Defects Rectification Guide

 

As the NSW Government works towards delivering better quality builds for the future; one of our recent collaborative efforts with the UNSW Sydney’s City Futures Research Centre and the University of Technology Sydney have seen the development of industry-first guides and reference material. The creation of the ‘Strata Defects Rectification Guide’ has enabled researchers to gather comprehensive data on the granularity of defects and deliver a consumer-friendly guide (a first of its kind), to help owners and managers navigate the complexity of defects.

The online tool provides vital information on the approach to building defects under the legislation to help property owners navigate the process of identifying, documenting, reporting and rectifying building defects in strata schemes.

It’s an informative guide to support strata property owners worried about whether they have defects in their apartment building, or who need more information on how to rectify defects in their strata scheme.

It will help owners to know what they should be thinking about, who they should be talking to, what sort of risks they should be looking at, as well as how to find out who is responsible for existing building defects. It can be hard for owners to find all the information they need to deal with defects; this guide is a tool that helps buyers and owners navigate that information asymmetry.

We believe the last few months have been an historical step forward for the strata industry in New South Wales; a sharp contrast for the sector which has been notoriously plagued by defects.

With NSW’s reforms and the building commissioner reshaping construction quality, this guide compliments the retrospective effort of the strata industry in educating and assists consumers deal with the practical realities of defects.

Our support and participation have directly led to progressive and unprecedented guides which are now available for all those who live in strata titled property.

The ‘Defects Rectification Guide’ is developed as a first point of call if owners are worried about defects in apartment buildings.

We strongly believe this project will provide critical information to better inform, advise and protect all strata stakeholders in NSW.

The findings are intended to inform changes to planning and development policy and regulation, leading to improved building quality and safety, lower costs and stress for owners, more resilient urban communities, and better urban planning outcomes.

Webinar

SCA (NSW) will be recording a comprehensive Q&A webinar between Matthew Press – Director Office of the Building Commissioner, Laura Crommelin – Research Associate at City Futures Research Centre and myself, Chris Duggan – SCA (NSW) President about the defects guide on Friday 4 December.

The recording will be uploaded to our website and sent to all members.

We invite all members to send through any questions prior to the webinar recording on Friday. Your questions will help drive the Q&A, and we’ll endeavor to answer each and every member query. Please send your question to president.nsw@strata.community  by Thursday 3 December 03.00PM.