Are Australia's Cities Outgrowing its Construction Legislation?

Abstract

This article examines the way in which legislative regulation seeks to enhance consumer protection in relation to the procurement of residential construction work. Its focus is upon reforms to the statutory regime for such protection in Victoria which were enacted during 2016–17. These reforms are primarily directed towards reducing the incidence of defective work through the tightening of ‘quality assurance’ provisions, such as ensuring that work is carried out by qualified practitioners, and of ‘safety net’ measures such as conciliation processes to avoid the escalation of disputes. The article analyses these reforms by reference to identified problems relating to defective residential con..