The Residential Apartment Buildings Act 2020 has significantly reshaped the regulatory landscape for residential construction, equipping the NSW Building Commissioner with broad powers to investigate defects, halt works and enforce compliance. These powers operate alongside the Home Building Act 1989 and the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, creating an increasingly complex framework governing building quality, defect rectification and stakeholder rights. This session will examine the interaction between these key legislative regimes, the role of the NSW Building Commissioner, and the practical implications.
Thursday, 27 August 2026
Chair:
Stephen Ipp, Barrister, Greenway Chambers
Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD unit in Substantive Law
This program is based on NSW legislation
2.00pm to 3.00pm The Building Commissioner and Regulation of Building Defects
- Understand the scope and operation of the RAB Act 2020 (NSW) and its impact on residential construction projects
- Examine the role and expanding powers of the NSW Building Commissioner in regulating building quality and compliance
- Identify what constitutes a "serious defect" and how it triggers regulatory intervention under the RAB Act and Home Building Act 1989
- Explore the relationship between the RAB Act, statutory warranties under the Home Building Act 1989 and defect rectification regimes
- Consider the rights and obligations of owners’ corporations under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 when identifying, reporting and pursuing building defects
Presented by Garth Campbell, Barrister, Tenth Floor St James Hall Chambers
Presenters
Garth Campbell, Barrister, Tenth Floor St James Hall Chambers
Garth Campbell is a Sydney-based barrister specialising in building and construction law, general commercial law, equity, software litigation and defamation. Garth was called to the Bar in 2017. He has over 20 years’ experience as a lawyer and is also qualified in science, with a focus on mathematics, computer science and electrical engineering. For 13 years before coming to the bar, Garth worked as a commercial litigation solicitor, working in both private practice and as an in-house solicitor for a multinational construction company. He has advised and acted for a number of major corporate entities, international banks and private clients. He has also acted in a range of general commercial matters in all jurisdictions in NSW, and in the Federal and High Courts of Australia.
Stephen Ipp, Barrister, Greenway Chambers
Stephen Ipp is a barrister specialising in arbitration, building and construction, commercial, corporations and insolvency law. He acts in a wide range of disputes involving shareholders, commercial fraud, real property transactions, complex recoveries for financiers and liquidators, engineering and infrastructure disputes, general building and strata defect claims. Stephen advises on trial strategy at all stages of the litigation process and works closely with instructing solicitors. He has more than 25 years of experience working with experts across a wide range of professional disciplines. Stephen is recognised in The Best Lawyers in Australia 2021 to 2024 for his expertise in Insolvency and Reorganization Law, for Insurance Law in 2023 and 2024 for Banking and Finance in 2024. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) (FCIArb).
