The Building Amendment Bill proposes a significant change to the way liability for defective building work is allocated in New Zealand.  At the centre of the reforms is a move away from joint and several liability towards proportionate liability for building defect claims.

Birchfield v Birchfield [2026] NZCA 477 is an interesting decision commenting on the limits of costs arising from Judicial Settlement Conferences.

The High Court ordered $22,848.67 in wasted costs against a party following an unsuccessful JSC.  Essentially, the Judge considered that the party had failed to engage meaningfully in the process by refusing to shift from his pre-JSC position.

A few months ago, the London Engineering Group (LEG) announced that it will be publishing revised LEG clauses later this year to provide greater clarity for the construction insurance market.  The announcement follows the 2023 U.S. Federal Court decision in South Capitol Bridgebuilders v Lexington Insurance in which LEG 3 was described as “ambiguous—egregiously so” and “internally inconsistent and bordering incomprehensible”.  This does not surprise us.  We have encountered similar concerns with LEG 3 in the context of large construction projects in New Zealand. Despite these longstanding issues, the clause remains widely used, making the proposed revisions a welcome development.

We turned up the volume for this year’s Client Function with a night of glam rock! A fantastic night spent with clients and friends of the firm. Thanks to everyone who joined us and helped make it such a great evening.

The Star Entertainment Sydney Properties Pty Ltd v Buildcorp Group Pty Ltd [2026] NSWSC 27

The boundary between defective work and “property damage” is regularly a disputed issue in a construction insurance context.  Under a liability policy, the builder’s liability for damage will ordinarily trigger the policy’s insuring clause.  However, the policy will usually exclude cover for the builder’s defective work, or perhaps only provide cover to a limited extent.

The District Court has imposed fines totalling $1.104 million on Brand Developers Limited (BDL), trading as TV Shop, following convictions on 13 charges under the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA). The decision is a significant recent penalty judgment and provides useful guidance on how the courts assess culpability for misleading conduct affecting consumers.

In Candida Trustee Co Ltd v Teak Construction Group Ltd (in liq) [2026] NZHC 1352, the High Court considered whether a claimant creditor could compel liquidators to disclose a company’s professional indemnity insurance information prior to the claim being resolved.