Timing is everything
At what point is a property defined as built? Who can and who cannot use the 10-year limitation period as a defence? The courts have continued to refine the answers to these questions in several recent cases.
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At what point is a property defined as built? Who can and who cannot use the 10-year limitation period as a defence? The courts have continued to refine the answers to these questions in several recent cases.
New Zealand Courts will be tied up for years with litigation around leaky buildings. Often the issue involves considering just who bears liability.
Over the last 9 years, the leaky building crisis has filled numerous press columns. We consider the government’s rescue package along with some recent developments in case law.
The Court of Appeal has reinforced the importance of buyers taking prudent steps before buying a property. In this case, it found the buyers took a gamble buying a suspected leaky house without a building report.
Under the Building Act, claimants have 10 years to bring legal proceedings against third parties for an act or omission related to building work – the so-called limitation defence. But weathertight home proceedings may be different – they stop the clock for all parties.
A recent Weathertight Homes Tribunal case found that a homeowner who learns that a property has defects before completing a purchase is unlikely to be able to complain about those defects at a later date.