Deed of settlement and release, Harrowgate Building Co and the Vaughans

Settlement agreement template with a payment, a release and no admission

A settlement is only worth signing if the money and the release are tied together in the right order. This four page deed settles a home building defect claim for $9,500, makes the release conditional on the payment landing, and says in one clause what happens if it does not: sue on the deed, or go back to the tribunal as if the deed had never been made.

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Deed of settlement and release · Harrowgate Building Co and I. and P. Vaughan · HB 27/11482Page 1 of 4
Deed of settlement and release · Harrowgate Building Co and I. and P. Vaughan · HB 27/11482Page 2 of 4
Deed of settlement and release · Harrowgate Building Co and I. and P. Vaughan · HB 27/11482Page 3 of 4
Deed of settlement and release · Harrowgate Building Co and I. and P. Vaughan · HB 27/11482Page 4 of 4
Deed of settlement and release

Made on 24 June 2027 between Harrowgate Building Co Pty Ltd, ABN 88 143 902 771, builder licence 254118C, of 3 Farrier Lane, Ingleburn NSW 2565, called the Builder, and Ines Vaughan and Peter Vaughan, both of 21 Pelham Street, Bardwell Park NSW 2207, called the Owners.

$9,500
Settlement sum
14 days
Paid within
HB 27/11482
Tribunal file
None
Admission
1. Background
1.1
The contract and the work
On 14 March 2025 the Owners engaged the Builder under a residential building contract to build a rear extension and an ensuite at 21 Pelham Street for $214,000. The work reached completion on 9 January 2026.
1.2
The dispute
The Owners say three items are defective: the ensuite waterproofing, cracked render to the northern wall, and the fall on the alfresco slab. The Builder says the render cracking is shrinkage and that the slab is within tolerance. Nothing in this deed decides who is right.
1.3
The proceedings
On 2 February 2027 the Owners applied to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal in file HB 27/11482, seeking a work order and $18,400. The matter was listed for hearing on 8 July 2027. The parties have agreed to settle it on the terms below.
2. The settlement sum
2.1
What is paid
The Builder pays the Owners $9,500 within 14 days of the date of this deed, in cleared funds, to the account the Owners nominate in writing. The payment is in full and final settlement of everything described in clause 1.2.
2.2
The release depends on the payment
The release in clause 3 has no effect until the settlement sum is paid in full. If it is not paid by the due date the Owners may either sue on this deed for the sum as a debt, or treat the deed as at an end and continue the proceedings as if it had never been made.
2.3
Each party bears its own costs
Neither party pays the other’s legal costs, expert fees or filing fees, whatever was spent before today. The Owners do not seek the $780 filing fee and the Builder does not seek its expert’s report cost.
3. Release
3.1
Mutual release
On payment, each party releases the other, and the other’s directors, employees and agents, from every claim arising out of the three items in clause 1.2, whether known or unknown at today’s date, and whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise.
3.2
What the release does not cover
It covers only the three items in clause 1.2. It does not release a claim about any other part of the work, a personal injury claim, or an obligation created by this deed itself, all of which continue as if this deed had not been made.
The statutory warranties are not signed away
The Home Building Act 1989 implies warranties into this contract, six years for a major defect and two years otherwise, running from completion on 9 January 2026, and the Act does not allow them to be excluded or restricted by agreement. This deed settles the three items in clause 1.2 only and does not touch a warranty the Act protects.
4. No admission, and no going back
4.1
No admission of liability
This deed is a commercial settlement. Neither party admits any fault, defect, breach or liability, and neither may say in any forum that the other did. The Builder’s agreement to pay is not evidence that the work was defective.
4.2
The proceedings end
Within five business days of the payment the Owners file a notice withdrawing application HB 27/11482 and send the Builder a copy on the day it is filed. Neither party asks the Tribunal for costs.
4.3
This deed is a bar
Either party may plead this deed as a complete bar to any proceeding the other starts about the three items in clause 1.2, in any court or tribunal, and may tender it for that purpose despite clause 5.
5. Confidentiality and what may be said
5.1
The terms stay private
Neither party discloses the settlement sum or the terms of this deed, except to a lawyer, accountant, insurer or financier, to a member of their immediate family, where the law requires it, or to enforce this deed.
5.2
Reviews and online comment
Neither party publishes anything about the other in relation to this dispute, including a review, a social media post or a comment to a trade body. The Owners may state that the work was done and that a dispute was resolved, and nothing more.
5.3
Regulators are not caught by this
Nothing in clause 5 stops either party answering a question from NSW Fair Trading, the Tribunal, an insurer or a court, or reporting a genuine safety concern.
6. General
6.1
Whole agreement, and advice taken
This deed is the whole agreement about the dispute and replaces everything said or written before it, including the offers exchanged on 3 and 17 June 2027. Each party confirms it has had the chance to take legal advice and is not relying on anything the other said.
6.2
Law, counterparts and signing
This deed is governed by the law of New South Wales. It may be signed in counterparts and by electronic signature, and the counterparts together make one deed. It binds each party’s successors and assigns.

