ABSTRACT
Contracts with natural persons for the performance of building work on their actual or intended residential property are, in many ways, no different to building contracts involving commercial parties and commercial purposes. Both types of contract require that there be a sufficiency of agreement on terms, including importantly the scope of works, both types of contract will contain express or implied terms as to the adequacy and timing of work to be performed by the contractor, and the price to be paid for it. In Australia, home building contracts are singled out for special treatment, statutes apply across all State and Territory jurisdictions to regulate the rights and obligations of owner, builder in a residential context under such contracts. The housing industry itself has attempted to make building contracts more 'consumer friendly' by producing contracts drafted in 'plain English'. There are no equivalent statutory provisions in England; however, home building arrangements are subject to a certain amount of statutory interposition.
