Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 - SECT 13

Restrictions on cost plus contracts

13. Restrictions on cost plus contracts



(1) A builder must not enter into a cost plus contract unless-

   (a)  the contract is of a class allowed by the regulations for the purposes
        of this section; or

   (b)  the work to be carried out under the contract involves the renovation,
        restoration or refurbishment of an existing building and it is not
        possible to calculate the cost of a substantial part of the work
        without carrying out some domestic building work.

Penalty: 100 penalty units.

(2) A builder must not enter into a cost plus contract that does not contain a
fair and reasonable estimate by the builder of the total amount of money the
builder is likely to receive under the contract.

Penalty: 100 penalty units.

(3) If a builder fails to comply with this section-

   (a)  the builder cannot enforce the contract against the building owner;
        but

   (b)  the Tribunal may award the builder the cost of carrying out the work
        plus a reasonable profit if the Tribunal considers that it would not
        be unfair to the building owner to do so.