Executed as a deed on the date first written above. Each person signing has read clauses 3 and 4 and understands that the release is final once the settlement sum is paid.

For Harrowgate Building Co Pty Ltd
Name
:
Position
:
Date
:
Ines Vaughan and Peter Vaughan, Owners
Name
:
Date
:

Section by section

What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.

Parties
The builder with its licence number, the two owners, and a stats strip with the sum, window and file.
1. Background
The 2025 contract and the $214,000 works, the three disputed items, and the tribunal application.
2. The settlement sum
$9,500 in 14 days, the release conditional on payment, and each side bearing its own costs.
3. Release
A mutual release of the three items, what it does not cover, and the statutory warranty callout.
4. No admission, and no going back
No admission of liability, withdrawal of the tribunal file, and the deed as a complete bar.
5. Confidentiality and what may be said
The terms stay private, nothing published about the dispute, and regulators are not caught.
6. General
Whole agreement, advice taken, governing law, counterparts and the execution page.

How to adapt this document

For a settlement paid in instalments, replace the single payment in clause 2.1 with a schedule and add an acceleration clause, because a release that hangs on the last of six payments leaves the paying party holding all the leverage for months. For an employment settlement, swap the release for one that names the claims being given up, add a clause dealing with the reference and the announcement, and keep the regulator carve out in clause 5.3 widened to include a workplace regulator. For a settlement where work will still be done, do not release the building claim on payment alone: make the release conditional on the rectification work being completed and inspected, and say who inspects it. Keep the statutory warranty callout in any Australian residential version.

Which law the terms follow

The deed is written for a New South Wales residential building dispute and names the instruments that apply. The warning callout follows the Home Building Act 1989, which implies statutory warranties into a residential building contract, runs them for six years for a major defect and two years otherwise from completion, and does not allow them to be excluded or restricted by agreement. That is why the release in clause 3.1 is bounded to the three items in dispute rather than to the works as a whole. The proceedings in clause 1.3 are an application in the Home Building Division of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which hears home building claims and is where most residential defect disputes in New South Wales are resolved. Clause 5.3 keeps NSW Fair Trading, the Tribunal, an insurer and a court outside the confidentiality obligation, because a settlement cannot stop a party answering a regulator. The deed is governed by the law of New South Wales and the builder's licence number appears in the parties clause.

What makes this document work

The release does not start until the money arrives

Clause 2.2 says the release has no effect until the $9,500 is paid in full, and gives the owners a choice if it is not: sue on the deed for the sum as a debt, or treat the deed as at an end and continue the proceedings as if it had never been made. A release that runs from signature is a gift.

The release is bounded to three named items

Clause 3.1 releases every claim arising out of the ensuite waterproofing, the cracked render and the fall on the alfresco slab, known or unknown. Clause 3.2 then says it covers only those three, and not any other part of the work, a personal injury claim or an obligation created by the deed itself.

It does not pretend to sign away statutory warranties

The warning callout states that the Home Building Act 1989 implies warranties running six years for a major defect and two years otherwise from completion on 9 January 2026, and that the Act does not allow them to be excluded by agreement. A deed that claims otherwise is unenforceable on that point and misleading on the page.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between a settlement agreement and a deed of release?

In practice very little, and this document is both. The word deed matters because a deed is binding without consideration passing, which helps where one side is giving up rights for a promise rather than for money already received. Executing it as a deed also gives a longer limitation period in most Australian states.

Should a settlement include an admission of liability?

Almost never. Clause 4.1 says the deed is a commercial settlement, that neither party admits fault, defect, breach or liability, and that neither may say in any forum that the other did. It adds that the builder's agreement to pay is not evidence the work was defective, which is the sentence insurers look for.

What happens to the tribunal or court case after settlement?

It has to be closed, or it sits there. Clause 4.2 requires the owners to file a notice withdrawing the application within five business days of payment and to send the builder a copy on the day it is filed, with neither side seeking costs. Clause 4.3 lets either side plead the deed as a complete bar to a fresh claim.

Can a settlement stop someone leaving a bad review?

It can restrain what they publish about this dispute, and this one does: no review, social media post or comment to a trade body, with the owners able to say only that the work was done and a dispute was resolved. Clause 5.3 carves out answering a regulator, a tribunal, an insurer or a court.

Who pays legal costs in a settlement?

Usually each side bears its own, which is what clause 2.3 says here: no legal costs, no expert fees, no filing fees, whatever was spent before today. The clause names the two amounts being given up, the $780 filing fee and the builder's expert report, so neither side later argues the point was not considered.

Does a settlement bind people who did not sign it?

Only through the words used. This release runs to each party's directors, employees and agents, which stops a claim being repackaged against the site supervisor personally, and clause 6.2 binds successors and assigns. A subcontractor who is not named and not an agent is not released by this deed.

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