Building defects: Tasmania
In Tasmania it is 6 months to fix listed minor defects, and 12 months to claim incomplete work. Why the insurance does not help while the builder is still trading is on the main page.
Tasmania's periods are short and procedural, and they are set out in the Act rather than in guidance — which is the version to work from.
The defects document is the document
Where the parties agree minor defects exist, the contractor gives the owner a defects document (section 44(2)), and must then correct what is on it as soon as practicable and in any case within six months (section 44(3)).
That makes the defects document the single most valuable piece of paper at handover. A defect written on it has a statutory correction period attached. A defect noticed but never listed has no such thing. The time to be thorough and slightly pedantic is the day you walk through with the builder, not three months later when something has started to annoy you.
Twelve months, then twenty business days
A work-completion claim must not be served more than 12 months after the last day any residential building work was performed, unless your contract allows longer (section 61). If the contractor then fails to complete satisfactorily within the period stated in the claim, an adjudication application follows — and section 62(3) gives only 20 business days after that period expires.
Twenty business days is four working weeks, at the end of a process that has already run a year. It is the step most likely to be missed while waiting to see whether the builder will come good, so diarise it the day the claim is served rather than the day it expires.
Tasmania: the periods
- Minor defects listed at handover
- Section 44(3) — corrected as soon as practicable, and in any case within 6 months of the defects document
- Work-completion claim
- Section 61 — must not be served more than 12 months after the last day any residential building work was performed, unless the contract allows longer
- Applying for adjudication
- Section 62(3) — within 20 business days after the period specified in the claim expires
- Before adjudication
- A work-completion claim must have been served and the contractor must not have satisfactorily completed the work within the stated period
- The Act applies to
- Residential building work with a contract price of $20,000 or more
Read from Residential Building Work Contracts and Dispute Resolution Act 2016 (Tas), sections 44, 61 and 62 on 13 October 2026. We publish the date we read it so you can judge how current it is. Consumer Affairs Tasmania is the authority on what applies to your contract, and a period close to expiry is a reason to get advice rather than to keep reading.
Questions about Tasmania defects
How long does a Tasmanian builder have to fix minor defects?
Section 44(3) requires correction as soon as practicable and in any case within six months of the defects document being given to the owner.
Why does the defects document matter so much?
Because a defect written on it carries a statutory correction period and a defect that is noticed but never listed does not. The day to be thorough is the handover walk-through.
How long do I have to make a work-completion claim?
Section 61 says it must not be served more than 12 months after the last day any residential building work was performed, unless your contract allows longer.
And then?
If the contractor does not complete satisfactorily within the period stated in the claim, section 62(3) gives 20 business days after that period expires to apply for adjudication. Diarise it the day the claim is served.