BUILDER INVOICING LOCK UP & BRICKS JUST STARTED!! WHAT THE?

Hi I just got a 'lock up' invoice from the builders, but bricks only started Tuesday and aren't even halfway done. It has been plastered inside (just the boards up) and they did whack some doors on, but surely that can't be classified as lock up. I was under the impression it had to be kind of secure and permanent. Am I wrong???

OK I panicked for nothing. I just checked the contract and it says amongst other things when the 'external wall cladding is fixed' so called the builder and told him and he said he will leave it until it is done then. He said it was common practice for them to invoice at whichever came first - plaster or bricks. Weather is extremely nasty, so not even sure if every wall has plaster on it yet, but at least I don't have to sign off on this big nasty invoice for another week or so!

Still curious to see if others have experienced getting the 'lock up' invoice before external cladding is completed...

We received all of our invoices before the stage was finished. At first we were obliging and payed in good faith that it would keep things moving along at a good pace and the work would be completed quickly. But towards the end DH jacked up and help off until they had actually done the work because they were slacking right off. Some builders invoice early because there is not enough communication between the ss and the office, so they are not actually aware what physical stage the build is up to. You have done the right thing by ringing the builder to clarify.

If you read the contract you may find that the build stages are just names and they can bill you once the build reaches a set percentage completion!

At least that's how I interpreted the wording in our contract!

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Another reason for receiving the invoice early is because some banks take a few weeks to release progress payments, therefore builders like to get them out early to ensure everything is organized for payment to go through.

Welcome to builders world!

They create an invoice on say the 10th of a month, mail it out on the 12th , you get it on the 13th check the mailbox on th 14th, a Friday and it states payment in 5 days from date of invoice or your in breach of contract, whether the job is complete to satisfaction or not. I like to let them sweat for a week tHen call the bank and start proceedings.

Has the builder ever gotten back to you, or completed anything else in the time stated ?

The answer is NO . Here enduth the lesson.

Why would you plaster before all the bricks are up?

Water isn't particularly kind to plaster sheets.

What about insulation?

I would be careful of this.

I work for a small house builder and so i have learnt a lot of what goes on.

I would have a look at your contract and see what needs to be completed for that stage to be paid. It is up to the builder if they want to put in the internal gyprock, but to me lock up is the place is secured. External doors and a garage door. If the brickwork has only just started I would be holding off on payment.

Are you using a HIA contract? I think for memory a stage to be claimed, the majority of the work has to be completed.

My only concern with paying builders early - we have had a few people come to us where the builders claimed for stages early and people paid them only to find the builder went into liquidation. The problem you have with this, is if another builder has to start, you have paid for more work than has actually been done, leaving you in a bind.

Maybe go out to site, have a look at the work and correlate it with what is in the contract. If you are concerned at all, tell them that you are going to hold off signing off the claim until it is completed. Remember when you sign off for the bank, you are signing that the build has been completed to that stage.

That's what the weather wrap is for (at least in eastern states anyway), although generally speaking if they start hanging the gyppy then they won't do the external walls until the bricking is done.

Gyprock can also handle a bit of water as long as it doesn't get completely saturated or will be persistently damp as a result of getting wet initially - it's the mouldings (skirts/arcs/cornices) that suffer from exposure to water - but having said that a SS wont proceed with the hanging of any gyppy if it is going to get consistently wet over an extended period or there is a potential for it to become saturated (because then they'll be footing the bill for getting the plasterers to come out and re-hang the affected sections of gyppy).

As for the lock up thing - in pretty much every standard HIA contract each stage is either a specific milestone or a percentage of works completed. For lock up the house does not have to be completely "secured" if some works from the fixing stage have been completed in advance.

I would be equally as careful with advice such as that given above - if the builder can demonstrate that they have completed the required percentage of works by knocking off some items from the fixing stage in lieu of items yet to be completed from the lock up stage then you may still be liable for penalty payments as set out in the build contract.

Appreciate all the advice given. As per my second post above, the builder doesn't mind waiting until the bricks are completed, if it makes me happier. I am fortunate and have great builders I just got a bit of a shock initially and posted the question before I had checked the contract or spoken to my builder.

We also got invoices way early, but the builder didn't chase payment, kinda like just getting the paperwork out of the way first...