Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Apr 02, 2020 12:44 pm I have just received a communication from our builder today advising the following: Due to the circumstances worldwide with the Caronavirus, we will be limiting onsite meetings until final inspection near the completion of the build until the federal government policies change to ensure the safety of all clients, office staff and supervisors/ trades out onsite. We understand this may not be ideal and wanting to see the internal works of the home is important however as you can appreciate as we have been advised as an essential company at this time, when the restrictions tighten we are not sure how long we will remain as an essential company so we are putting all we can into building your homes promptly with the best quality. We are more than happy to accommodate to providing more images of works internally at homes from the supervisors onsite so you can view the works completed. I understand that the Coronavirus may cause some restrictions and is having an impact on a lot of businesses and everyday life, but it seems as though the Builder is using this to their advantage now by saying in a separate communication that there will be delays with trades/materials as a result and that there are to be no more on-site meetings until final inspection (We are not even half way through the build yet), in other words the less people looking at the job, the less headaches we will have! Appreciate any feedback. Cheers, Norts33 Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 2Apr 02, 2020 1:54 pm Norts33 I have just received a communication from our builder today advising the following: Due to the circumstances worldwide with the Caronavirus, we will be limiting onsite meetings until final inspection near the completion of the build until the federal government policies change to ensure the safety of all clients, office staff and supervisors/ trades out onsite. We understand this may not be ideal and wanting to see the internal works of the home is important however as you can appreciate as we have been advised as an essential company at this time, when the restrictions tighten we are not sure how long we will remain as an essential company so we are putting all we can into building your homes promptly with the best quality. We are more than happy to accommodate to providing more images of works internally at homes from the supervisors onsite so you can view the works completed. I understand that the Coronavirus may cause some restrictions and is having an impact on a lot of businesses and everyday life, but it seems as though the Builder is using this to their advantage now by saying in a separate communication that there will be delays with trades/materials as a result and that there are to be no more on-site meetings until final inspection (We are not even half way through the build yet), in other words the less people looking at the job, the less headaches we will have! Appreciate any feedback. Cheers, Norts33 Yeah that does seem convenient for them to stop owners from accessing the jobsite and finding faults. TBH if we didnt have regular meetings onsite there would have been a lot of mistakes which would have cost rawson a lot of time and a lot more $ to rectify if we hadn't caught most of them earlier on. In their defence they also wish to protect their staff so I can understand this also. IMO they should be able to do less frequent site meetings but restrict it to one individual and if you abide safe distancing guidelines this should be fine! Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 4Apr 02, 2020 2:08 pm Thanks for the feedback ourrawsonbalmoral38. My thoughts exactly. I completely understand the focus on health & safety first and foremost, but to just say we are shutting down site visits until the job is done and can take some photos of the job for you is not a client focussed solution, it's just another excuse to not have clients on site to pick up issues/defects with the job that they will need to make good. Frustrating.... Norfolk just to clarify, we are not building with Rawson, I have not mentioned our Builder at all as we are less than half way through our build still. Appreciate the feedback though and will definitely be challenging the builder re: reasonable site access for inspection. Cheers, Norts33 Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 8Apr 06, 2020 12:02 am No experience with Clarendon Homes Shabud. I am about 40% through our build and must admit I am nervous about any further restrictions from the government that may impact the construction industry and our build. Very uncertain times. Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 9Apr 06, 2020 11:06 am Shabud I am about to sign with Clarendon Homes - Maddison38. Do you think I should wait for this Covid issues? That's mean I have to pay more rent. Any have any experience with them? Hi Shabud, if you already have registered land and you paying installments to Bank, you can proceed to signing contract with the builder. Pre-construction stage itself takes approx 6 months, and considering the current situation, pre construction wok will not impact that much as much it expected on the construction work. if conditions stabilised in 6 months, so you will be safe that your work can start in time. In event, the situation get worse, atleast you tender cost is fixed and you wont be paying until the constrction going to kick start. Both the situation may act in your favour, though you may commit some 10-15K to builder for tender and contracting. if you dont have registered land, than my recommendation is to hold on all the transactions you doing to safe gaurd yourself from any unpredictability of future. Vin Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 10Apr 07, 2020 7:10 am Can we still check on our build during this lockdown period? I mean going there on a weekend and just look from the outside and see the progress. Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 11Apr 07, 2020 10:44 am Firstbuild20 Can we still check on our build during this lockdown period? I mean going there on a weekend and just look from the outside and see the progress. If you live in same suburb probably you can visit. However, in current lockdown situation it is not advisable considering both financial and Health are at risks. Vin Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 12Apr 11, 2020 6:31 pm Hi Guys, new release from the government. I hope this will give some relief to the ones whose property is under construction. Released on 2nd Apr. "Construction sites can now operate on weekends and public holidays under new rules introduced today by the NSW Government to support the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Planning and Public Spaces Minister Rob Stokes said the move allows workers to abide by social distancing rules while keeping construction projects progressing by allowing building work to be spread across more days of the week" Vin Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 13Apr 11, 2020 7:55 pm Norfolk Rawson cannot just deny you reasonable access for inspection. That’s a breach of the contract. Ask them to show you the HIA guidelines to members about this. they can actually, once they take possession of the site it is theirs, owners have no rights to walk in and out whenever they feel like it. The contract mentions disputes, but does not mention you have to have a meeting because you want to take a look. And the HIA Guidelines are exactly that "Guidelines" Contract will always over-ride them Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 14Apr 12, 2020 7:12 am GrahamB HIA contracts state that the owner must be provided access to the building works at reasonable times and after giving reasonable prior notice. In addition, by state building laws, the builder must allow the owner and/or the owner’s inspector ‘reasonable access’ to the site during construction. The guidelines that are provided by the HIA to its members support these provisions. Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 16Apr 14, 2020 4:10 pm I think a concern of some forum members currently in the construction phase is that, due to some builders‘ COVID-19 site restrictions, they will be unable to inspect their homes, or to even pay professional private inspectors to do this on their behalf. The volume builder business model and their production process does not allow for builders’ quality inspections during the build. The new COVID-19 situation actually suits them and some less ethical builders may take advantage of this to stop diligent owners, or their professional inspectors finding defects mid build that fixing might delay the project, and their progress stage payments.
