Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Apr 03, 2012 2:46 pm Hi, I am just after some clarification as we had a walk through of our house two weeks ago and we told the builder everything that needed to be fixed. The builder, who claimed this inspection was the pre handover inspection, did not give us a copy of the list of defects so we wrote it all down and sent it to the builder, saying we required everything to be fixed. We have now received our occupancy certificate and the builder has sent us the final bill, wanting it paid within seven days. Do we have a right to ask for a further inspection to make sure the defects have all been fixed as some clearly arent. Or do we basically have to have a handover meeting and organise final payment now. We have also had some things installed after the pre handover, ie a letterbox, that clearly has a dent in it, so will be wanting that fixed too. Any advice appreciated k Re: Fixing defects and final bill 2Apr 03, 2012 5:36 pm Hi Heytherek A quick answer is this. Occupancy certificate is no evidence that work is completed in accordance with the contract or that there is full compliance. I simply means that it's safe to use. That's not good enough. Have a look here at my other post in relation to workmanship and don't settle until all defective items are complete. Hope this helps you Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Fixing defects and final bill 4Apr 03, 2012 9:36 pm If the question is for me I don't have enough info to answer it, I look at lots of things, be more specific re location etc Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Fixing defects and final bill 5Apr 03, 2012 10:19 pm I would organise the final payment in the form of a cheque and inform the builder that the defects need to be resolved prior to hand over and final payment will be withheld until the items on your list are addressed. Make sure you tell them that the letter box needs replacing aswell. If you pay them chances are they will drag the repairs out Re: Fixing defects and final bill 6Apr 04, 2012 6:50 am Thank you for the info.
Yes we are very uneasy about how they are claiming the occupancy certificate is the notice of completion when their own site supervisor told me they still had some things to fix. We have asked for a further meeting to inspect the defects to see that they are fixed but they just ignore the request and we have not heard about any time frame for this, yet they have sent us a final bill. We do not even want to send the final bill to the bank until we are satisfied they have fixed all the defects, but will we get in trouble for leaving the bank notification. Although in our loan contract, it does state that we should inspect the house and be happy with it before claiming any payment. K Re: Fixing defects and final bill 7Apr 04, 2012 7:52 am It is obvious that the builder is showing you disrespect by ignoring you, you are the customer this should not be happening. You have the right not to settle until builder has satisfied all obligations under the contract and you have the right to a site visit at any time it is safe to do so. Hold your money tight and don't be intimidated, if the builder wants it he has to come good. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Fixing defects and final bill 8Apr 04, 2012 11:06 am Standard contracts are written in such a way that you can't delay payments without incurring penalties. You can challenge them but certain agencies will side with the builder typically. Read your contract very carefully. I would call the above post 'bad advice'. Building a Delta 21 at Craigieburn - http://homeofzero.blogspot.com.au/ Deposit: 26/02. Contract: 22/05. Settlement: 29/05. Site start: 18/10. Re: Fixing defects and final bill 9Apr 04, 2012 12:21 pm Hi akashra Building contract cannot override the law, in this case in Victoria the law is the Domestic Contracts Building Act 1995 and in particular section 8 Implied warranties. Any breach of warranty is a "defect" by definition. No one can force owner to accept defective work. Practical completion is when all work is completed save for minor faults and omissions (touch ups, adjustments). I don't know which agencies you refer to but I assume one of them is Building Commission but it has no power to do anything (whether it sides with the builder on not) and if it were shut down today no one would notice. In my opinion builder is bluffing and mistreating the owner. You are perfectly entitled to your opinion "viva la difference" Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Fixing defects and final bill 10Apr 04, 2012 12:55 pm If you look for wildorchid's thread she withheld payment until she was happy that things had been done to her satisfaction - we built with the same builder and I advised her not to hand over the final cheque as we did that and it took months for things to be fixed as you have no leverage over the builder. It was amazing what the builder was able to do in a week! It doesn't sound right that faults found at PCI were not written down and a copy given to you for you and the builder to sign off on when they were fixed ... For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Fixing defects and final bill 11Apr 04, 2012 3:19 pm Hi,
The builder has agreed that we can inspect the house. They wanted confirmation of handover the following week but we just said we would meet tomorrow. There is still defects that are very obvious on the front of the house that have not been fixed. They have already breached the contract by not giving us a signed list of defects. We had to send them the list yet our contract states they would give us a signed copy. They also have not given us any completion notice other than sending a final bill and the occupancy certificate. I have no doubt that once we pay they will drag the chain considerably so now is our main chance to get these things fixed as they have been difficult during the build, mainly whenever we raised the issue of anything wrong. K Re: Fixing defects and final bill 12Apr 04, 2012 4:31 pm Always remember this is a business transaction so keep all emotion out of it. They may say things or try and be nice but been rude is your right when they aren't playing fair ball. http://lindeman28.blogspot.com - Our building blog Re: Fixing defects and final bill 13Apr 04, 2012 6:39 pm Honestly we could not believe it although we were not really surprised to go to our block late today and catch out the site supervisor painting our rendered pillar at the front of the house.
