Are you buying a home in Victoria?

Here is a quick overview of your legal rights for building issues…

The laws to claim against vendors and others are narrow and complex.

Very limited rights apply to:

(1) sue a vendor; or

(2) claim on insurance; for defects in a building or apartment.

(3) You can sue the builder but time limits apply…

The old adage ‘buyer beware’ applies but it isn’t necessarily the legal reason you can’t claim, let me explain:

After purchase, if you discover a building defect you can’t simply sue the vendor.

But what if the vendor misled or blatantly lied?

• Under the Sale of Land Act there is a claim but it is about offence/prosecution and it requires proof of a very high bar.

• A misleading and deceptive conduct claim exists BUT to claim here the sale needs to be ‘in trade or commerce’ and residential sales are often NOT.

What about INSURANCE?

You CANNOT typically claim on normal home property insurance or the strata equivalent under the PDS for the strata suite because they have defect exclusions and are designed to cover storm and other non building defect issues…

BUILDER CLAIMS CAN BE MADE

• If the occupancy permit was issued in the last 10 years you are within time to make a builder warranty claim;

• If the builder is dead, disappeared or insolvent you have time limits of 2 years for non structural and 6 years for structural to claim on DBI insurance.

Warranty claims in APARTMENTS

• You can only sue the builder or claim on DBI if you have ownership in the defect;

• The Plan of Subdivision will define who owns what part of the structure. Many lot owners do not own the structure or may own part of a wall, floor or ceiling, eg. to the median of a party wall - causing difficulties with litigating;

• If the defect is in the common property the OC must sue and a special resolution is needed.

BUILDING INSPECTION

Good idea, but they typically have a limited role to visibly inspect under Australian Standards.

In 2026 the laws to sue a builder will change again mostly around process but here is my advice talk to us BEFORE buying a home we act on conveyancing and can give our leading advice to your situation.

Reach out to Brockhill & Usherwood Lawyers.

This article is a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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• building disputes