Australia: NSW Parliament Introduces a Statutory Duty of Care for Residential Building Work

In Brookfield Multiplex Ltd v Owners Corporation Strata Plan 61288 (2014) 313 ALR 408, the High Court found that a builder did not owe a common law duty of care to the developer of residential apartment buildings or its successors in title (including an owners corporation) for economic loss caused by defective work.  The High Court held that these parties do not have the requisite element of “vulnerability” to establish a duty of care, reasoning that contractual protections are available to a developer in its contract with the builder and also subsequent purchasers through their contracts with the developer.  The New South Wales Parliament has taken steps to reverse this position following recent high-profile reports of defective building work in high-rise apartment buildings    Read the article………………………..