Hi all
Just was wondering what the legals are with getting tradies to do stuff for you on site and off the books so to speak. With power points & down lights. If they are not on your lighting & eletrical plan and there is a fire or other problem are you covered. Does the 7 year housing warrenty cover this stuff or is it only structure.

If you pay a sparkie cash for say 5 more power points & 8 more down lights at inspection it will be noticed by SS. This EXTRA work is not on the plan. So whats the deal. I guess a sparkie worked for cash on site but employed by the project builder wont give you a certificate or a receipt for work they are not ment to do.

So what happens if there is a problem down the track with your lighting, my bet is they will say it was caused by the extra work that was not on the plan. I would like a few more power points & down lights but may pay via the builder & have them on the plan just in case.

What you opinions.

Cheers

KW............

Well what we have experienced is that they wont do any thing extra for you. They state that if you want any thing extra that we must go through Mastertons head office.

KW, we spoke to our SS before the build started and said we wanted some extra electrical work done (outside lighting, inside lights and power points). He had no prob with it and said to see the electrician when he was on site. Our SS even rang us the day he was due on site so we could head there and discuss what we wanted.

We haven't got a bill for this yet but assume once we move it will turn up

our builder(coral) didnt have a problem with us doing anything extra with our sparkie on the side neither did our ss. we got an extra $1750 worth of lights and points ect.
we let our ss know that this is what we were going to do and he didnt have an issue with it.
and as soon as you say cash no invoice to your sparkie they'll knock a bit off the price ours took off $350.

just ask.....all they can say is no worse case.

caitie

Thanks

Yes I know they will do it, no problems. But what about insurances. Any insurance company will look for a reasion not to pay out in case of a fire etc. I would think if its not on the plan its not insured or covered. Im sure all will be OK but I was wondering what the legals were on work not on the plan.

This is one of the rreasions I let them do the very over priced doors. If there is any cracks latter they cant say it was caused by my additions tothe house. For the sake of saving $350 I woulf let them do it and be covered.

Thanks to all

KW............

Just ask ur sparky for a certificate of electrical safety then u will be covered for insurance porpuses

Since when do you give the insurance company a copy of your electrical plan, do you have to take photos of every one of your possessions too? If your electrican has a license there will be no problem.

Mate
You obviously haven’t had much to do with insurance companies. Soon all trades will carry a compliance book each certificate will have a number, each number will be registered. Project building companies don’t like employing sub contractors who then conduct their own cash business on site. No tradie taking cash on site will give you a compliance certificate. If it’s not on the plan it was not installed as part of the build. Try proofing it was done by a licensed sparkie, especially when you paid him/her cash.

KW……..

It illegal not to give a COES compliance certificate therefore all work done by a REC (Registered Electrical Contractor) will be covered no matter when it was done

Thanks for that info. Its good to hear.

KW..........

as long as you use a licence sparkie you wont have a prob with insurence and the sparkie will give you a certification anyway.

It actually states in my contract if I direct a tradie to do some work, my builder can actually charge me a variation for it. I have heard of an owner getting the gyprock guys to build bulkheads for their built in robes, paid the guys in cash, and the builder found out and charged the owner $200 per bulkhead.

B With H

Is you contract a HIA with special conditions. How do you feel about that condition. I will also look at mine to see Ive go it in mine. Hope not.

KW.......

lucky for us coral dont have that clause, our sales person even encouraged us to do cash jobs if we wanted extra things done.

hopefully your contract will allow you to do so without your builder taking a cut.

Im hoping I can work in with the guys also. Im happy to make it worth their while. It seems there is no problem with any electric work as long as its on the certificate regardless of the plan (but you know what insurance companies are like, they will try it on).

I really have to re think me eletrical plan re. lights & power points. Thanks to the surgestions of members, I got some great ideas.

Cheers

KW............

It's a standard HIA jan 2008 SA plain language contact for new homes,
the correct wording most of 12 talks about charging for variations
12.10 This is also the case where a variation is requested by you contrary to clause 7.4 and done without us knowing. you will be charged like under cluased 13.5 for such a variation (13.5 says they charged 15% the cost)
7.4 is You must not give any instructions to our suppliers or subcontractors or to our workers
expect to our supervisor.

I guess they dont want you saving a few bucks by going to the tradies with cash. My contracts 2004 (must be old stock) so its not in there.

KW.........

Our most valuable change to our electrical plan was adding powerpoints to our island bench. I sit there once a day with my laptop and that's the spot I use the mixmaster/sandwich maker/blender and every pull out put away appliance we have. We did have it as an addition and they forgot it - but they ran power from the dishwasher to it through the back of the cupboard.