Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jun 03, 2011 11:43 am Hi folks We bought an existing (old but renovated) WB house off an Owner Builder back in Sept (someone who buys/renovates/sells houses - not a registered/master builder from what we can gather). We are having so many issue with it . We are trying to wade our way through everything. At the moment, we have a case (with numerous issues) pending with the plumbing commission. They are coming to inspect on Monday thank goodness. Once they have determined what matters need to be rectified with the plumber, we will then be gathering up a few other (non-plumbing) issues and referring back to the OB and/or putting in a claim to VCAT. We don't expect that everything will get taken care of, but we certainly don't want to be paying for any matters that either the plumber or the builder should be seeing to. (AND FWIW, you cannot claim on the builders' warranty/insurance unless the builder vanishes, dies, or goes bankrupt - waste of time that is!). But, our 'thing' is, that we are not quite sure what issues are related and what are totally separate (hopefully the plumbing inspector on Monday might be able to shed some light on some things). For eg, is the musty smell in our WIR caused from the leak in our ensuite tiles (next to the WIR) - or is it due to the fact that under the house is damp and we have a general 'damp' issue? Same with the condensation/mould we found behind our bed (lovely!). Or is the mould/damp behind the bed caused by overflow from the gutters because the guttering/downpipes/stormwater drainage is not adequate and water is getting in between the weatherboards and the plaster board? See, it kind of all links in but not sure what is the start of our issues and what fixing one thing will lead to and take care of. We don't want one matter addressed and fixed (hopefully addressed and fixed by the OB) only to find it was the cause of another matter that they should also then fix/rectify and we are forever putting in claims. We want to make sure it is all addressed/reviewed in one 'claim' or at least at the one time. But I was always at a loss how to get someone to come and tell us exactly what's going on. A plumber would only address the plumbing, a tiler would address the tiling/ensuite, a builder might tell us about the damp - then it occurred to me that perhaps we could get someone like Archicentre to come and do a full inspection as if it were a pre-inspection and list any defects and get their advice on how to rectify. Does that sound like the way to go do you folks think? Is it an architect that comes?? Would they be the best to talk to us? Or should we be looking at getting a builder to assess everything? We just want one person to come and look at EVERYTHING and sort us out with what we need to do to fix it all (be it us - or the OB). Of course, we could just ask the OB to come back out and show him all of our issues, but quite frankly, we don't trust him to a) take responsibility for anything - or b) to even bother coming - or c) to do a good job of rectifying right through to any secondary problems caused from the initial problem. So we want to get some independant advice, even though it will cost us (hopefully we can claim back the cost via VCAT if it goes in that direction) and know exactly what needs fixing by him, before we even bother to send off the polite initial request to come and fix - and for that matter so we can claim appropriately with VCAT. Hope you can follow all of that, I tend to give too much unnecessary information - but this is doing my head in and we need to start taking firm action. Thanks folks. HHCIB Re: Building inspection on our own home (6 months after) 3Jun 03, 2011 11:56 am kyton Did you get a building inspection done when you bought the house? Isn't this a case of Caveat Emptor? Hi Kyton No, we didn't get a building inspection done because we wrongly listened to the RE agent that we didn't need one because the house came with a full builders' warranty (that part is our fault/caveat emptor and all that because we didn't understand a) that we still should have got an inspection because b) the builder's warranty is pretty much not worth the paper it is written on in most cases). However, surely a builder and/or plumber have levels or standards to which they must adhere and if there is faulty workmanship then there are hopefully systems in place to have them dealt with (ie, the plumbing commission/VCAT). He didn't just own the house, live in it, do a few ******* renovations and sell it. He did it as an 'owner builder' and from what I gather, that makes him responsible for certain things. Sorry, I don't have all the correct terminology but to my understanding, it is as if we bought the house 'new' and having issues with plumbing and or leaks and or inappropriate drainage. Why do you think it is Caveat Emptor? (Some things may very well be, and this is what we are trying to figure out - but I'm sure as hell hoping all the issues are going to be our problem to rectify). HHCIB Re: Building inspection on our own home (6 months after) 4Jun 03, 2011 12:03 pm Well my understanding is that whenever I buy a home that should I not have a building inspection done then tough luck if something untoward arises. For example - we just settled on another investment property. Purchased at auction, I only went through the place once prior to purchase, DH went through twice. We bought at auction without any inspections done. Even after the auction we still proceeded without any inspections. Now this was done on our heads as far as we are concerned. We wanted the house and didn't care if there was work to be done. Any work would be done at our expense. I would have thought this was the case with any home purchases - no inspections done prior to purchase then little or no recourse should something arise later. This of course is not counting things like structural damage that would be covered under a licenced builder's 7yr warranty or something along the lines of waterproofing again done by a licenced waterproof contractor failing within their contractual period. