Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Sep 02, 2020 10:37 am Dear All, Be very careful entering into a contract that has any special conditions. Any builder that looks to penalise the home owner in any way for ensuring that the builders are presenting complaint work should be avoided. The Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 in Victoria states that the builder cannot place anything in the contract that is more onerous on the home owner than that which is in the Act. Where does it state that the builder can FINE a home owner and also add additional days for checking their fundamental rights at law? What the Law states in real terms is you, the home owner can place what ever conditions you wish on a builder (if they will accept them) however a builder CANNOT place any conditions on you that offend the Act. Give this builder a very wide berth. If you are looking to use them, ask for the contract and have a read of all the one way....Their way.... Conditions that they slam down on you......... There are much better options. Section 132 part 1 states under the heading: Contracting out of this Act Prohibited. (1) Subject to any contrary intentions set out in this Act-- (a) any term in a domestic building contract that is contrary to this Act, or that purports to annul,vary or exclude any provision in this Act, is void; and (b) any term of any other agreement that seeks to exclude, modify or restrict any right conferred by this Act in relation to a domestic building contract is void. 2 states: However, the parties to a domestic building contract may include terms in the contract that impose greater or more obligations on a builder than are imposed by this act. Mimosa special conditions are numerous. Some are: Condition 9. If you have an independent inspector, you must give the builder an extra 7 days on the contract time. (that is clearly a penalty! If the independent finds defects, then the builder caused them. Why should the owner be penalised for the builders incompetence?) Condition 10. The home owner is invoiced $250 every time a Independent goes to site. (that is clearly a penalty! If the independent finds defects, then the builder caused them. Why should the owner be penalised for the builders incompetence?) What a joke! Condition 11. Must pay regardless of the Independents findings. What if the roof has to come off or the slab is out of level or the walls all need to be plumbed. Condition 1. Take note of the variations cost. It's one of the most expensive. I would suggest that other builders offer a better offering. Always ask up front when looking at displays for a sample contract. And then keep it so they cannot sneak things in later! Re: Mimosa Homes Melbourne Builder 2Sep 05, 2020 4:27 pm Whilst I agree with your points on Conditions 10, 11 and 1. I don't agree on your comments with condition 9. The standard HIA contract states that anything done or not done by the Owner or by an agent, contractor or employee of the Owner; the builder is then allowed to extend the contract due to a delay. The private inspector was enforced by YOU, and not not by the builder. Whilst i'm empathetic to items that have not been constructed to code, a private inspection report is not an easy list to read through and something you can complete swiftly. The builder has to read through the report, identify which trades need to be called back, schedule trades, rectify issues, potentially debate defects, fix defects, report the defects back to the owner etc. It is a very length process and takes a lot of time and resources for the builder to go through. Not only that, most of the long inspection reports you may find are from volume built homes. Well derr, they're cheap for a reason, you can't expect a champagne home on a beer budget. Just my $2c, trying to help you see the other side. Re: Mimosa Homes Melbourne Builder 3Sep 07, 2020 11:38 am Koda67 Whilst I agree with your points on Conditions 10, 11 and 1. I don't agree on your comments with condition 9. The standard HIA contract states that anything done or not done by the Owner or by an agent, contractor or employee of the Owner; the builder is then allowed to extend the contract due to a delay. The private inspector was enforced by YOU, and not not by the builder. Whilst i'm empathetic to items that have not been constructed to code, a private inspection report is not an easy list to read through and something you can complete swiftly. The builder has to read through the report, identify which trades need to be called back, schedule trades, rectify issues, potentially debate defects, fix defects, report the defects back to the owner etc. It is a very length process and takes a lot of time and resources for the builder to go through. Not only that, most of the long inspection reports you may find are from volume built homes. Well derr, they're cheap for a reason, you can't expect a champagne home on a beer budget. Just my $2c, trying to help you see the other side. Koda67. The point I'm making is the legislation is offended by these clauses and they are not enforceable. So why have them? Is it a scare tactic so home owns don't seek out an Independent to find fault. In real terms who caused the fault,, the home owner or the builder? The builder.... If so why penalise the homeowner which appears to be the intent of these special conditions. I can clearly see where you are coming from. I will say that this builder is with the HIA. That is the peek body that looks after builders in Victoria. It is their contract that the builder is using. If these additional conditions were fair and reasonable, their own body, the HIA, should place them in every contract. No they are not reasonable and go to the heart of the problem that we face in Victoria. Builders offending the legislation, treating people with little regard for their rights and using bulldozer tactic in contracts. Buyer beware. Price and promises are forgotten just after the fighting starts. By the way, I love your last comment. Champagne home on a beer budget. The builder states in the contract that he/she will build to the Australian Standards and Laws. That is NOT Champagne. That is just the minimums that are acceptable. Re: Mimosa Homes Melbourne Builder 4Sep 07, 2020 9:53 pm Small Minds Koda67 Whilst I agree with your points