Six years and two years, and why the short one matters most
The clock on a NSW build runs from completion, not from when you notice.
Fully licensed & accredited
-
NSW Fair Trading -
Australian Society of Building Consultants -
Strata Community Association -
Building Dispute Practitioners Society
In short: Statutory warranties do not last forever, and the two year window closes quietly.
The two periods
Six years for major defects and two years for everything else, from completion, under the Home Building Act 1989.
What counts as major
Broadly, a defect in a major element making the home uninhabitable or unusable for its purpose, or threatening collapse.
Why the category gets argued
Because it decides which clock applies. No builder is neutral about whether something gets called minor.
What to do about it
Get a written list before the two year mark. An item raised in writing inside the period is a very different conversation to one raised after.
Where a report helps
By naming the element and the requirement, so the category is argued on the facts rather than on adjectives.
Written by our local inspection team from work carried out in Austral. Licensed building practitioners.
