Difference between site superviser and building inspector

Hi,

Could anyone please clarify if site supervisor and building inspector are same?

Also there is involvement of building surveyors who issued building permit.

Are they all same?

Thank you

A site supervisor is employed by the builder and he/she manages your build, co-ordinating trades and overseeing the work being done. A building inspector is generally employed by you, if you wish to have an independent inspector check the build at key stages. They will submit a report and you can then ask the builder to rectify any issues found. Building surveyors usually work with the council to issue the building permit on behalf of the builder.

You need to post what State you are building when asking for advice but I have trawled through your other posts and found that you are building in Victoria.

The site supervisor is as per shokel1975's post but note that the site supervisor may not have any qualifications or at best, won't have qualifications in all of the trades he is checking. A site supervisor will rarely have just the one house to supervise, some have 20 or more.

In Victoria, the new home buyer or their agent must appoint the building surveyor. A builder cannot act as the buyer's agent.

A building surveyor will usually work with a less qualified building inspector who usually does most of the 'inspecting'.

If you are thinking of having private stage inspections, you would hire a building consultant who does stage inspections but you need to check their bona fides carefully.

Site supervisor - the guy or gal employed by your builder to basically run the building of your house and supervise all the trades. If you are using a volume builder he may be doing up to 20 other houses which will not leave much tiem for yours,. If you are lucky he will care and do a good job. Alternatively (as it quite common) he won't give a toss about the quality of work and try and fob you off when you complain, as his main focus will be to finish and get the hell out.

Builder surveyor - as said must be appointed by you to sign off, but the builder may try and pressure you into using the one they recommend. May or may not do a good job but only checks a few things

Private building inspector - appointed by you to work on your behalf and check the quality of the work in a lot more detail than the surveyor. They will prepare reports, but are working for you and the builder is not answerable to them, and the builder may be very resistant to having one and addressing issues that they identify. Take this as a warning sign if they indicate this. Will cost around $5k over the build but worth every cent if you have a good one

Sounds familiar. One of my 7 Metricon site supervisors informed me that Metricon management had instructed him it was not his job to respond to customers phone calls or emails. His job was just to call customers every week to let them know the build was progressing well, he said. Quality was not his reponsibility! If you want to check workmanship you will need a private inspector, or do it yourself. Do not believe the site supervisor will act in your best interests!

yes in victoria

I’d encourage you to look at the consumer affairs Victoria website, which explains it well as per replies above from saveh20 and brokenstick.

A registered building surveyor checks that work meets minimum building regulations, but does not check that the work:
meets the standard agreed in your contract
required by your contract has been completed.
You can engage an independent building consultant (what you are calling a private building inspector)to assess whether the work completed meets the requirements in your contract.

What building surveyors ‘inspect’ is limited. Often the actual surveyor doesn’t visit your house but sends independent inspectors on their behalf who pop in at each building stage.

Most builders will ‘encourage’ you to use their building surveyor. If you do so, they are not truly independent.

Site supervisors are really site project managers and book trades. Some have relevant trade skills and have/take the time to check some work. Many don’t.

An independent consultant/private building inspector as we call them in Victoria will check quality of work, that plans are met, floors are level, and that building standards are met. It is important to choose ‘an inspector’ with significant experience. I have friends who have said I can’t afford that.
I ask can you afford not to have independent inspections for one of the largest investments you will ever make. Rectifying poor building work is costly financially, and emotionally and can take years. Private inspections provide you information and peace of mind.

Be aware that your private ‘consultant’ has no authority over the builder. They can only identify the defects, but not require the builder to fix them. That negotiation is up to you. Based on my recent experience with Metricon they have many well practiced tactics to avoid fixing defective work, keeping the job moving and your progress payments coming. They would prefer you deal with any defective work later, after your final payment under ‘warranty’ Consider this before signing a contract.

Having read the post, I ask you guys, what companies in NSW can provide good building inspectors. I'm looking for a good one hopefully, one that someone as used or knows about it, I'm reluctant to pick one at random.
Anybody can provide a web link, phone etc?

Cheers

Thank you all for clarifying, please guide me to have reasonable inspector in victoria?

Check out building_expert who has a lot of qualifications and experience, he also gives a lot of advice on this forum.

Always ask for proof of qualifications and experience.

Profile: https://www.homeone.com.au/member/building-expert /

Website/Blog: https://www.buildingexpert.net.au/

I was satisfied with housepect’s service in Sydney

Good stuff I'll contact them.

In Victoria

David Seville - Seville inspect. I used this company and would highly recommend .

https://m.facebook.com/SevilleBQI/posts ... l&mt_nav=1
Seville Building Quality Inspections P/L
0488 993 332

Darbecca company that is very well known on forum

Building expert from this forum is also very thorough

Hi There,
I've compiled a list of Builder Inspectors and their contact details. I have not added any recommendations or review as I have no employed any of them, that will be up to people and their experience.

In my view, you should do all 4 inspections and a pre-signed contract. However, on the slab inspections, I believe it is better to do it before the concrete is poured as it will allow detecting and rectifying errors before it is too costly.

Cheers,

Victoria

David Seville - Seville inspect
https://m.facebook.com/pg/SevilleBQI/posts/
Ph: 0488 993 332
e: david@sevilleinspections.com.au

Darbecca
INDEPENDENT BUILDING QUALITY INSPECTIONS
Melbourne (03) 5367 2111
Queensland (07) 2101 5331
admin@darbecca.com.au



NSW
Building Expert
https://www.buildingexpert.net.au/about.htm
Branko Mladichek
Expert Property Reports
Building-Expert
Mobile 0400 021 711

HOUSPECT
https://www.houspect.com.au/about-page.html
20/14 Jubilee Ave, Warriewood NSW 2102
info.nsw@houspect.com.au
1300 258 789


QUEENSLAND

Darbecca
INDEPENDENT BUILDING QUALITY INSPECTIONS
Melbourne (03) 5367 2111
Queensland (07) 2101 5331
admin@darbecca.com.au