Residential Construction Law

"This much-needed and excellent book fills a real gap in the residential construction field" – Her Honour Frances Kirkham CBE, Atkin Chambers

This acclaimed book is the first of its kind to offer a systematic and analytical overview of the legal framework for residential construction.

The updated edition addresses two fundamental questions: what assurances can the law give buyers (and later owners and occupiers, including renters) of homes that construction work – from building a complete home to adding an extension or replacing a shower unit – will comply with applicable standards of design, safety and build quality? And what forms of redress – from whom, and by what route – can residents expect, when, often long after completion of construction, they discover defects? The resulting problems pose big and difficult questions of principle and policy about standards, rights and remedies, which in turn concern justice more generally.

The book addresses these central issues in a comparative context across the four nations of the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The pioneering ideas advanced in the 1st edition are supplemented by key new topics, such as the Building Safety Act 2022, building control and long leasehold reforms (England & Wales); the Phase 2 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry; further housing quality changes in the UK via Consumer Codes and a new ombudsman; and significant reforms in Australia.

This is an accessible and critical guide to the existing law for residents and construction professionals (and their legal advisers), with tables, figures and case studies, as well as a glossary. It also charts a course to further, meaningful reforms of the legal landscape for residential construction around the world.