The Owners-Strata Plan 89023 v At Building Pty Limited and Mowbray Road Pty Limited as trustee for Mowbray Unit Trust; Jayanthi and Shikaram v At Building Pty Limited and Mowbray Road Pty Limited as trustee for..

The Owners-Strata Plan 89023, along with Jayanthi and Shikaram, brought claims against AT Building Pty Limited and Mowbray Road Pty Limited as trustee for Mowbray Unit Trust. The dispute involved issues related to residential building work, fire safety defects, and breaches of statutory warranties under the Home Building Act 1989. The case was heard by the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South Wales.

The central legal issues included whether certain individual components of a fire safety system constituted major defects under the Home Building Act, whether the completion of residential building work could be considered final when an interim occupation certificate was issued, the limitation period for bringing claims for breaches of statutory warranties, and the preferred outcome in resolving the dispute. The court also had to determine if the statutory warranties had been breached and, if so, what the appropriate remedy would be.

The tribunal found that the individual components of the fire safety system did not constitute major defects as they were not individually critical to the overall fire safety system. The tribunal held that the issuance of an interim occupation certificate did not signify the completion of residential building work. Regarding the limitation period, the tribunal found that the statutory warranties were breached, and the limitation period had not expired. The tribunal ordered the builders to carry out specific rectification works and provided a framework for the submission and determination of costs in the proceedings.

In summary, the tribunal mandated the builders to rectify certain defects, established a process for the submission of cost applications, and dismissed the builders' application for costs against the lot owners. The tribunal also provided that if no cost application was made by the specified deadlines, no order for costs would be made.