Construction Law

The Construction Industry is an important contributor to Australia's GDP (5.5% and above) and employment (about 8%) and in value terms it is worth atleast a $ 40 billion.  It consists of businesses engaged in the construction of residential, commercial, engineering building and structures and support services. Surprisingly at least until 2000 it was highly unregulated and notoriously unfair which prompted the then Government to appoint a Commission in 2001 to inquire into the practices of unlawful and or otherwise inappropriate practices in this industry. The chief finding of the Report was the characterisation of lawlessness in the practices followed by those engaged in the industry. Over 100 types of unlawful practices besides atleast 400 instances of unlawful conduct were reported. The general conclusion was that there were critical weaknesses in the enforcement of the law which needed to be fixed. Thus, a desire and urgency on the part of the then Government had dawned to reform the legal structure to enforce compliance on the whole range of issues governing taxation, industrial and Labour Relations Laws and Acts

The modern construction laws and acts in the form of Australian Building Code (ABC) and Australian Building and Construction Industry Act, 2005 (BCH Act) as amended from time to time under the administrative authority of Australian Building & Construction Commissioner owe its existence to the reforms effected on the precarious practices mentioned above.

About Construction Law:

It is the body of law that deals with matters relating to the construction process. Its scope and applicability include but not restricted to building contracts, bonds, sureties, tendering, construction and builders' liens, claims and all the participants, as financial institutions, architects, builders, engineers and planners respectively

The Building Code of Australia (BCA) was established to achieve nationally minimum standards in construction. It contains the technical provisions for the design and construction of buildings and other structures and covers such issues as structure, fire resistance, access and egress services and equipment, energy efficiency, some aspects of health and safety.

The Australian Building Code Board is the legally empowered body in each of the State to implement the BCA. The legislation 'calls up the BCA for technical requirements that have to be satisfied in order to get the building approvals.

The BCA consists of technical requirements classified according to classes, i.e. 1 to 9 and 10.These classes are again split into two distinct volumes. Volume one for class 2 to 9 cover commercial buildings and volume two for class 1 and 10 which cover the residential buildings.

This distinction is warranted for the reason that the housing provisions are significantly different from those obtaining for commercial buildings. The code is structured to follow the normal construction sequence, i.e. from the commencement to completion.

The types of Construction Law are directly linked to the types of defects that one experience that may need a legal remedy. The types can broadly be classified into (a) Design Defects, (b) Material Defects, (c) Construction Deficiencies and (d) Subsurface Deficiencies. They all broadly come into home construction defects and the types of defects calling for nature of legal remedies under different provisions of Construction laws are furnished in a tabulated form below.

Types of Construction Laws based on the Construction Defects

Source: Atlanta Construction Defect Lawyer :: Types of Construction .../http: www.duncanadamslaw.com › Practice Areas –

The Laws of Construction are mainly applied through the Commercial Arbitration Act,(1984) as amended from time to time, Trade Practices Act, 1974  (Cth) as amended from time to time and the Evidence Act, 1995, as amended from time to time. The legislation that has come under the scrutiny of judiciary relates to the Building and Construction Industry Security Payment (Amendment) Act, 2006.

It may be noted that the enforceable Law is Building & Construction Contracts in Australia and the Commercial Arbitration Act, (1994) is a uniform Act for all the States and Territories of Australia but the enabling provisions can vary from State to State.

Construction Industry being dynamic in nature and important in its role of the building the infrastructure in Australia both in a macro and micro economic setting, there have been ongoing reviews of the practices being followed in the industry. Over a period, it is observed, specific areas of law, as 'negligence', allocation of 'obligations and risks between the Principals and the Contractors are being reviewed by the Governments, the industrial bodies and legal practitioners. As a result, Australian infrastructure and construction industry is emerging into an organised, partnership oriented and legally matured segment of the economy.