Webinar: Contractors’ Liability to Property Buyers – NSW’s Extreme Statutory Fix – is there a place for this in Hong Kong?

Our Chairman, Calvin Cheuk, on behalf of the Society of Construction Law Hong Kong, cordially invites you to our evening webinar to be given by Matthew White SC of Nine Wentworth Chambers, Sydney on Wednesday, 12 May 2021.

The liability of contractors to property buyers and others for ‘pure economic loss’ is a thorny topic that has been revisited again and again in all the major common law jurisdictions. Matthew will briefly restate the current position under the case law in England and Hong Kong; and briefly review the High Court of Australia’s landmark decision in Bryan v Maloney (1995) 182 CLR 609 and its more recent decision in Brookfield Multiplex Ltd v Owners Corporation Strata Plan 61288 [2014] HCA 36, declining to find the contractor liable for latent defects to an owners’ corporation. Sydney has subsequently been beset with a number of apartment building shoddy construction scandals. The NSW Government has responded with an extreme statutory fix in the form of the Design and Building Practitioners Act (2020). Matthew will examine this legislation and whether it might serve as a model for other jurisdictions including Hong Kong.


Matthew White SC. Matthew was called to the Bar in 1999 and appointed Senior Counsel in NSW in 2013. He was admitted as a solicitor in NSW in 1987. After obtaining a BCL at Oxford University in 1989, he practised as a solicitor for over 9 years with Minter Ellison, Phillips Fox and Rowe & Maw in London, mainly in insurance and professional indemnity matters. His professional indemnity practice includes defending and prosecuting claims against architects, engineers, valuers and real estate agents.
Matthew is admitted as a foreign lawyer with the Singapore International Commercial Court and is a Member of the CIArb. He is currently resident in Hong Kong.

When
May 12th, 2021 6:30 PM
Location
Online by Zoom
Hong Kong
Event Fee(s)
Member (incl. Basic Member) HK$0.00
Non-members HK$200.00
Event attachments