Lovegrove Smith & Cotton
Construction Law & Planning Law Weekly Bulletin
Monday 30 June 2014
Rectification Orders Part 3: A Game-changer or More of the Same? (Victorian Readership) By Peter Micevski, Solicitor, Lovegrove Smith & Cotton
Later this year, it is intended that the Building Act 1993 will incorporate a range of reforms, which may have the effect to totally change the game in the domestic building industry. Following on from Rectification Orders: A game-changer or much the same? Part 1 and Rectification Orders: A game-changer or more of the same? Part 2, this article by Peter Micevski discusses our views on how the introduction of a new feature to Victorian domestic building, Rectification Orders, will impact the domestic building space. The key question to consider is whether it would be a ‘game-changer’ or more of the same.
Temporary Work (skilled) (subclass 457) Visa Application Requirements (International Readership) By Blaise Alexander, Solicitor and Registered Migration Agent and Immigration Lawyer, Lovegrove Smith & Cotton
The Temporary Work (skilled) (subclass 457) visa application process involves a sponsorship, nomination and visa application stage. The sponsor stage requires the employer to satisfy certain requirements, the nomination stage involves the employer nominating a position within the business, and the visa application stage requires the potential employee to demonstrate the required skills and/or experience for the position.
This article by Blaise Alexander provides the basics on visa application for the subclass 457, including challenges and pitfalls to avoid, and hopefully to assist in understanding the process.
Breaching Copyright in Building Plans and Designs: Beware the Fallout (Australian Readership)By Justin Cotton, Partner, Construction and Practitioner Advocacy, Lovegrove Smith & Cotton, construction and commercial lawyers
If you have done the design work, the last thing you want is to discover that a customer who did not use your building services is now building the same or a similar home elsewhere with someone else. This week Justin Cotton, Partner in Construction and Practitioner Advocacy, looks at the vexed matter of what to do about misuse by others of your building plans and designs.
Don’t get stung! Understanding Building Offences and Penalties in Victoria (Victorian Readership) By Peter Micevski, Solicitor, Lovegrove Smith & Cotton
The Building Act 1993 (“the Act”) sets the maximum penalties that apply to persons found guilty of building and plumbing offences in Victoria. In 2010, the Building Amendment Act 2010 dramatically increased the maximum penalties for certain building and plumbing offences. Some of these are listed in this article by Peter Micevski.
The inundation of American pop culture on T.V. has given rise to an erroneous belief that when faced with any investigating body one has the right to not answer a question if it may incriminate one’s self.
“I want you all to stonewall it, let them plead the Fifth Amendment, cover-up or anything else, if it’ll save it – save the plan.” (President Nixon, 1970)
However you don’t have the same rights when facing an authorized officer investigating a complaint under the Building Professionals Act 2005 (NSW). To find out why read this article by Jarrod Gutsa
The Lovegrove Smith & Cotton’s E-Library is a free online resource of articles, which puts a wealth of information at your fingertips. The articles in the E- Library have been written by lawyers and a number of them have been published in the Australian, The Age and the Herald Sun. Some of the articles date back to the 1990’s.
