With up to 35% of all Home Building and Renovation Permits currently being taken out by Owner Builders there has been a sharp increase in demand for Construction Management services to the Custom Home and Renovation markets.

The relevant Acts of Parliament are

first, the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 which is clear in that a:

         Builder means a person who ..

                                  (a)  carries out domestic building work; or

                                 (b)  manages or arranges the carrying out of domestic building work; or

                                  (c)  intends to carry out, or to manage or arrange the carrying out of, domestic building work;

And, from Part 5

         Building work to which this Act applies

                                  (a)  the erection or construction of a home,…

                                 (b)  the renovation, alteration, extension, improvement or repair of a home;

                                  (c)  any work such as landscaping, paving or the erection or construction of retaining structures, driveways, fencing, garages, workshops, swimming pools or spas that is to be carried out in conjunction with the renovation, alteration, extension, improvement or repair of a home;….

Further, in the Building Act 1993 it clarifies that a ‘Builder’ as defined in the above Act needs to be a Building Practitioner, that is a:

building practitioner means—

                                  (f)  a builder including a domestic builder; or

                                 (h) a person responsible for a building project or any stage of a building project and ..

So, to protect yourself from a potential Custom Home Building nightmare, you need to ensure that your Project or Construction Manager is a Registered Builder and and experience Custom Home or Renovation/Extension Builder so that they can take full responsibility for your Building work.

This means that the responsible individual who is acting as your Custom Home Builder is registered by the Building Commission with a ‘DBU’ number AND that your Management agreement is an approved Agreement under the Domestic Building Contracts Act – click here for a sample.