We took photos so we will be asking some questions tomorrow! I just can't believe how tight they are, they don't want to spend a single penny fixing our house up. k Re: Fixing defects and final bill 15Apr 04, 2012 9:08 pm building-expert Hi akashra Building contract cannot override the law, in this case in Victoria the law is the Domestic Contracts Building Act 1995 and in particular section 8 Implied warranties. Any breach of warranty is a "defect" by definition. Requirement of payment is not contingent of the premises being free from defects. These contracts are written this way on purpose. You're attacking a straw man. Building a Delta 21 at Craigieburn - http://homeofzero.blogspot.com.au/ Deposit: 26/02. Contract: 22/05. Settlement: 29/05. Site start: 18/10. Re: Fixing defects and final bill 16Apr 04, 2012 9:16 pm A very familiar story. Our builder at the end of our project really dropped the ball and dug in on some really petty things. The whole process was a real education, the biggest lesson of all was READ the contract! Everything boils down to the plain English written there, sure, some areas are wide open for interpretation, but most is not. We were generous during the build, paying the framing stage before the frame was completely done, the plaster before it was finished and lockup while a piece of wood leant against a door constituted secure. Things progressively worsened until at the end they simply refused to honour 3 or 4 clauses. Payment withheld for the fix stage was the only way to bring them back to the contract. Motivated by the distress that they caused we then drilled down into the HIA contract and insisted they follow every final step to the letter, this included formalizing final inspections, certificates and paperwork etc before we even considered final payment. It got so silly that 2 nails in a downpipe and a bit of wood on the roof held things up. In the end, the relationship was permanently destroyed for the sake of less than a grand and they lost the chance to enter our place in the building awards for this year. Go figure Re: Fixing defects and final bill 17Apr 04, 2012 9:27 pm akashra building-expert Hi akashra Building contract cannot override the law, in this case in Victoria the law is the Domestic Contracts Building Act 1995 and in particular section 8 Implied warranties. Any breach of warranty is a "defect" by definition. Requirement of payment is not contingent of the premises being free from defects. These contracts are written this way on purpose. You're attacking a straw man. Total rubbish. Give consumer affairs a call and they will arm you with all you need to know, we found them to be fantastic. No progress payment is due untill the work has been completed and signed of on. Have a read of this page in total. http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing- ... lding-work Re: Fixing defects and final bill 18Apr 05, 2012 5:41 am Hi, Thanks for the info. After catching them out trying to cover things up we are not going to be treating any remaining defects lightly. They certainly will not be getting raving reviews from us, and we live in a regional area so surely reputation must be important. Most of our issues have been with the arrogant site supervisors we have had, anything we have raised they have argued or basically laughed at us for even mentioning. They have already breached the contract numerous times. Yes Consumer Affairs are good, I rang them about another matter relating to our build and they were very informative. K Re: Fixing defects and final bill 19Apr 05, 2012 9:37 am Indeed, and that's what I was getting at. Consumer affairs will side with the consumer. The HI-Icantusetheirnameherewithoutthispostgettingrejected on the other hand, and any building bodies, will side with the builders. The point is you need to read what's in your contract. Definitions of 'defects' vary - cosmetic defects may not be sufficient to refuse payment in full. You can not just paint a catch-all argument that says "you don't have to pay" without those details - especially when contracts may stipulate penalties. You CAN argue them - you can also lose. Giving out advise like this without considering that is just irresponsible. ie: Ask your solicitor, not an online forum, when it comes to legal advise. Building a Delta 21 at Craigieburn - http://homeofzero.blogspot.com.au/ Deposit: 26/02. Contract: 22/05. Settlement: 29/05. Site start: 18/10. Re: Fixing defects and final bill 20Apr 05, 2012 9:59 am akashra Indeed, and that's what I was getting at. Consumer affairs will side with the consumer. The HI-Icantusetheirnameherewithoutthispostgettingrejected on the other hand, and any building bodies, will side with the builders. The point is you need to read what's in your contract. Definitions of 'defects' vary - cosmetic defects may not be sufficient to refuse payment in full. You can not just paint a catch-all argument that says "you don't have to pay" without those details - especially when contracts may stipulate penalties. You CAN argue them - you can also lose. Giving out advise like this without considering that is just irresponsible. ie: Ask your solicitor, not an online forum, when it comes to legal advise. Probably no real need for that bit in bold, but otherwise I 100% agree with the above - you need to pick your battles when it comes to defects and withholding payment... Some people apparently have nothing better to do than comment on other people's sigs. 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