Site supervisors typically don’t check the quality of contractors workmanship. They press the 'stage complete' button on their project workflow app without checking contractors' workmanship. This app is usually linked to the builders' accounting software and it immediately generates the progress stage invoice. The site supervisor's KPI's are focussed on completion of stages, not quality. Any quality checking during the build is basically novated to the customer and, if no checking on site is permitted during the build, defects will be covered up by subsequent works, or only identified later at practical completion or during the warranty phase when it’s too late to practically fix them. At the moment builders are working flat out to complete stages and get their customers' progress payments in ASAP. If their contractors' work is not checked, (and the contractors know it won't be checked) then in this new environment it's inevitable that the quality of some large volume builders will be even further compromised. Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 17Apr 14, 2020 8:00 pm Norfolk I think a concern of some forum members currently in the construction phase is that, due to some builders‘ COVID-19 site restrictions, they will be unable to inspect their homes, or to even pay professional private inspectors to do this on their behalf. The volume builder business model and their production process does not allow for builders’ quality inspections during the build. The new COVID-19 situation actually suits them and some less ethical builders may take advantage of this to stop diligent owners, or their professional inspectors finding defects mid build that fixing might delay the project, and their progress stage payments. Site supervisors typically don’t check the quality of contractors workmanship. They press the 'stage complete' button on their project workflow app without checking contractors' workmanship. This app is linked to usually builders accounting software and it immediately generates the progress stage invoice. The site supervisor's KPI's are focussed on completion of stages, not quality. Any quality checking during the build is basically novated to the customer and, if no checking on site is permitted during the build, defects will be covered up by subsequent works, or only identified later at practical completion or during the warranty phase when it’s too late to practically fix them. At the moment builders are working flat out to complete stages and get their customers' progress payments in ASAP. If their contractors' work is not checked, (and the contractors know it won't be checked) then in this new environment it's inevitable that the quality of some large volume builders will be even further compromised. Its part of my job to change that mentality of the project builders Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 18Apr 15, 2020 1:31 pm Norts33 I have just received a communication from our builder today advising the following: Due to the circumstances worldwide with the Caronavirus, we will be limiting onsite meetings until final inspection near the completion of the build until the federal government policies change to ensure the safety of all clients, office staff and supervisors/ trades out onsite. We understand this may not be ideal and wanting to see the internal works of the home is important however as you can appreciate as we have been advised as an essential company at this time, when the restrictions tighten we are not sure how long we will remain as an essential company so we are putting all we can into building your homes promptly with the best quality. We are more than happy to accommodate to providing more images of works internally at homes from the supervisors onsite so you can view the works completed. I understand that the Coronavirus may cause some restrictions and is having an impact on a lot of businesses and everyday life, but it seems as though the Builder is using this to their advantage now by saying in a separate communication that there will be delays with trades/materials as a result and that there are to be no more on-site meetings until final inspection (We are not even half way through the build yet), in other words the less people looking at the job, the less headaches we will have! Appreciate any feedback. Cheers, Norts33 are you able to share the name of your builder? Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 19May 22, 2020 10:37 am Boro I'd rather not at this stage as we are still in construction. I did push back on this with the builder though and said that the contract states that we would be granted reasonable access, which we have been provided ever since. There would be a lot out there though who would just accept it and not challenge it at all which does not seem right as you should be able to walk through at each stage to inspect the progress of your new home. It's a big investment! Cheers, Norts33 Re: Coronavirus Impact to Build/On-Site Meetings. 20Jul 31, 2020 3:33 pm Hi All, Does anyone know what the regulations are for onsite meetings now that we (Victorians) are back in lockdown? Can we still meet with the Building Supervisor for a progress update meeting onsite? I have my builder once again trying to restrict on-site access for a progress update until handover which is frustrating as they are trying to press on with work without rectifying items identified in our Darbecca stage inspections which I want to ensure are being seen to before tiling etc. covers up any areas of concern. Any feedback would be appreciated. Cheers, Norts33 For reference, this is the Austlii reference. My take on this is, that they would be breaking the law denying access to a homeowner in Victoria, or their agent from having… 1 4942 8 3960 Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 8 2218 |