What does the defects liability period actually oblige me to do?
During the defects liability period - typically 12 months from practical completion - you must return and rectify defects in your work when directed. It is not an extension of the job and not an unlimited warranty: it is a defined window, and its end is usually the trigger for the release of your final retention, which is why its drafting matters as much as its length.
The three traps in DLP drafting
First: whose practical completion starts the clock. A DLP running from head-contract PC can start months after your trade finished - stretching a '12-month' period toward two years of exposure and retention-holding.
Second: restarting periods. Some clauses restart the DLP for rectified work - fix a defect in month eleven and that element carries a fresh twelve months, with drafting sometimes ambiguous about whether the retention rides along with it. A restart limited to the rectified work is defensible; one that extends the whole contract's DLP is not the market position.
Third: defects versus maintenance. The DLP covers defects - work not in accordance with the contract. Clauses that quietly extend it to 'maintenance' convert a rectification obligation into free servicing of things that were never defective. Wear, damage by others, and design problems you didn't create are not your defects.
The DLP is a money clause
The second half of retention typically releases at the end of the DLP - so every month added to it, every restart, and every discretionary release certificate is your money held longer. Negotiate the DLP with the retention clause in the same breath: a defined period, from YOUR practical completion, with automatic release at its end.
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Scan my subcontract freeCommon questions
Do I have to attend to defects the builder caused?
No - the DLP obliges you to rectify YOUR non-conforming work. Damage by other trades, misuse, or design issues aren't your defects, though you may be directed as if they were. Attend, document what you find, and if it isn't your defect, say so in writing before doing the work - or price it as a variation.
Is my liability over when the DLP ends?
The contractual rectification-on-demand obligation ends, and retention should release - but statutory obligations (like consumer guarantees where they apply, and liability for latent defects under limitation periods) run on their own clocks. The DLP ends the builder's easy remedy, not every possible claim.
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General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice — statutory deadlines and details vary by state and change over time; verify them before relying on them. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.