Professor Kim Lovegrove

BA, LL B. Dip T

Partner Lovegrove Solicitors Australia and New Zealand & Conjoint Professor Building Regulation and Certification University of Newcastle, New South Wales

• Foremost authority in Victoria and NSW on building regulations
• Principal legal adviser to the Victorian Government on the development and implementation of the Building Act Victoria 1993
• Headed up the team that developed the National Model Building Act. The NMBA become the regulatory reform template for overhauling building regulation in Vic (Building Act), NT (Building Act) NSW (Part 4 of the EPAA). The NMBA also shaped the liability and private certification reforms in building regulation in Tasmania and SA.
• Principal legal adviser to the NSW government on the Part 4 reforms to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (late nineties)
• Immediate past Chairman of the Building Practitioners Board (Victoria)
• A past legal chair appointed by the Municipal Association of Victoria to preside over disciplinary matters concerning councillors and elected officials
• Practices in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Auckland, and provides advice to practitioner clients in Queensland
• Past legal columnist for The Australian, Herald Sun and The Age
• Past President of the Australian Institute of Building (Victorian Chapter)
• Authored or co-authored some 15 books on construction law
• Addressed conferences on construction law in London, Ottawa, Japan, Sweden, Paris
• In 1997, represented the Federal Government as a guest of the Japanese Government to advise a ministerial forum on overhaul of Japanese building regulations
• Past Deputy Executive Director of the Australian Building Codes Board
• Past Assistant Director of the Division of Building Control Victoria
• Member of New Zealand Institute of Building and Australian Institute of Building New South Wales chapter

AREAS OF PRACTICE

Construction Dispute Resolution

Substantial experience in large scale construction disputes embracing civil and commercial arenas. One such project related to resolution of a number of adjudication claims on the Commonwealth Games Village.

Building Regulation

Expert on building regulation, having been engaged by the Victorian and New South Wales Governments to develop building laws in those jurisdictions. Also appeared in the planning list in the VCAT and has had conduct of cases in the Land & Environment Court NSW. In 2013 was invited by Japanese advisory government and law reform team to participate in building regulations reforms think tank in Tokyo.

Contract Advice and Drafting

Advice to builders on variations, latent conditions, extensions of time, progress payments and the Security of Payment legislation, together with contract advice and drafting for builders and building surveyors.

Local Government

Probity and compliance, capital works contracting, prosecution and enforcement in and building and planning matters, property law and facilities/asset management legal advice, legal advice governing asset and facilities management for the public and private sector.

Insurer/Defendant Claims

Over 10 years experience in insurer and practitioner defendant matters.

Residential Disputes

• Resolution of building disputes
• VCAT advocacy
• Resolution of apartment and unit development disputes
• Domestic building contract advice and dispute resolution

Offshore/International Instructions

Professor Lovegrove takes instructions in:

• Cross-jurisdictional disputes
• Representing offshore interests in Australia and NZ
• Trans-Tasman advice and disputes
• Mining and resources disputes
• Commercial and corporate debt recovery for offshore concerns

STRENGTHS

Over 20 years experience, a leading building regulations lawyer in the country, a phenomenal amount of experience at the high end, be it law reform, high dollar value litigious or high level advice.

Email: kim@lovegrovesolicitors.com.au

The Lovegrove Solicitors E - Library

The E - Library has a wealth of articles written by Conjoint Professor Kim Lovegrove. To access these articles as well as many other click E - Library.