on Conditions 10, 11 and 1. I don't agree on your comments with condition 9. The standard HIA contract states that anything done or not done by the Owner or by an agent, contractor or employee of the Owner; the builder is then allowed to extend the contract due to a delay. The private inspector was enforced by YOU, and not not by the builder. Whilst i'm empathetic to items that have not been constructed to code, a private inspection report is not an easy list to read through and something you can complete swiftly. The builder has to read through the report, identify which trades need to be called back, schedule trades, rectify issues, potentially debate defects, fix defects, report the defects back to the owner etc. It is a very length process and takes a lot of time and resources for the builder to go through. Not only that, most of the long inspection reports you may find are from volume built homes. Well derr, they're cheap for a reason, you can't expect a champagne home on a beer budget. Just my $2c, trying to help you see the other side. Koda67. The point I'm making is the legislation is offended by these clauses and they are not enforceable. So why have them? Is it a scare tactic so home owns don't seek out an Independent to find fault. In real terms who caused the fault,, the home owner or the builder? The builder.... If so why penalise the homeowner which appears to be the intent of these special conditions. I can clearly see where you are coming from. I will say that this builder is with the HIA. That is the peek body that looks after builders in Victoria. It is their contract that the builder is using. If these additional conditions were fair and reasonable, their own body, the HIA, should place them in every contract. No they are not reasonable and go to the heart of the problem that we face in Victoria. Builders offending the legislation, treating people with little regard for their rights and using bulldozer tactic in contracts. Buyer beware. Price and promises are forgotten just after the fighting starts. By the way, I love your last comment. Champagne home on a beer budget. The builder states in the contract that he/she will build to the Australian Standards and Laws. That is NOT Champagne. That is just the minimums that are acceptable. Yeah I agree, some builders would be doing this to scare clients away for sure. Well... it's not penalising the owner if the builder agree's to read the report, fix it and honour their mistakes. But it's just another kick to the builder if this adds another week to the build, potentially longer to fix the defects, and the possibility of LD'S due to this. Agree'd it is the builders fault, but an inspector isn't going to go too site and not find anything, otherwise he wouldn't be doing his job. The HIA haven't updated their contracts in years, they're well out dated that is for sure. Let me put it this way then, some people expect a Toorak finished home on a 1980's first home buyer budget... Re: Mimosa Homes Melbourne Builder 5Sep 11, 2020 7:32 pm Small Minds Koda67 Whilst I agree with your points on Conditions 10, 11 and 1. I don't agree on your comments with condition 9. The standard HIA contract states that anything done or not done by the Owner or by an agent, contractor or employee of the Owner; the builder is then allowed to extend the contract due to a delay. The private inspector was enforced by YOU, and not not by the builder. Whilst i'm empathetic to items that have not been constructed to code, a private inspection report is not an easy list to read through and something you can complete swiftly. The builder has to read through the report, identify which trades need to be called back, schedule trades, rectify issues, potentially debate defects, fix defects, report the defects back to the owner etc. It is a very length process and takes a lot of time and resources for the builder to go through. Not only that, most of the long inspection reports you may find are from volume built homes. Well derr, they're cheap for a reason, you can't expect a champagne home on a beer budget. Just my $2c, trying to help you see the other side. Koda67. The point I'm making is the legislation is offended by these clauses and they are not enforceable. So why have them? Is it a scare tactic so home owns don't seek out an Independent to find fault. In real terms who caused the fault,, the home owner or the builder? The builder.... If so why penalise the homeowner which appears to be the intent of these special conditions. I can clearly see where you are coming from. I will say that this builder is with the HIA. That is the peek body that looks after builders in Victoria. It is their contract that the builder is using. If these additional conditions were fair and reasonable, their own body, the HIA, should place them in every contract. No they are not reasonable and go to the heart of the problem that we face in Victoria. Builders offending the legislation, treating people with little regard for their rights and using bulldozer tactic in contracts. Buyer beware. Price and promises are forgotten just after the fighting starts. By the way, I love your last comment. Champagne home on a beer budget. The builder states in the contract that he/she will build to the Australian Standards and Laws. That is NOT Champagne. That is just the minimums that are acceptable. Small minds do you have a special interest in darbecca? You seem to target many builders which indirectly/ directly it would then potentially give you more work? One would think this sort of slandering on builders would only have one gain and that being it would then benefit your pocket? Sort of make sense doesn’t it? Sit here degrading the building industry and this in return gives you more work! Well done 👏🏼 To think no one has picked up on this yet You are playing people pretending they are being played by builders, I’m impressed! Hello, we can help you please get in contact 0421019219 thank you 3 31853 Hi, can anyone recommend a custom home builder who can build in north east area? Looking to build a custom 4-br energy-efficient home with a max budget of 750k. If they… 0 22825 custom probably not. Volume, most defiantly, but spec would vary. If youre doing a knock down, there additional costs associated with that that will eat into your budget… 1 10282 |