Defective Premises Act (Northern Ireland) 2024: what builders, developers and contractors owe homeowners

If you build or work on homes in Northern Ireland, you owe the people who buy and live in them a legal duty to get the work right. The Defective Premises Act (Northern Ireland) 2024 came into operation on 21 September 2024 and lengthened the time in which a homeowner can claim to 15 years, with a 30-year period for some older claims. It also extended the duty, through a new Article 4A, to work on existing dwellings, not only to building new ones.

Why this matters to your business

• The exposure is long. Claims can be brought up to 15 years after the right of action accrued, and by later owners as well as by the client.
• The duty follows the work, not the building type. New houses, flats in a new block and refurbishment of an existing flat all fall within Article 3 or Article 4A.
• There is no licence or fixed penalty. The duty is enforced by the courts. The protection you have is good records, clear instructions and the right insurance.

How Northern Ireland compares with the rest of the UK

The Explanatory Notes to the 2024 Act say it was prompted by the gap between Northern Ireland, where the limitation period was 6 years, and England and Wales, where the Building Safety Act 2022 had already extended the period to 15 years. England and Wales rely on the Defective Premises Act 1972 as amended by that Act. The Northern Ireland duty sits in a different Order, the Defective Premises (Northern Ireland) Order 1975, and is now administered by the Department for Communities.

The duty and the claim period

Protecting your business

1. Keep the project file for 15 years from completion, including specifications, inspection records, commissioning certificates, supplier documents and any warnings you gave the client.
2. Check contracts with subcontractors and suppliers so that any liability for defective work can be passed back down the chain where the law allows.
3. Talk to your insurer about cover for latent defects and the length of the period for which you are covered.
4. Treat a fix as new work. If you rectify a defect, the claim period for the rectifying work starts when that work is finished.