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Building inspection on our own home (6 months after) 5Jun 03, 2011 12:38 pm Kyton.... I should just clarify, that my question isn't about 'who' is responsible or 'who' should fix it (us or them, so to speak - AT THIS STAGE). Even if we end up with everything in our lap - as you are suggesting - my question is about the fact that we need some guidance and understanding of what we are dealing with as we are sick of the numerous niggly issues and we want to start dealing with them but we don't know where to start or what will rectify what. We want ONE person (if possible) to give us an overview, we don't want opinion from a plumber but then he can't say about the dampness under the house, we don't want one opinion from a waterproofer but he doesn't know about the mould behind the bedroom. We want (again, if possible) one person to come and take a look at everything. Would ARchicentre be our best bet - or ?????? But, on the subject of Caveat Emptor...... I fully understand that if you go along and buy a property without inspection, then you are responsible for any issues. However, this house had extensions done to it and full renovations - and i'm not sure of the correct terminology but was sold to us by an 'owner builder' not just a vendor (iykwim). It came with a builders warranty insurance etc etc. We have spoken to solicitors, conveyancers, councils, building surveyors, plumbing commission, other posts in here, people on the street - you name it. They have all given us various advice on what steps to take (which we are in the process of pulling together). Not ONE of them have said 'bad luck, it's Caveat Emptor'. Again, not sure of the right terminology but our understanding is that we have some kind of rights - just as if we were building ourselves through a builder. You may very well be right. NOthing has been determined yet. But our understanding is that we do have legs to stand on - it's just a case of whether our claims are within the boundaries of what is claimable (if that makes sense). Maybe put it this way. If you had some plumbing done on your house - and you found afterwards that it was * or the plumber did not follow code of practice or whatever it is called. Would you just say 'bad luck' or would you follow it up with the plumber and if no resolution take it to the plumbing commission?? Just because we have bought this house recently, it doesn't mean the plumber who did works say 6 months ago can get away with not doing proper work. If so, the plumbing commission wouldn't be coming MOnday, they would have told us as the start of our claim process over 8wks ago that it was nothing to do with them. (And the same applies to other building matters but we haven't gotten to those yet). Maybe someone else can shed some light. HHCIB Re: Building inspection on our own home (6 months after) 6Jun 03, 2011 12:45 pm Well if you were still needing to have someone inspect the place wouldn't you start with a building inspector? I couldn't imagine that an Architect is going to get down and dirty looking under the house, in the roof etc looking for faults. A building inspector on the other hand does that day in day out. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Building inspection on our own home (6 months after) 7Jun 03, 2011 12:52 pm Thanks Kyton - that's what we were wondering. And of course we don't expect 'an architect' to get down and dirty and look under the house - but usually by looking at the grounds outside the house permiter, and looking at guttering (which they do get on ladders and stick their heads into roof cavities etc) they can usually tell what might be a problem. That's part of what 'Archicentre' do in their inspection reports. But you might be right - a building inspector might be the way to go (which is what I thought Archicentre did??) but that is why I was asking. Thanks for your help. HHCIB Re: Building inspection on our own home (6 months after) 8Jun 03, 2011 1:19 pm Archicentre do building inspections, so yep you can contact them. Im not sure how much they charge but I believe the give a warranty of sorts. Good luck with the plumbing commision. Ive spoken to them a few times but was basically told they wouldnt do aything unless we lodged an official complaint - wouldnt even give us the name of someone who inspects plumbing to see if everything was above board. Havent needed to take anything further yet though Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Building inspection on our own home (6 months after) 9Jun 03, 2011 1:35 pm Hi Bam Yes, that our first port of call - to try and see if everything was 'above board'. Got mixed opinions. We did lodge an official complaint. At first they got in contact with the plumber and advised us the plumber would be back in touch to come back out and inspect - but he never did. So when I advised the PC that we hadn't heard anything, they escalated it to have one of their inspectors come out - they are coming Monday. We are glad to have an independent inspector rather than the original plumber because we don't want the plumber to just come and tell us that everything is 'compliant' if it isn't. Yes, I can imagine they wouldn't be helpful or offer advice unless you actually lodged a complaint. As for getting an inspector out yourself - you might just have to pay a plumber for a 'call out fee' to come and look over (or maybe there are plumbing inspectors in the yellow pages??). But thankfully, as you said, you haven't needed to take it further yet. Thanks for your input BAM. Re: Building inspection on our own home (6 months after) 10Jun 07, 2011 8:21 pm Kyton (if you read this)... I just wanted to pop back with a bit of an update because I got a bit more of an understanding as to why the OB is obligated as opposed to it being a case of Caveat Emptor. Basically (and I may not have this 100% correct - but enough to give you an idea)..... If anyone (including an Owner Builder) undertakes any building works on a property over a certain value (I think it's $7000 or something like that) then they technically take on all responsibilities of a builder and if they sell the property the warranty on the building works still exists for 6.5yrs. Not the best explanation, but hopefully you get the drift and understand what I was referring to and why it isn't all necessarily Caveat Emptor. So that's why there are certain things we are chasing them up to fix. We were dealing with plumbing issues first. We had plumbing commission out yesterday and as a result, the plumber is going to be ordered to to fix some issues (like some guttering/add a downpipe - and fix some exposed gas piping). Other issues are back in our lap (so yes, Caveat Emptor). We have other bathroom (non-plumbing)/building issues which we have to take up with the builder through the building commission but we haven't started that process yet. Any win is a win and one less thing we have to pay for to get fixed. But anyway, back to my original question, the guy that came from plumbing commission also suggested a place called 'Build Spect' to over-see anything and make a report of any faults that need addressing. HHCIB you need to understand the breakdown of warranties. 90 warranty is considered as minor defects rectification period where as the longer ones are more major/structural… 1 5327 The significant date is when receive final payment invoice Check that section of contract Bit of fluff by builders prior to that 1 15914 This certainly doesn't look good. I would be engaging with an independent inspector to have a look at this. As for the unscheduled site visits, most builders are quite… 1 28290 |