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362R: Definitions for purposes of section 362Q
or “This part explains who is involved when fixing building problems within the first year after a building is finished.”
You could also call this:

“Builders are not responsible for problems they didn't cause after finishing the work”

You aren’t responsible for problems with a building if they’re caused by things that happen after the building work is done, and that aren’t your fault. This includes:

  • Things that no one can control, like natural disasters.
  • Damage caused by other people who aren’t working for you.
  • If the owner doesn’t look after the building properly.
  • If the owner doesn’t fix problems quickly when they notice them.

If someone says you’re responsible for a problem, it’s up to you to prove that one of these things caused it.

This rule also applies to people who sell buildings, not just those who build them.

When we talk about ‘you’ in this law, we mean the person who built the building or the person who sold it. The law calls you a ‘building contractor’ or an ‘on-seller’.

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Next up: 362T: Building contractor must provide prescribed information and documentation on completion of residential building work

or “When builders finish house work, they must give important papers to the homeowner and sometimes the local council.”
Next

Part 4A Consumer rights and remedies in relation to residential building work
Exclusion of liability for event not attributable to fault of building contractor or on-seller

362SExclusion of liability for event not attributable to fault of building contractor or on-seller

  1. A building contractor is not liable under sections 362H to 362R for any defect in a building or breach of warranty to the extent that the defect or breach is caused by any of the following that occurs during or after completion of the building work in question:

  2. a cause independent of human control:
    1. any act or omission, including accidental damage, by a person who is none of the following:
      1. the building contractor:
        1. a subcontractor to the building contractor:
          1. a person for whom the building contractor is responsible in law:
          2. failure to carry out normal maintenance:
            1. failure to carry out, or cause to be carried out, repairs as soon as practicable after the defect becomes apparent.

              1. In any proceeding against a building contractor to enforce a warranty or remedy contained in sections 362H to 362Q, the onus is on the building contractor to prove that the cause of the defect or breach was 1 or more of the causes set out in subsection (1).

              2. In this section, building contractor includes, with all necessary modifications, an on-seller as defined in section 362H(3).

              Notes
              • Section 362S: inserted, on , by section 56 of the Building Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 100).