About Us

Turnbull Bowles Lawyers is a specialist Sydney CBD legal practice providing practical and comprehensive legal services to the

Strata Industry and Building and Construction Sectors.

We are committed to providing our clients with excellence in legal services. Since our inception, we have established a proven

track record of successfully representing a wide range of Owners Corporations, Strata Managing Agents, Community Associations,

Builders, Developers, Sub-Contractors, and Individual Lot and Property Owners.

We are a division of Forbes Dowling Lawyers, a national legal practice that specialises in Commercial Litigation, Insolvency, Debt

Recovery and General Legal Services. Forbes Dowling Lawyers have branches in Sydney, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Melbourne

and Adelaide and affiliates throughout Australasia.

Building & Construction News

Amendments to the NSW Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999

Effective 21 April 2014, far reaching changes to the NSW Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (“the

Act”) came into force which have a direct effect on Builders, Tradesmen and their Clients.

Subject to certain exceptions relating to residential building work undertaken on a property for an Owner who resides or intends to

reside at the property, every party to a construction contract must be made aware of the following matters:

1. A progress payment to a Builder from an Owner becomes due and payable 15 business days after the payment claim is made or

on an earlier date as provided by the contract. Similarly, a progress payment to a Subcontractor from a Builder becomes due and

payable 30 business days after the payment claim is made or on an earlier date as provided by the contract.

2. Builders must not serve a payment claim on a principal unless the claim is accompanied by a “supporting statement”. The

supporting statement is a document in the form set out in the regulation to the Act which includes a declaration that the

subcontractors have been paid all amounts due and payable in relation to the construction work carried out.

3. The Act imposes a penalty of up to $22,000.00 and/or three months imprisonment if a Builder knowingly provides a false or

misleading supporting statement.

4. The payment claim is no longer required to contain an endorsement or otherwise state that “it is made under the Act”. Parties to

a construction contract should treat any request for payment made after 21 April 2014 as a “payment claim” and issue a payment

schedule within 10 days, or less as stated in the contract, if the amount is disputed.

For further information contact:

Pierrette Khoury, Senior Lawyer 02 8272 1999

pierrette@turnbullbowles.com.au

www.turnbullbowles.com.au

Our Lawyers can assist clients with the following:

Construction Contracts • Negotiating and drafting commercial and residential construction, project management, subcontracts, engineering and other construction related agreements; • Advice and Appeals pursuant to the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999; • Dispute resolution for issues arising during the course of construction projects

Construction Disputes •Advising and acting for Owners Corporations, home owners, builders, developers and other parties regarding building defects claims • Advising on proportionate liability issues; • Claims in negligence or for breach of contract against building professionals including Engineers, Architects, Principal Certifying Authorities and Construction and Design Contractors in residential building matters; • Recommending, managing and instructing experts to assess and report on building defects

.

We offer fixed fees for many services including drafting and registration of standard By-Laws with a 48 hour turnaround. Our

Lawyers can assist clients with the following:

• Advice and representation in strata disputes and processes; • Drafting and registration of By-Laws; • Notices to Comply and Penalty Applications regarding breaches of By-Laws; • Advice and assistance regarding the interpretation, application and amendment of Strata Management Statements and Community Management Statements; • Attendance at Annual General Meetings, Extraordinary General Meetings and Executive Committee Meetings to provide advice, guidance and assistance; • Strata Subdivisions; • Easements; • Recovery action for unpaid strata levies; • General advice on Strata & Community Title issues and Company Title issues; • Conversion from Company Title to Strata Title; • Building litigation;

• Home Owner Warranty Insurance claims

Turnbull Bowles Lawyers is a division of Forbes Dowling Lawyers Pty Ltd and a subsidiary of a major Australian Collections Firm, Australia Receivables Limited. Our clients enjoy the benefits of the much larger parent company’s operating platform which includes sound governance, robust operating systems, high levels of compliance, documented risk management procedures, and superior security and quality management systems.

All these features combined provide clients with greater peace of mind and more compelling results. The group provides a highly personalised, client specific and responsive service from talented, caring and successful practitioners working with state of the art business systems and specialist knowledge in the areas of: • Commercial Litigation; • Business, Corporate & Commercial Law; • Property & Conveyancing; • Debt Recovery (with experts in the area of Strata and Local Government Rates Recovery); • Insolvency and Corporate Restructuring; • Building & Construction Law. With branches and affiliates throughout Australasia, Turnbull Bowles Lawyers provides clients with a commercial and pragmatic solution to any legal issue.

Strata & Community Title Law Services

General Services

For further information regarding our services contact: Rebecca Siniska, Business Development Executive, 02 8272 1999 Rsiniska@forbesdowling.com.au

www.turnbullbowles.com.au

Building & Construction Services