

What is more, if for any reason your neighbour's builder is reluctant to claim for the damage to your home against his or her own insurance, your only remaining option is civil litigation which could easily cost you in excess of $25,000 in legal costs before you even get to court; and assuming you win, there is a chance you will only receive back two thirds of your legal costs.

And, unlike car insurance, despite not being your fault, your home and contents insurance doesn't cover you for any of this.

If you have has suffered loss from damage caused by a neighbour's builder, please leave a brief story preferably with your name and address and if appropriate, I will write to the Government with the hope of a remedy so that other people in the future might not suffer the same. beroccaboy@hotmail.com.

Disclaimer: These are my opinions only. I am not a lawyer. Please conduct your own research and formulate your own opinion. It is my hope that together, we can help build a better NSW.