We consider the wide range of projects which impact on residential accommodation, from simple replacement of a shower unit up to the building, maintaining and repairing of a tower block, looking at the legal and regulatory structures which affect the relationships between those who do the work and those who are its ultimate consumers. This brings in external State-based ‘building codes’ and their implementers, contractual relationships (special regimes attempting to redress imbalance between traders and consumers and restricting the contents of residential construction contracts), the impact of insurance, after-the-event liability issues for defects and all the thorny questions about forms of redress, their accessibility and effectiveness.
To achieve all this, including the many recent reforms, for an audience of both legally qualified readers and construction professionals – even also lay people – we use a set of simple scenarios recurring throughout the book; we include diagrams to illustrate parties’ relationships and a set of real-life case studies with learning points; we also frequently insert text tables to summarise key ideas. At the end of the book is a glossary of technical terms; a QR code on the back cover links to a regularly updated book-specific website, analysing more recent events and changes.