27 August 2021
Conveyancing – Owner-builder disclosure
Our client has an owner–builder permit. They have completed substantial renovations to a property which they are now selling. Do we only need to insert the consumer warning notice as per the Home Building Act 1989 together with the final occupation certificate in the contract?
If the final occupation certificate is yet to be issued, can we include a special condition that makes the contract conditional upon the purchaser receiving the final occupation certificate at settlement?
Thank you for the question.
Only the consumer warning is required. The following is an extract from the By Lawyers Sale of Real Property (NSW) commentary:
…the vendor must include a consumer warning in the contract containing the information set out in s 95(2) where an owner-builder permit has been issued within seven years and six months of the sale. This applies where the reasonable market cost of the labour and materials involved is $20,000 or more.
If the building does not have an occupation certificate then completion can be made conditional upon it being issued.
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